ABOUT MIKA: Mika LeMasurier boasts a litany of club, state and national podiums across his karting career. The Queensland-based youngster has recently become the Queensland State Champion in KA3 Junior and Grove Racing is proud to have his as part of our Junior Team alongside Oscar Targett and Matthew Payne.
"Just finished up the 5th and final round of the Australian Kart Championship at Newcastle Kart Club, another strong showing with the class being oversubscribed.
I am no stranger to this track, and recently spent a little time there testing. Newcastle is a track where you need to have a solid race strategy and fantastic Kart setup. The track is known to be really hard on tyres. So we needed to have a plan to keep our tyres as good as possible for the long final. This strategy made me slightly less competitive in the heat races, but would allow me to be competitive in the final. As always there were 5 x 8 minute practice sessions and an 8 minute qualifying session. I was quick in all practice sessions. Qualifying was tight, with only 3 tenths difference between 1st and 10th. I managed to place 6th. This gave me good track position, and had me off 3rd for the first 2 heats, 4th in the 3rd heat and 2nd in the 4th heat before the Final Sunday afternoon.
All four heat races I had great pace and consistent results having finished 3rd, 2nd, 4th (6th with a nose cone penalty) In my final heat race I started 2nd, and came home with a 3rd place. This results put me 4th on the grid for the 20 lap final.
This position gave me an opportunity to bring home a trophy. I got a brilliant start but I went way too deep under brakes, getting hung on the outside and struggled to get back in the line. I lost track position which is so important in the KA2 class. The final was a real battle, however I managed to bring it home in 12th position. I finished 5th in the points for this round, and 8th in the overall national standings. There were 61 entries in the KA2 Class. My goal this year was top 10, looking back I could have been top 5 but my mistakes put me back. It is upsetting but without these mistakes I will not learn for the future, but I know next year I will be better, stronger and more prepared."
Newcastle Kart Club August 19-21
Congratulations Mika on a terrific Championship! The entire team at Grove Racing are so proud of your achievements and look forward to seeing what more you can accomplish in your racing career.
Follow Mika on social media @mika_lemasurier and @grovejuniorteam
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