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ARTICLE: AS A ROOKIE IN THE SHIFTER CLASS (AT 15 YEARS OF AGE) HE WON THE WINTER CUP… WITH A FEVER! (2022)

source: mattia livraghi, tkart series: karting, 2013

Among the classes of international karting there is one that represents the arrival point in the career of a professional kart driver: KZ. First it was called Formula C, then KZ1, but the name matters little, the essence is that we are talking about the top class, in which super experts race, even at 20-30 years of age. People who have practically nothing more to learn and who by profession demolish the new recruits, the rookies, until these, based on many overtakings and after a lot of competitions, cut their teeth and enter by right, in turn, in this small circle of drivers who are referred to as "the senators". But every now and then, to tell the truth, very rarely, particular rookies appear on the karting scene capable of overturning this practice. As in 2013, when in the opening round of the season, the Winter Cup at the South Garda Karting in Lonato, a teenager from Monte carlo showed up who, despite being physically KO, decided that certain habits ... were not his cup of tea.

It is 17 February 2013 and it is cold, as it should be on a winter Sunday when you are near Brescia, precisely at South Garda Karting in Lonato, for the Winter Cup. KZ was not scheduled for that weekend, so all the top drivers of the premier class poured into KZ2, which had something like 70 entrants. Among these, names that have marked or would go on to mark the history of karting: Davide Forè, Marco Ardigò, Paolo De Conto, Arnaud Kozlinski, Bas Lammers, Anthony Abbasse, Ben Hanley, Patrik Hajek, Roberto Toninelli, Fabian Federer, Yannick de Brabander, Flavio Camponeschi and Rick Dreezen, just to name a few in no particular order. However, there was also a boy from Monte Carlo born in 1997. His name is Charles Leclerc and he had already made himself known globally for his excellent results (above all by winning the 2011 CIK-FIA World Cup in KF3, the junior class of single speed karts at that time) in the other classes in which he competed. After a 2012 in KF2 (the year in which the now famous long-distance bickering with Max Verstappen occured, which we talk about in the article "Editorial - Leclerc vs Verstappen: the true story of the first clash in the days of karting"), his manager and Charles's team manager decided that the time had come for him to gain experience with "the seniors", in KZ and KZ2.

Charles did not hold back. To the contrary: "He was very motivated and eager to start his journey in shifter karts - Marco Lombardi told us, his mechanic in ART Grand Prix, the brand and the team for which Leclerc was racing at the time, also because he always wanted a more performing vehicle. He was thrilled to have the sensation of feeling closer to racing cars”. Leclerc had his first race ever in a shifter kart two weeks before the Winter Cup, in Muro Leccese, on the occasion of the first round of the WSK Master Series, where he finished in sixth position. His team manager Armando Filini, a historical face in karting, as well as one of the best chassis builders in the sector, was not that surprised by the disarming naturalness with which the young driver form Monte Carlo took his first steps in the new class: "I have known him since he was little, because Jules (Bianchi, editor's note) was his mechanic in France in the MINI class and brought him to me in Maranello Kart for his debut in the Junior class. Charles was very smart: he quickly adapted to everything. At any race he participated in, with any type of tyre, there was no need to spend a lot of time studying the track or anything else: he was already racing strongly at 90%, so it was much easier to get good results with him."But it's the difficulties that make certain stories worth telling.

Charles Leclerc heads to the track together with his mechanic Marco Lombardi.

Leclerc talks to Lombardi and Piergiorgio Ballarini, another mechanic who was working with him at the time, while he is leaning on his kart (ART GP - TM Racing), just outside the ART Grand Prix team tent.

