Varied Fortunes for Vivacqua at U18 Championship in Braga

Thiago Vivacqua made his debut in the U18 World Championship – where identical engines are allocated by drawing lots – at the first meeting held in Braga (Portugal). As soon as the wheels started to turn during Friday’s free practice, he realised that his engine did not deliver its full power. Instead of spending his time to set up his Zanardi chassis, he had to convince race officials that his engine had indeed a problem and it had to be replaced. His complaint was finally accepted but he had to hurry to timed qualifying with a genuine lack of preparation.

However, the young Brazilian set the 4th fastest time in his group and achieved an interesting 10th place in the general classification, in a group of 71 entrants coming from all over the world. Highly motivated by an excellent start in the first heat, he soon moved up to third but got hit from the back and his chain jumped off. Despite all his efforts, he could not start again within the time limits and preferred to go back to save his tyres. Thiago got his revenge in the two following heats, with two nice second places and a 6th place after a long battle in the last heat. He demonstrated his fighting spirit by setting twice the fastest lap time in the race.

He qualified in 20th place, but had a few problems during pre-final 1 and could do no better than 25th. Things improved in pre-final 2, where he moved up from 15th to 9th. Hampered at the start of the final, the most important race of the meeting, he fell down from his initial position and was 28th after the first lap. He pushed hard to make up for the lost ground and gained 12 places, concluding with a 16th place.

“I am not satisfied with my weekend” explained the driver on Sunday night. “I should have achieved a much better result. I showed some good performances, I was focussed, but I had too many problems to be able to play my chances. Having said that, I like this category and I am looking forward to next meeting, at the end of August, to be able to show what I am really capable of”.

Official Website: www.thiagovivacqua.com.br

Info Kartcom / © Photo KSP