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British Columbia karter remarkable in must-have Sunday performance |
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Thursday, 17 August 2006 00:00 |
 Canadian kart racer Lorenzo Mandarino left the ASN Canada FIA National Karting Championships last weekend on a high-note after working through a trying event at Stratotech Park in Edmonton, AB. The 19 year-old driver capped a problem-filled outing in the Formula Senior 125cc ICC category with a stunning third place result that saw the Burnaby, BC resident earn a podium result after coming from 23rd on the grid. It was a remarkable performance that brought the spectators in the grandstands to their feet.
Mandarino began the weekend with high hopes, pacing the field by over six-tenths of a second during the rain-soaked qualifying session on Friday, placing him as the driver to beat for the national title. The rain continued throughout the day as Mandarino competed in the first of three heat races that would set the grid for the Sunday Prefinal. A walk-away win in the first moto continued the positive beginning to the weekend, although Mandarino and his father Vince would struggle with their chassis set-up in the two dry heats on Saturday, still finishing in the top five despite not being able to contend for wins. After scoring the Heat #1 victory, Lorenzo posted a second and a third in the final qualifiers to start the Prefinal from pole.
Working diligently to find the right balance, Mandarino believed that he finally had the car to beat and entered the Prefinal focused on taking the win and the pole position for the main event. This was not to be, however, as a flat right front tire put behind the pit wall on lap three, setting up what would be the performance of the weekend in the Championship Final.
In the main, Mandarino challenged from the green flag from the 12th row, getting a rocket start to advance seven positions on the opening lap. Working through the field passing kart after kart, he found himself into the top ten by halfway, running down his competition with a vengeance. The passes got tougher as he moved forward, but Mandarino was not to be denied, eventually over-taking for the final position on the podium on the last lap. The leaders had been able to get away and were out of his reach, but Mandarino’s performance was certainly the highlight of the race nonetheless.
The Canadian will now look towards this final Western Division event on the Snap-on Stars of Karting circuit, running this coming weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA.
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