Call it even. 12 months after a DNS denied him of a potential podium finish, Axel Nocom finally got his payback in the 2024 Nations Cup. The Filipino karter chose his battles well at the International Kartodromo Lucas Guerrero in Valencia, Spain – opting to strike when it mattered to land a 3rd place finish on Sunday.
Now competing a category up in T4 Junior, the Mercedes Young Driver Development Philippines (YDDP) karter was up against a huge 58-kart entry list. Only 36 of which will get a spot to compete in the Finals.
Axel was 10th fastest during Official Practice on Friday, but complained of a lack of top speed. This robbed him of as much as half a second a lap to the front-runners including his teammate and fellow countryman Prix Trivino who was 3rd in Qualifying. Despite being 4 km/h slower on the straights, Axel managed to limit the damage and set the 5th fastest time during the session.
Impressively, a clean run during the first Heat saw the 12-year-old improve a spot to finish in 4th and within striking distance to 3rd. Still nursing an ailing engine on Saturday, Axel again had to play the long game in Heat 2. He stayed in P5 for most of the race, opting to conserve his tires as the Top 4 battled for position. Then, on the very last lap, he saw an opening when the leaders got crossed up and took 2nd as the chequered flag dropped. Axel’s lucky streak, however, ended in Heat 3. He fell farther and farther behind due to a lack in power and could no longer keep up, eventually crossing the line in a lowly 7th.
As the day came to a close, the team ultimately decided to do an engine teardown and traced Axel’s woes to a blown gasket. Thankfully, it was a quick fix, but the fear of last year’s DNS which was also caused by an engine issue lingered in the air.
Now running on full power, Axel was finally able to unleash his true potential on Sunday. He began the day by winning the Super Heat after the leaders Irish IAME X30 Champion Scott Reilly and British Rotax Champion Daniel Hartley came together. This gifted him 1st place and earned him P4 on the starting grid for the Finals.
Unfortunately, a slow getaway undid all of his hard work and dropped him to P10. Axel was again playing catchup as the strong 36-kart field made its way around the 1.428 km circuit. But as soon as his tires was up to temperature, the young Filipino picked off his competitors one by one. Crucially, all karters were given only 1 set of tires to last the entire event from Qualifying ’til the Finals. Since he was unable to push on Friday and Saturday due to his power issues, this inadvertently gave Axel an advantage in the Finals as he had fresher tires. This allowed him to challenge for position as his rivals struggled with grip.
Axel made a clean move up to P3 on lap 7 and now had the leaders Reilly and Hartley in his sights. Although he was able to close the gap, he ran out laps but secured a hard-earned 3rd place in the Finals.
Meanwhile, fellow countryman Jiggy Javier from Cebu came in a close 4th, while Prix Trivino who was running strong all weekend was 8th across the line.
Axel Nocom is supported by the Mercedes Young Driver Development 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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