ADD Motorsports driver Oli Norris was left to rue what might have been after his WSK Masters Series second round race was marred by engine problems.
The 16-year-old Glastonbury racer had too much to do by the time his kart was running freely and had to be content with 11th place overall.
But after seeing how he would have faired against his competitors if he had been able to drive at full speed all weekend, he vowed to come back stronger in the next round.
He said: “We were really please with 11th in the end from where I had to start. If you looked at some of my lap times, they were good compared to those in front of me, but we just had too many drivers to get past and it means you don’t get a good run. But it’s made me more confident for next time when we’re back here in a few weeks, I’m sure I’ll do better then.“
After a brilliant race in the Euro Max in Genk last week where Oli finished third and picked up the driver of the weekend award, it was a lot harder going in Sarno this time round.
Having never raced at the circuit before, the first few days saw Oli learning the track in both the wet and dry as the weather changed.
But by the Friday and Saturday during qualifying and heats Oli was finding himself some four or five seconds back from where he wanted to be as his kart slowed down.
It left him floundering in 35th place during qualifying and always playing catch-up with the other drivers during the heats.
But Oli kept persevering and managed a respectable 11th in the pre-final.
In the main final, his engine died suddenly early on which saw him drop to 16th but when he got into the rhythm he worked his way back into the race in eighth.
However, Oli settled again for 11th place by the end of the race.
He added: “When we go back there in a few weeks we won’t have to learn the track from scratch which will help us. We know what went wrong and what we have to do now – we know how quick we can be on this circuit. We should definitely do better next time so we will have a good chance of doing well.”
Gareth Morgan – ADD Motorsports / © Photo KSP