Reno Francot failed to finish in the opening race of the European Championship karting in the OK Junior class. The 14-year-old kart talent from Echt started at the Kartodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão from 29th place.
Before entering the second corner, his brake pedal broke and he was catapulted at a speed of over 130 km. He ended up about 100 meters further outside the fence, but was unharmed.
Improvement
Francot, who this year switched from Tony Kart to the works team of the Italian Birel Art, ran out of speed in the qualifying race on the Portuguese circuit on Friday. Father Fernon Francot told L1 that after that a lot of work was done on the kart and that was noticeable.
Reno drove four qualifying races on Saturday, starting from P16 in all races and improving significantly.
superheat
Before Sunday morning’s superheat over 10 laps of 1,531 meters, the Birel Art technicians made a few more improvements. Reno started 17th, lost nearly five seconds to leader Dmitry Matveev on the first lap and dropped to 18th. In the ensuing rounds, the Real won and lost a place, but eventually finished thirteenth, just over 11 seconds behind winner Anatholy Khavalkin, who ousted Matveev from the lead on lap five.
Next European Championship race in Spain
The drivers will compete in the second round of the European Championship in the OK-Junior class on the weekend of April 28 at the Circuito Internacional de Zuera in Zaragoza.