First race, first points

The long week-end of the 8 May found the Sodikart team off to La Conca, a circuit which has witnessed some of the team’s finest exploits. It was on this track in 2003 that Arnaud Kozlinski became vice champion of the world in Formula A, while the team from Nantes won the team World Cup. Two years later, Jean-Eric Vergne was to become vice champion of Europe in the ICA category.

Make way for the youngsters!
This year, Sodikart’s expectations are somewhat different, as technical manager Franck Le Beller explains. “Kicking off the European Formula A Championships on a difficult circuit like La Concha with two young drivers barely out of ICA was quite a challenge for the whole team, but a very exciting one nevertheless. Jean-Eric Vergne and Laurent Miskiewicz both had to get to grips with the special soft tread compound tyres that Bridgestone supplies for these big international races. So the racing was not easy for us at the start, but we worked hard and got them qualified for the finals with a chance to fight it out for a top ten place”.

Laurent Miskiewicz jumped 17 places during qualifying, notching up excellent lap times and even coming within two tenths of a second of the leaders in one heat. Sadly he hit a problem in Heat 1. “I got of to a great start, but I was being pushed very hard during the opening laps. At one point I felt a shock at the back, shunting me into the kart in front of me and twisting my spoiler in the process. It ended up snagging on the ground, especially on the bends where a lot of rubber had built up on the track. Climbing 11 places was just about the best I could hope for under these conditions”.
Meanwhile, Jean-Eric Vergne made no mistake during the qualifying rounds, climbing from 29th to 20th place in Heat 1. “Thanks to the great work that went into getting the kart set up properly, I managed to preserve my tyres in good condition, unlike most of the other finalists who had to fit their two new spares for the first race. For my part, I was saving them for Heat 2 and was hoping to take full advantage to get up amongst the leaders.”

Miskiewicz amost in the top 5!
As he had hoped, Vergne was destined to make spectacular progress in Heat 2 but not in the way he had imagined because just a few minutes before the start of the race there was a heavy downpour of rain. The two French drivers were unanimous in their praise “given the speed at which they had to work, the Sodikart mechanics did a great job in getting the chassis set up for the wet. The big thing with Sodikart is their technology and only a few drivers had a front brake system fitted like us. While others were struggling with their braking on the slippery track, we were able to climb steadily up through the field thanks to this very useful accessory”.
By now, Laurent and Jean-Eric were both fired up to drive home their advantage. Jean-Luc drove a steady race to pick up the points from his eleventh place, while Miskiewicz was creating a sensation by literally dominating the pack. Three laps out from the finishing line he was lying 6th, with 5th place firmly in his sights. Sadly, another kart pushed him off line during braking and he lost four places, finishing up the race in the tenth spot, just ahead of his team-mate. “Having both drivers amongst the points in their first outing in the European Formula A Championships is very positive and it augurs well for the future in this highly competitive series”, was Franck Le Beller’s analysis. “After a shaky start, Laurent has shown that he can fight it out with the best of them in the category. What’s more, the reliability of our equipment was never in doubt, because both our drivers finished all the races they took part in over the weekend”. All this means that everyone is looking forward impatiently to the French Grand Prix in Varennes sur Allier.