Axel Nocom delivered one of his most promising performances when the Champions of the Future Academy (COTFA) visited the Kartodromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero in Valencia, Spain. After qualifying an impressive P4 on Saturday and setting the fastest time in Sunday practice, he showed he had the pace to fight at the front. He secured an 8th-place finish, but the coveted podium remained out of reach on the second day of racing.
Having competed on this circuit just a year ago, Axel was quick out of the gate and was 11th fastest out of 36 drivers in Free Practice. A solid lap in Qualifying then placed him on the second row of the grid for Saturday.
He kept it tidy in Heat 1 to finish 5th. In Heat 2, he was even closer to the front—just 0.864 seconds behind the leader when he crossed the line in 6th. Starting from P5 for the Finals, Axel held his ground against tough competition over 14 laps and brought it home in a solid 8th place, with valuable championship points in the bag.
Picking up where he left off, Axel began Sunday by topping the time sheets in morning Practice. But his strong pace came to null when he got bottled up in Qualifying. Unable to get a clean lap, he had to settle for a lowly P21 on the grid.
Things then went from bad to worse in Heat 1. His race ended after just a few hundred meters when contact from another karter forced him into a DNF. Determined to salvage what he could from the weekend, Axel staged a recovery drive in Heat 2. He climbed to P17 early on and held position for most of the race before slingshotting his way to 13th at the finish.
Starting from P26 in the Finals, Axel already knew it would take a miracle to get into the points. His best efforts allowed him to move up a spot at almost every lap, but sadly it wasn’t enough. The lone Filipino karter on the grid concluded Round 2 of COTFA in 18th place.
While it wasn’t the result he had hoped for, his strong showing in Valencia proves that Axel is gradually closing the gap to his rivals—and that a podium finish may soon be within reach.
Currently 13th in the championship standings, he’ll resume his COTFA campaign on July 4/6 at the Pista Azzurra Jesolo in Italy.
Axel Nocom is supported by the Mercedes Young Driver Development Philippines, Deseño MNL, 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.
Those interested in following in Axel’s footsteps to race competitively overseas can inquire at the Axel Motorsports page on Facebook.
[Photos courtesy of Box Box Photography]