Do you think that the Winter Cup, in the rookie class, could represent a fairly intense and arduous challenge? You would be wrong. In fact, another factor complicates things for Leclerc, the absolute co-protagonist of this story: a fever. That's right, Charles Leclerc showed up at the Winter Cup with a 39°C fever. "From the first days it was clear that he was not in great shape and from Friday he was not at all well", admits Lombardi. “He had flu and was physically weak. At the end of the day, after having raced, he was completely down and out”. A physical condition for which most mere mortals would stay in bed to rest, the most daring, perhaps, on the sofa watching TV. Instead, the fifteen-year-old from Monte Carlo was on the bends of a kart track taming a vehicle with a weight/power ratio comparable to that of the best road supercars. But on one condition: "I told him, Lombardi remembers, 'Look, if you have a high fever, at least skip the last free practice session', but he replied with an endless series of 'No'. He wanted to get on the kart and race to the last, regardless of everything". In the end, a short trip to the pharmacy, accompanied by the engineer of the ART Grand Prix, to buy some medicines was a must. But the real therapy for Charles seems to be another, as Lombardi explains: "When driving adrenaline kicked in, it was so intense that it gave the impression that his fever had passed". This allowed the young driver form Monte Carlo to work at it and improve during free practices: “His driving was quite clean. The problem arose when the track was a bit more slippery, like in the early rounds and he, despite this, wanted to see the time, even if the track was 'slow'. He complained if they gave him two tenths, not considering that there were more experienced drivers who knew how to adapt better to those conditions".

Leclerc laughs with Lombardi before entering the track.

Leclerc celebrates, together with Lombardi, the success he achieved, with a fever, at the 2013 Winter Cup.

It goes without saying that when Charles sets the 11th best time in the qualifiers, with his TM Racing powered ART GP, he was anything but satisfied: "He had suffered at the beginning because the track was was not rubberizing quickly and he loved grip", explains Marco. "He was a driver who tended to always keep his foot down, so in the first races in KZ he found himself in difficulty in slippery track conditions: he forced too much and wore the tyres a lot". But Charles does not lose heart: “he was demoralized, continues Lombardi, but he motivated himself as soon as he got back on the kart the following morning. When he was unable to do something, he was even more motivated and in any case it was enough to explain things to him once: he immediately took everything literally and put it into practice". In fact, Charles performed very well in the various heats, winning a second place as the best result and climbing up to eighth place in the general rankings. Thanks to his driving style, more and more effective with an increasingly rubberized track, and to excellent teamwork, Leclerc continued to progress and, as the weekend continued, managed to take fifth position in the pre-final. Marco Lombardi recalls that he “always earned at least one or two positions at the start. It helped to have the driver in front as a reference point, which always pushed him to say: 'I have to go and get him, I have to overtake him". While the performances on the track improved, the same cannot be said of Leclerc’s physical conditions, still with flu and feverish.

In fact, on the day of the final, looking at his face, which was pale and suffering during the parade of the drivers, anything could be predicted except what would actually happen. Charles still managed to stay calm on the starting grid: "I always told him, Marco says, 'You already have a heavy foot, but in the race you have to use your head, especially when overtaking: study your opponent, identify the right moment to pass and be firm. Don't pretend, because if they take advantage of the driver behind and, with him, the group following him, five of them will take you". In short, a fifteen-year-old in a cage of lions: Leclerc dashed from the third row, while the first was occupied by his teammate Ben Hanley and the Birel De Conto standard bearer. “We had more of a chance with Hanley, admits Armando Filini. “With Charles we still didn't have the certainty of the final, we didn't know how he could behave over the duration”. Only a phenomenon can surprise even a long-time karting figure such as Filini, who had already seen it all… But he could not have imagined what he was to witness that day. Ready, go and already the first surprise: the driver from Monte Carlo darted off and, overtaking the entire row in front of him, moved into third position. The spectators were almost stunned seeing that cat-like leap and Armando reveals that it was not only Charles' skill that allows him to do certain things, but also his attitude: "When he had his teammate in front of him, he had to go and get him, even at the cost of trampling over others".

