All the hard work Axel Nocom has put in – spending weeks in Italy in training – has finally paid off. Despite a rocky first day of racing, the Filipino karter was able to land a 10th place finish on Sunday at Franciacorta during Round 3 of the Champions of The Future (COTF) Academy.
The 12-year-old’s performance on Friday was very promising. He was within the Top 10 for most of the Free Practice sessions, eventually ending up 4th fastest amongst the OK-N Junior Class runners by the day’s end. However, the team fully understood that this was not a true indication of Axel’s speed as he was mainly following the lines of teammate Conor Clancy who is the current UAE Rotax and IAME Junior Champion. Still, it allowed Axel to get on pace faster than if he were to do it alone.
Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out quite how they expected it to be on Saturday. With 36 karts sharing the same piece track and only a 6 minute Qualifying session, everyone only had 2 or 3 laps to put in a fast time. Axel was one of many who missed their chance after getting held up by traffic, which explains why he ended up in P32.
This was then followed by a series of misfortunes that nullified Axel’s potential on track. Fighting through a chaotic start, he managed to gain several places in Heat 1 and found himself in P27. His race, however, ended on lap 4 after another karter spun out and collected Axel in the process. Heat 2 was even worse as he was involved in a first corner pile up that wiped out a third of the field himself included. Axel’s luck once again ran out in the Finals where he suffered a DNF early on after making contact with another karter.
Despite a day filled with disappointments, Axel came back on Sunday filled with determination. P10 in Qualifying was a huge improvement and his best starting position in COTF Academy to date. But with competition this tight, the lone karter from the Philippines had to get his elbows if he wanted a strong result. After gaining a spot at the start of Heat 1, he came under attack and gradually fell back to 17th where he would finish. Heat 2 was another sparring match for Axel, but this time he was slapped with a 5.0 secs drop bumper penalty that relegated him to 27th place.
Bringing together all his learnings from 3 weeks in Italy, Axel saved his best performance for last. He would start from P18 in the Finals just behind Ella Hakkinen – daughter of 2-time F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen – and got the hole shot to move up to P12 at the end of the first lap. A product of the Mercedes Young Driver Development Philippines (YDDP), Axel then timed his overtakes perfectly to move into a Top 10 position. Maintaining strength, composure, and focus in such demanding conditions, in scorching 35 dec. C weather, for 17 laps wasn’t easy. Axel had to dig deep and mustered all his strength just to make it to the chequered flag to secure a hard-earned 10th place in COTF Academy.
With his results in Franciacorta, Axel Nocom now sits 21st in OK-N Junior against a field of some of the best Junior karters in the world. It’ll be 2 months before the 2024 season resumes at the Dubai Kartdrome on October 4/6. But before that, he’s flying back to Europe in September for the T4 Nations Cup at the International Kartodromo Lucas Guerrero in Valencia.
Axel Nocom: “I’m very happy with the race in Franciacorta, not only because of the results but many of the other drivers are supportive as well. Thankful for having a quick teammate Conor who guided me during practice and coach Tom Joyner and mechanic Kyle Moore. Need to improve more on race craft and defense. I also need more stamina, especially in the hot weather that drained me.”
Axel Nocom is supported by the Mercedes Young Driver Development Philippines, Ceramic Pro, Drift Motor Speedway, Cammus Philippines, Recaro Philippines, Ekartraceway, Apex Racing Philippines, Pregame Motorsport Merchandise, DENSO, Burlington, DG Budget Hotel, and Time Attack Manila.
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