NXT GP Kids Cup Round 3
Kart Centrum Lelystad, Netherlands
23 & 24 November 2024 | Track Length: 735m | Mechanic: Bastiaan van Loenen, Team PitParts
On 2 & 3 November 2024 we headed to Lelystad to race in the final round of the NXT GP Kids Cup, a championship which I unfortunately had to withdraw from due to injury at the start of the year.
Since Lelystad is a small track primarily used for hire karts, it wasnt possible to train on Friday, and training on Saturday was reduced to a morning session which left the afternoon free for exam week study - awesome... We turned up to the track early on Saturday to find it frozen which made the track walk an ice skating lesson as we tried not to fall over. Thankfully for mum, the team had hooked us up in the same tent as the Bremers so we were able to stay warm as we had a lot of laughs and ate plenty of roze koek (Jorn) by their heater (thanks Bremers!).
Saturday | Training (6 x 10 minute sessions)
Unsurprisingly the freezing track made for slow training sessions together whice we drove together with the Juniors and Masters. Unfortunately I had some problems keeping my chain on with mistakes over the curbs, and took a heavy hit from behind as I was avoiding a spinning driver in front. Although it was pretty clear I was off pace, it was impossible to judge just how much as some drivers were on new wets while mine were pretty done.
After training was finished, I headed back on track for what turned out to be a season highlight - a hire karts session with a lot of laughs and “battles” with some of my kart mates, mechanics and parents!
Sunday | Warm up (8 minutes)
P10 (P4 in class)
Overnight there was heavy rain which meant the vernight the track was incredible slippery during the warm up with several drivers getting caughtout and ending up in the tyres - moving them around and on track in some places. Even with new wets on I hit the tyres several times during one of the first laps - bending my stearing and breaking my bumper clip (which I had done an epic repair job of the day before to bend it back in shape with the help of the heater after a heavy hit during training). Even with my bumper trailing behind me (I didnt realise and the marshalls didnt either until the last lap), I was able to put in a 4th fastest time overall (3rd rookie).
Sunday | Qualification (8 minutes) – CET 12:07 / NZT 00:07 [wet]
P6 (P3 in class)
With only 14 drivers on track for quali we didnt have the traffic issues that has been prevalent throughout the NXT GP season and I quickly found pace to set a fastest lap on lap 3 which I was pretty keen to hold on to. A couple of laps later while I was in P2 and on a flyer, I hit the curb and lost my chain to end quali early after only 5 laps on the board. My best lap, on lap 4 was still good enough for P6 overall (P3 rookies) so all and all not so bad.
Sunday | Race 1 (10 minutes) – CET 14:27 / NZT 2:27
P6 -> [P4] DNF (retired due to technical failure)
Shortly before park ferme opened, we took the decision to change set up from a wet to a dry set up as it looked lile the track would be fully dried out with the races before us. For other drivers that didnt, there was a scramble to change set up at the gate and for those who had already entered with wets, it was unfortunately too late!
After an aborted start proceedure I had a great start off the line to move from 6th to 4th before the first corner. After some initial defending of my position while my (two race weekend old!) tyres warmed up, I then cleared ahead of the driver in P5 but behind the top 3 who had already pulled away by over a second in the first lap. For a few laps I was driving pretty much on my own and slowly gaining on P3 without slipstream but on the fifth lap 5 I made the mistake of trying a new line over the kurbs and lost the chain .. again. I was able to glide my kart back into the pits without a yellow for the other drivers and weighed in without any stress before the start of the next session - qualification for the NXT GP hire karts race which I drove in a team together with Bastiaan. Hire Kart quali result: P2
Sunday | Race 2 (10 minutes) – CET 16:15 | NZT 04:15
P14 -> P4
Yet again this season I started a race from the back of the grid due to the DNF in race 1 and needed to work my way through traffic towards the front. In the first corner almost the entire field piled up resulting in an unavoidable 5 second click bumper. By the end of lap 1 I was up to 10th, then by lap 7 up to 6th with a 3 second gap to the group infront to chase down with the added challenge of a heavily bent steering rod from the first corner. In the final lap I was on a flyer and finally caught up to the group at the final corner, crossing the line in P5 - 0.17 second behind P4. After the race I was promoted to P4 after penalties.
Sunday | Race 3 (10 minutes) - CET 18:00 | NZT 06:00
P4 -> P4
The final race of the year and final dance with my 2024 kart Tilly!
For the first time, we headed out of Parc Ferme for a race in the dark which meant for an even colder and slipperier track than earlier in the day. Having learnt from the race in Assen, I took it easy during the formation lap and thankfully missed the carnage behind as several drivers spun out. I started 4th, and as I made too many mistakes, finished 4th (3rd in class) with a gap of over 5 seconds to 5th and (as with every other race and quali) lap times faster than P3, who secured P2 in class, and with it, P3 in the Kids Cup rookie championship.
Overall result: P7 (P3 in class)
As soon as the race finished I sprinted to the hire karts for my final stint in the hire kart race with Bastiaan (who got destroyed in the pre-finals, dropping from P2 to last place in the first lap). I started 12th and crossed the line in 12th, and had a lot of fun in between! Hire Kart final result: P12
Congratulations to Jamie Elzerman, Yermo Zanen and Rory de Jong for awesome drives all weekend to take out the round AND both the NXT GP Kids Cup and NXT GP Super Cup Championships for the T4 Senior, T4 Senior Rookie and T4 Senior Masters classes. Well deserved!
Thank you to my mechanic Bastiaan, Team PitParts, my sponsors and to NXT GP and Tillotson Nederland for the organisation.