Gianna gains karting experience at future champions Round 5 in the UAE
Gianna Pascoal represented South Africa at the Champions of the Future in the UEA on the weekend of the 15 – 17th of November. This was her first experience on the Al Ain track and she was in contention for an F1 academy seat. She took a walk on the circuit with Coach Wesleigh on Thursday to familiarise herself with the track and collect data. The Friday practise session revealed a few points to improve on as she was consistently 2 tenths off pole.
Coach Wesleigh shared his views of Gianna’s Friday sessions: “Gianna did well in some sessions, but it’s not good enough as we need to start popping into the top 3 on the times sheets now, if she wants to get selected for the F1 academy seats. We still not where we need to be with her pace and she needs to bring more to the track tomorrow for qualifying.” Gianna had never raced on the Al Ain circuit before so she needed to adapt her race craft on the circuit.
Gianna was on form as she had just competed at Redstar Raceway the previous weekend recording a win on the Saturday and Sunday. With a strong field lined up at the Champions of the future, Al Ain Circuit round she regularly finished in the top 10 during free practice as her setup gave her more pace during the Saturday Sessions.
Free Practice results for Round 5 at Al Ain Circuit
Gianna's view of her champions of the future experience
Gianna shared her views of the weekend with us. She states: “We started off strong in the practice session finishing top 6 in every session. On Saturday we had a good quali P10 but unfortunately in heat 1 I crashed on the last lap of the final corner. In heat 2 my engine seized and in the final we started P28 and brought it back for P10 but got taken out. On Sunday we had a problem in quali with a P29 start and finished heat 1 and 2 in P16. I started the final in P15 and finished P15 but got dropped to P19 because of a ten second penalty (front bumper + black and white flag).
Though it was a tough weekend for Gianna, Coach Wesleigh and the Worr Team remain positive and believe she has the potential and will to succeed. We continue to support her and look forward to witnessing the bright future she has ahead of her.