12-year-old Axel Nocom’s 10-month journey in the Champions of The Future (COTF) Academy has finally come to a close. And what a fitting way to remember the 2024 season by seeing the Filipino karter at the sharp end of the field at the Al Forsan International Sports Resort in the UAE.
With no prior racing experience on the 1.200 km circuit, the Mercedes Young Driver Development Program (YDDP) karter was mid-field at best during the Free Practice sessions on Monday as he was still learning the track. He then ended up P16 during Tuesday Qualifying after getting held up in traffic before finishing 15th and 18th in the Heats, respectively. Ending the first day of racing on a high note, Axel muscled his way through the 15-lap Finals to gain 4 spots and secure a solid 12th place across the finish line.
Applying all that he has learned from his first full year competing overseas, on his debut season in OK-N Junior, Axel saved his best performance of 2024 until the last day of racing.
Fittingly, as the COTF Academy finale coincided with the Formula 1 season ender in Abu Dhabi, the paddock was filled with personalities from up and down the F1 grid. This included several F1 Academy drivers and team executives such as Toto Wolff, who might be scouting for their next junior Mercedes-AMG talent.
Axel dropped a surprise in Wednesday Qualifying by setting the 2nd fastest time of the session – his best Qualifying result to date. This earned him an impressive front-row start in Heat 1, which unfortunately only translated into 6th place at the finish after he got squeezed out by the title contenders. He would get another shot in Heat 2 and this time would see the Filipino karter take the lead at the first corner.
For the very time in COTF Academy, Axel was leading the strong 32-kart field and would hold position until he was passed by championship leader James Anagnostiadis on lap 3. He then came under attack from William Marshall who was also in the title hunt and conceded a few laps later to take the chequered flag in 3rd – his best race result all season.
Now starting from P3 in the Finals, Axel immediately moved up a spot before being passed by Marshall who was chasing after Anagnostiadis for the title. With tensions running high and the championship on the line, making contact was inevitable. His #21 kart picked up some minor damage along the way, but was able to continue on and make it to the end with 6th place in the bag.
From fighting for survival in the first few rounds of COTF Academy, Axel Nocom has truly turned his performance around to become a podium contender as the season wrapped up in Abu Dhabi. His goal was to simply make it to 15th in the championship standings, but instead surpassed that by securing 12th overall out of 48 karters in OK-N Junior.
Axel Nocom: “ We didn’t make it into the Top 10, but it was a great journey – from DNFs during the season opener at Cremona, to racing side-by-side with the title contenders during the finale at Abu Dhabi. In the end, we got 12th overall from a grid of 30. Congrats to Mercedes Junior James Anagnostiadis for taking the title, my dinner buddy William Marshall, and brother from Thailand Toby Gale who always gave me encouragement and advices.”
Axel Nocom is supported by the Mercedes Young Driver Development Philippines, Automobile Association Philippines, Deseño MNL, Petromax Cars, Recaro Philippines, DENSO Spark Plugs, Ceramic Pro Philippines, Ravenol Philippines, AutoPlus Sports, DRIFT XAUST, DRIFT MOTOR Speedway, Ekartraceway, Kart Republic, New Era Cap Philippines, Skullcandy Philippines, Burlington Socks, Simagic, Cammus Philippines, Apex Racing Philippines, Monza Barcade, Pregame Motorsport Merchandise, and DG Budget Hotel.
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[Photos by Jon Gonzales]
