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Dixon Frustrated In Italian Open Event |
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Tuesday, 22 May 2007 |
Kent karting star James Dixon suffered a frustrating weekend at the Jesolo circuit in the third round of the Italian Open Masters Championship, claiming just a handful of points with a twelfth place finish.
The 17-year-old Candy Carriers backed racer started his weekend incredibly well with some impressive pace in the free practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, with his intention of claiming as many points as possible over the meeting looking promising.
In the opening heat, James charged from the fifth row and picked up a
fantastic sixth place, showing his rivals that he was looking for top
class results. In the second heat he was forced to work hard when he
was unable to get into the pack from the outside row at the start and
dropped back a handful of places, eventually having to settle for
eleventh.
In the last heat he was tagged by another racer and after rejoining had to settle for crossing the line a lap down.
In the first of the two finals James and the JRP Racing team took a
gamble on staying on the used tyres from the early part of the weekend.
A great drive up to 13th from 23rd place in the early part of the race
meant that he was on course for a good points finish. However, he lost
grip over the second half of the race and the worn tyres eventually
cried enough, with one of them puncturing with just five laps left to
run, forcing him into retirement.
A fresh set of rubber for the second final should have given James a
great chance of breaking into the top ten. However, when the team
bolted the new tyres onto the Maranello Kart chassis, he found that he
suddenly had to fight for grip all around the circuit.
A superb run from 22nd place on the grid allowed him to quickly move up
into 15th position, but he was still struggling with an ill-handling
kart and as the chequered flag fell after 24 laps he had managed to
work his way into 12th place, picking up just five points from the
weekend.
A disappointed James was left frustrated by his on-track result, but
confident that he can bounce back at the next round after his early
weekend speed.
“We had plenty of pace in the early part of the weekend and it looked
like we were in for a good event,” he said. “As soon as the team put
the new tyres on the kart though, the handling just went. I was
fighting understeer everywhere and it made the kart really bad,” he
added.
“I’ve got some positives to bring away from the weekend, though. Our
pace through free practice and the sixth place finish in the heats
proved that we’re there and I’m quite confident that I can get a couple
of good results when we move onto the next round of the WSK series in
two weeks time.
James will be back in action in the European championship at the French circuit of Salbris at the beginning of June.
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