Ever since the traffic lights went out, the race was of an incredible sporting intensity. However, after an excellent start, Leclerc seemed to be in trouble: in fact, he was overtaken first by Ardigò and then by Forè. However, the driver form Monte Carlo maintained an impressive coolness and was not intimidated, even when he happened to miss a gear and risk being "devoured" by those behind him. "It was difficult to give him advice", Armando specifies. "He was very instinctive, so we also let him do his thing a little bit. Especially because he was a youngster and you couldn't think that he already had the mentality of a 30-year-old professional". Charles still asserted himself in the midst of more experienced and titled drivers, so much so that he took back third position towards the middle of the race, thanks to two masterpiece manoeuvers: the first against Forè, the second against Ardigò (two multiple world champions). Leclerc thus found himself in the wake of his teammate, who in turn was staying very close to the leader De Conto, but a few laps from the end Forè tried another attack on the driver from Monte Carlo and went far forwards, hitting Charles. Ardigò took the opportunity to overtake and the young driver of the ART Grand Prix team returned to fourth position, also losing some ground against his rivals in the lead. When the chequered flag was just around the corner, in a situation like this and in a class like KZ, most people would naturally throw in the towel and accept that the gap with the podium was now unbridgeable, especially if they then suffer a "blow" like this as a fifteen year old, in his second experience in the highest class of karting, with a 39°C fever.

The helmet that Leclerc used at the 2013 KZ world championship and with which he became vice world champion. Charles gave it to Lombardi, autographing it and referring to the nickname that Marco gave him: “Sgrintela”, which means “lizard”. The driver for Monte Carlo made a small mistake and wrote "Sgrintera".

Instead, Leclerc still managed to amaze. A few metres to make sure there was no damage and the driver from Monte Carlo went back to pushing himself, without being discouraged: "I had five or six drivers like Leclerc, including Bianchi, Barnicoat, Harvey and Hanley, but in my opinion Charles was the one who was hungrier, he wanted to achieve results as soon as possible”, Armando reveals. "The others had a little patience: they knew they had to learn and were aware that sometimes someone else could simply be faster and therefore there was little to do. On the contrary, he refused this possibility. Even when he knew that drivers from other teams were more incisive on a certain circuit, he had to find something to stay ahead. With this goal, therefore, he tormented everyone: me for the chassis, Franco Drudi of TM Racing for the engines and the telemetry operator. He was obsessed”. And Leclerc proved this determination precisely in the last rounds of that Winter Cup. In fact, the driver from Monte Carlo firstly got back into third position, taking advantage of a spin by Ardigò, caused by a rear-end collision by De Conto. Then, following a contact between De Conto and Hanley for the leadership of the race, he managed to overtake his teammate thanks to an extremely shrewd manoeuver: after receiving a body blow, Hanley was forced to widen and Charles dived right into that space: “It was a crucial moment of the race, he managed to take advantage of it (taking second place behind De Conto, editor's note) without coming into contact with anyone.

However, he then began to have some fears," admits Marco. The driver born in 1997 was one step away from completing an unthinkable feat and it was natural that even he would be a bit insecure: "He kept looking back, watching who was chasing him and I kept signalling him to look forwards" . But in the end Leclerc kept up the pressure and crossed the finish line in second position. The young driver from Monte Carlo let loose his joy, while the spectators started rubbing their eyes to understand if what they had seen was true: "I knew he could do well right from the start, but I honestly wasn't expecting a podium and it surprised me" Lombardi confides. “He didn't expect it either, considering the fever problem too. But he never gave up, he gave 100% to the last. He had gained confidence in seeing himself improve constantly over the course of the weekend and in the final he drove with a knife between his teeth”. A great effort that deserved a great prize. If, in fact, Charles was already enthusiastic about the silver medal and having kept his expert teammate behind him, the icing on the cake came when, after the award ceremony, he learned that De Conto had been given a penalty of five seconds for his manoeuver on Ardigò.

Leclerc thus inherited the victory and was over the moon: "he was really happy and didn't even seem sick anymore" remembers Marco. "It was his first really important race in shifter karts and there were all the drivers participating in the world championship. That Sunday evening, he had so much adrenaline in his body that he wanted to stay and eat with us, but at a certain point his father told him that it was time to go home". As a winner.

#series:karting #format:article #year:2013 #charles leclerc

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