Glastonbury racer Oli Norris took a handful of solid top ten finishes in the opening rounds of the Formula Kart Stars Rotax Junior Max Championship at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire this weekend.
The Millfield School student was unlucky to get caught up in a series of first corner incidents during the two days. This ruined his plan to stay consistent and pick up as many points as possible during the opening rounds of the season.
In free practice he was comfortably inside the top three for most of the day and he went into qualifying feeling good. As the circuit got faster in the closing minutes he looked on for a solid grid position. However, an error on his last flying lap set a time for 11th place.
In the two heats he was forced wide on a number of occasions, but was able to make up a couple of places in each race and was hopeful of breaking into the top six in the final. However, as the lights went out and the pack dived into the first corner Oli was shunted off the circuit having to rejoin at the back.
Unperturbed, a fantastic drive from the 15 year-old allowed him to move back through the field taking eighth place as the chequered flag fell. Though not quite the result he was aiming for from the first round, he was pleased with his pace.
“We slowly improved every time we went out on track on Saturday,” admitted Oli. “Kimbolton is notorious for first corner shunts and I did seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as others made mistakes and I got taken with them.”
“The drive back through the pack in the final was really good. Everything started to work well and I was able to measure my pace against some of the guys running at the front and I was on the same pace. If I hadn't been wiped out at the start and able to make a few places I could have had a really good result,” he added.
Sunday brought more frustration for Oli. The team struggled with Kart set-up and he was plagued by minor mechanical gremlins throughout the course of the day. It hampered his efforts to compete for valuable points, landing him back in 16th at the final.
“It wasn't good really,” said Oli. “I wanted to go out and challenge for bigger points and stay really consistent and I just wasn't able to do that on Sunday. On the positive side I got some good over-taking practice and I learned a lot about the kart set-up, which will serve me well for the rest of the year. I know the pace is there so I need to stay out of trouble next time and pick up the results,” he added.
Oli will next be in action in the MSA Super One Series British Kart Championship at Whilton Mill in Northamptonshire, the second of his two major campaigns this year.
“Super One should be good as there could be a few other drivers competing too. It will be good to get the kart right there and get on the pace,” he smiled.
For more information about Oliver or Lando Norris
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Adam Proctor
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