It’s always a milestone in a young career when a driver takes his first victory in a highly competitive category. Far from being the result of favourable circumstances, the success of young Franco-American Alessandro Truchot in the Italian Championship at Cremona is the reward for sustained efforts and fierce determination.
For his European programme in the Mini Under-10 category, Alessandro is still relying on the Parolin Motorsport team. However, it turns out that a different make of engine from the one he uses has taken the lead since the new 2023 homologation. But loyalty to a team whose work and human qualities he appreciates takes precedence over other considerations. He may not yet be able to fully appreciate this, given his young age, but the fact that he has to learn to fight against rivals with superior power boosts his motivation and forges the morale of a future champion.
The weekend didn’t start as planned in Cremona
After several events organised by WSK Promotion, the ACI Sport Italian Championship kicked off on 19th-21st May at the Cremona circuit, with 39 Mini U10 drivers taking part. Very fast at the start of the Qualifying session, Alessandro was hampered by several contacts in the closing laps, where he should have continued to improve his performance. Only 9th in his group, he finished 17th overall. On Saturday morning, he made his ambitions clear in the first Qualifying Heat. After nine laps in the rain, he crossed the finish line in 4th place, having made up seven places. A 5″ penalty for an incorrectly positioned front fairing put him in 6th place. An incident saw him lose nine positions in the middle of his second heat, but he limited the damage by finishing 15th, which earned him an 11th-place qualification for the Finals.
On the road to victory
On Sunday morning, the first race of the programme took place on a track that was still wet. Alessandro got off to a good start and fought his way into the top five for a long time, before finishing 3rd thanks to a last-lap overtake for a podium finish.
Buoyed by his competitiveness, Alessandro upped the pace again in the second race, held on a dry track. Starting from 6th place because of the inversion of the positions of the top eight from the previous race, he took off like a rocket as soon as the lights went out. By the time he crossed the line, he was already in the lead and continued to pull away from his rivals to finish as the overall winner with a lead of over six seconds. Following this masterful performance, Alessandro now leads the provisional Championship standings.
It will be interesting to follow the impact of this victory on the rest of Alessandro’s season, as he now heads for the south of Italy for two successive races on the La Conca circuit, where the higher temperatures are likely to pose an additional difficulty for his engine.
Info Kartcom / Photo © Sportinphoto