Oct 10th – Fabienne travelled to Italy to compete in the Super ROK Finals, driving with the Formula K Junior Team by Serafini Racing, entered into the Vortex Super ROK DVS Category.
The DVS category is based on the OK ( Original Karting) concept which has no starter motor and the carburettor is a self tuned Butterfly type Carburettor.
Being used to the slide Carburettor, Fabienne had to adapt quickly, as practice was limited and she showed good pace from the start.
The South Garda, Lonato track in Italy has made some track design changes making the track all the more challenging, but setting quickest sector times in certain sessions, Fabienne shone all the way through.
Running into some engine problems before qualifying, it did not go as hoped and Fabienne qualified 12th. Running mid pack proved to be difficult , having some tangles in heat 2 dropped Fabienne to 19th, and in the end she was placed 13th for the grid start to the Final Race.
Tricky starting procedures from the right hand lane did not help as per usual the starts are chaos as the pole man did not adhere to the starting rules by keeping a constant speed.
“Starting procedures really need to be addressed and be more strict on. I race all over the world and I must say, in South Africa we are slowly getting the procedures right. I really thought the international level would have it better than in South Africa because international is supposed to be higher level than local. The CIK needs to clamp down on this problem. The drivers starting p10 to about p18 are totally disadvantaged by this mis-behaviour,“ Fabienne said.
Final crucial set up changes were made by Fabienne and the team in preparation for the final, which proved to work as Fabienne was 4th quickest in Warm up prior to the Final. Starting in p13, Fabienne had a much better start this time round and tuning the kart as she drove lap by lap, she was on her way one place at a time to the front.
“I needed a Formula 1 style race, as the race was going on, I was getting faster, the others infront of me I could see are getting slower as I caught them one at a time. Mid race the kart really came alive and I was headed to the fastest lap as my AIM mychron was showing me a 47.9s, but when the driver in front of me just overshot the last corner and we both got affected and slowed us down. ”
Ending the race in in p9 with stunning pace, Fabienne was very happy with this performance.
“Knowing that the drivers I was competing against race at this track in this type of kart all the time, and with me coming in the week of the race and matching their times, its a super achievement! If given the opportunity to fly, I can go higher.
“I want to say a big thank you to my crew, the Formula K Junior Team and the support from the guys at IPK.
A big thank you to my Sponsor Eden Island Seychelles for continued support in coming on board my International Races.
