Confidence booster!
Powell aims to repeat hard-fought WSK Euro series win in FIA Euro Champs
JAMAICA’S karting sensation Alex Powell added another win to his credit, finishing tops in the final leg of the recently concluded WSK Euro Series in Sarno, Italy.
The American-born Powell, who placed ninth and seventh in the first two rounds of the three-round series which was exclusively contested in Italy, showed grit and determination to win the final round in his backyard and just missed taking the overall Ok-junior championship title for the series by a mere three points.
Powell, a KR Motorsports representative, accumulated 221 points across the three rounds, placing second behind British driver Harley Keeble (224 points) of Tony Kart Racing Team, thanks to the advantage he built in the previous two rounds in Lonato and Adria.
Another British driver, Freddie Slater, was third with 127 points.
“We knew it was always going to be tough, not only just like the driving side of things, but also where the heat was concerned. It was really hot all weekend so we knew it was going to be a challenge, but things went very well in the end as we were very solid with pace the whole weekend and then it was just about trying to pull off the race win, which we did,” Powell told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.
“It is a little bit frustrating that I didn’t take the overall championship but I know now, for the future, that every position counts. So, I am happy with the end result and taking lessons from it in terms of what I need to do to improve the [FIA European] championship results,” he added.
With that performance — his fourth career win in the Ok-junior category — adding impetus to his ambitions, Powell is hoping to carry that momentum over into the FIA European Championships where another positive result would see him getting closer to claiming his first major title.
He is even more encouraged that he could again upset the apple cart in the third leg of the FIA European Championships.
The 13-year-old Powell entered the penultimate round of the championship joint third on 35 points with Belgium’s Ean Eyckmans, 15 points off Slater at the summit on 50 points and a mere two points off second-place Matheus Ferreira of Brazil on 37 points.
“The team has worked really hard, as always, and so that gives me extra confidence going into the European Championship — and I’ll definitely try to repeat with another win for Jamaica and the Caribbean. I think since it’s the same track, the only difference is tyres and different theories, of course,” Powell stated.
“We have been preparing well for that, going to the gym as usual and then there is the mental training and driving to ensure that we are as prepared as possible going into the ‘Europeans’. And then as I mentioned before, the confidence boost [from the win] will also be quite good for me and hopefully, we’ll get the same results,” he noted.
The final round of the championships is scheduled for Zuera, Spain, on July 22-25 and Powell is cognisant that a good run in Sarno would set him up nicely to make things interesting at the end, as he believes current leader Slater can be fallible under pressure.
“I am in it to win. And there is still a chance that I can win the championship, which would be so amazing, so I know I need to do well in these last two rounds to get the maximum points.
“The leader is not too far ahead and things can become even more interesting at some point. So, I will be pushing absolute limits to try and grab enough points to get even closer to the lead,” Powell ended.