A New Beginning for Authié

Alban Authié is back at the wheel of a Sodikart in Thierry Lépine’s Euro Karting Team and this return marks a turning point for this pilot from Béziers in 2008 season. After the performances at Grand Prix FFSA at Essay and Varennes, the Belgian round of WSK at Mariembourg has brought its share of satisfaction. Of course, Alban is still a young pilot who needs to acquire more experience in comparison to his opponents, but his name is beginning to be known in the world of karting. This is definitely a good sign.

At Grand Prix Karting FFSA, Alban Authié found again a Sodikart chassis and re-joined Belgian Euro Karting Team, with which he had already raced in 2007. After a series of weak performances with Zanardi at the beginning of the year, Alban quickly recovered and set the second best time during timed practice. A few problems during the heats slowed him down, but did not prevent him from achieving the most spectacular recovery in the final, with the best time in race at the end of it all. Two weeks later, at Varennes-sur-Allier, Alban was even faster, 3rd in timed practice. Races are difficult when weather conditions keep changing, but Alban was 10th in the final, after a relentless recovery and despite a few race problems throughout the weekend. At Mariembourg, his performances improved even more, in a competition that saw the presence of the international elite of this category. But that did not stop Alban. After setting the best absolute time during Friday’s free practice, he obtained the best time in the timed practice of his series and was therefore second (out of 67 pilots) at the end of qualifying practice. During the heats, Alban engaged in an intense fight with expert pilots racing for the best factory teams, like Giacomo Patrono, Oliver Rowland or Jack Harvey. 6th in the final starting grid, unfortunately he had to withdraw due to carburation problems.

On the whole, the results of these last three meetings were largely positive. Alban improved his burst of speed even more and reacted better and better during races. However, he is well aware that more improvements are needed: “I still find it hard to stay calm when I start from the front row” he said on Sunday evening, at Mariembourg. “I tend to get worried about what’s happening behind me and I lose focus on the race. I am disappointed with the result, but if someone had told me that I would start from the pole in the heats, I would have not believed it!” Increasingly clear-headed thanks to his team, Alban is aware of his possibilities, as well as of the improvements he has to make before he can win major races.

Alban has a strong team that can help him to continue improving. The pilot and his mechanic Sébastien Bielande understand each other very well and so Euro Karting can offer Alban top equipment. Alban is also trained by a coach, Xavier Verbeke. A high-level sportsman, Xavier is world sea-oar champion as well as former trainer at Auto Sport Academy and he works hard with his pilot, near the track during races and then in Toulouse, where the two meet for physical training. From this viewpoint, Alban is really well trained and Xavier has chosen to focus on improving the pilot’s mental preparation for races. Stress management and concentration development are the main focus points of the programme for the weeks to come.

“It is important to remember that Alban is a very young kart pilot” Xavier Verbeke explains. “He has only been racing for 3 seasons, while the other pilots have more than ten seasons of experience. He still has to acquire a lot of experience in high-level competitions. He is responsible, determined, hard-working and, in particular, fast on the track!Now we are preparing next meeting, a very important one: the qualifying round for the European Championship that will be held in Spain in mid-July”.