Work in progress for Team France

The second European meeting of the season highlighted the progress made by the FFSA Karting Team France in the KF1 category, although the net results in Varennes fell well short of expectations. Fortunately, captain Franck Lagorce knows how to analyse dispassionately the performance of each of his four KF1 drivers.

Being neither a race team manager nor a close member of a driver’s family makes it easier for him to find the right balance when trying to motivate the driver and build his confidence in a lasting matter that will make a real difference over time. The raison d’etre of the FFSA Team France is to train tomorrow’s champions. According to Franck Lagorce, things are now moving in the right direction.

During the opening European meeting, Alban Varutti was just getting to know his new team and his new kart, so at Varennes it was good to see him slipping into gear and rediscovering his attacking instincts. He was looking very sharp during time trials, clocking the 2nd fastest time. After taking pole position in race 1, he went on to finish 3rd in race 2.

Despite the fact that the stewards didn’t appreciate the way he scrapped with Piccioni in the last lap and was disqualified from the result, the important thing, in Franck Lagorce’s view, was that Alban’s performance was almost a victory in itself.

The progress he has made in his mind is considerable, Alban now knows that he can be a winner and that’s the main thing. Which is great news for everyone, including his team, stable-mates, and Lagorce’s Team France.

After the great results he got in Ugento, Anthony Abbasse came to Varennes as one of the favourites. Unfortunately, he was never able to have a sufficently competitive engine for him to stand any real chance against the crème of the international karting world that had made the trip to Varennes. His fighting spirit was not enough to overcome the shortcomings of his kart. He was down in the dumps for a while but soon got over it.

Although he wasn’t racing on the Sunday, he was to be seen with a smile on his face and in deep discussion with his team-mates and captain, already looking forward to the next race.

Franck was reassuring. “I have every confidence in Anthony,” he said, “And he knows it. He’ll win races another day, that’s for sure. As soon as his kart is in top condition he will win races, he is ready. It won’t be long now.”

Racing has not been easy for Mike this season - he’s the only KF1 driver in his team (Intrepid) so everything rests on his shoulders. As far as chassis development and set-up go, it’s all down to him. He’s got the set-up for French racing mastered, as he proved last weekend in the FFSA Grand Prix FFSA race in Salbris.

Now he needs to do the same for the chassis in CIK configuration, so that he can compete effectively with the karting elite. With the support and ecouragement of Team France he kept his spirits up and continued to progress during the Varennes event.After coming 31st in the time trials, he got up to 16th and 13th in the final races.

Despite the ever-present smile on his face, Jean-Phillipe must have been getting fed up with always being a back marker and sometimes even failing to qualify. He just rolled up his sleeves and put his back into working as hard as he could with the team and the engine specialists. Slowly but surely, test by test, the performance figures improved and Varennes marks a turning point.

Jean-Philippe is quick to acknowledge that the support he got from Team France helped him get through what, one way and another, has been a tough time for him as he sought to reel in the seconds out on the track and to dispel the gathering clouds over his head.

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