French team struggle at Essay

Five rookies in the French team made their European debuts on the Essay track in France. In what was a highly-competitive field, the youngsters gave everything they’d got in an attempt to secure a place in the final stages and they appreciated captain Franck Lagorce’s advice on how to handle the pressure of such a race.

After Anthony Abbasse, Mike Courquin, Jean-Philippe Guignet and Alban Varutti in the European KF1 (Elite) championships, it was the turn of the five younger members of the France Karting team to descend into the arena during the July 14 holiday weekend. They were competing in the western regional qualifiers for the European KF2 (Espoir) and KF3(Junior) championships.

Three months ago, Brandon Maïsano, Christopher Quillet, Benjamin Da Silva, Norman Nato and Loïc Reguillon took part in the opening race of the French championship season on this very same ‘Grand Ouest’ circuit in Essay (in Normandy) but this time round the competition was a lot stiffer. So stiff, in fact, that our five musketeers had a much tougher time than had been expected in a field containing a number of competitors from Spain and Britain, countries renowned for their quality in the KF2 and KF3 categories.

Team France captain Franck Lagorce was the first to admit “I was taken by surprise by the very high standard of this field. They might have been racing on home territory but the French drivers had a hard time, and you only need to look at the small number of home-grown drivers who made it through to the final stages to realise the extent of the problem.”

All five drivers racing under the French Team badge made it safely through the initial qualifying stages here in Essay. But in order to qualify for the finals of the European Championships you have to be among the top 24 in KF2 and the top 25 in KF3 in the cumulative standings after the two final races. Unfortunately, two of our drivers fell at this hurdle after being handicapped by race incidents, but the other three team-members got results that were excellent considering the high standard.

“It’s always so disappointing to see drivers miss out so close to their goal,”
continued Franck Lagorce. “But we have to accept that after recruiting very young drivers to race under the Team France banner it is going to take a while before it all comes right. They’ve not long started their training courses but they have already learnt a lot of things that will stand them in good stead. We are building the future together.”

Loïc Reguillon, who hails from Normandy, was determined not to fail on home territory. Up with leaders throughout the weekend, he came home a splendid 5th. Loïc has matured a lot and hopes to build on this result at the upcoming Salbris meeting at the start of August.

“This result is very promising with the European championship finals coming up,” he stated. “What’s more, since I finished in the top five, I automatically qualify for the KF2 World Cup in Belgium this September. Being in Team France really gives you a boost. We turn up at meetings in top physical condition and in good mental shape, full of confidence.”

Benjamin Da Silva, despite lapping very fast, failed to qualify after getting caught up in a few race incidents, but Norman Nato drove to an encouraging 9th place.

“We were well looked after all weekend by the Team France physios and by Franck Lagorce. He stressed to us that since this was a qualifier we shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. The main thing was to qualify for the finals in Salbris and that’s what I have done.”

Christopher Quillet had more than enough potential to get through Essay with a ticket for the championship finals in his pocket. But those European finals in Sarno (near Naples) next September 1-2, will take place without him, as he narrowly missed out on qualifying by just one place following a race incident.

Thankfully, Brandon Maïsano had a much smoother passage. After picking up pole position, he came through the qualifying heats with ease, before going on to get a result on the Sunday. At the finish, the efforts of this talented 13-year-old driver were rewarded with a 4th spot that takes him into Europe and sets him up nicely for the rest of the season.

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