#PangCollYear9 pupil Leo recently embarked on a trip to Le Mans in France to compete in the Karting World Final. Leo was representing Algeria (his maternal country) and racing against 137 competitors in the Junior class for drivers from 13 to 15 years of age. He is currently the British Champion for the Mini X30, the LGM Champion, the Kartmaster champion, including the international champion for 2020 among other prestigious titles that he has won over the years.

Leo showed his potential in practice for the event, being consistently amongst the front runners. In timed qualifying, Leo finished 8th in his group and would, therefore, start in that position for all of his 7 qualifying heats. He raced consistently well, winning 1 heat, finishing 2nd in 3 others, and no lower than 5th in the remaining 3.

These strong results earned him a starting position of 3rd for the pre-final, which would decide the grid positions for the final. Although Leo started the pre-final well, the kart had been set up for dry conditions and Leo encountered trouble on some of the lingering damp patches. Leo fell down the order, and as a result would start the final in 16th position.

However, Leo quickly found his rhythm for the 20 lap final. After a string of well executed overtaking moves Leo eventually worked his way up to 5th position. Although he was disappointed not to be on the podium, Leo had nevertheless competed well against a strong international field.

Leo’s next kart race will be in December in Oman where he will seek to defend his Middle East North Africa title in the Junior Rotax class. Last year Leo gained a win at the Kartmasters, to see him in action click here.