Kart
WSK: Gustavo Menezes Salbris summary
TOUGH OUTING FOR MENEZES IN FRANCE FOR WSK INTERNATIONAL SERIES EVENT Up and down weekend for Tony Kart Junior Racing Team driver SALBRIS, FRANCE (July 26, 2009) -- Riding high off his recent success at the European Championships in Spain, ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:34 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
TOUGH OUTING FOR MENEZES IN FRANCE FOR WSK INTERNATIONAL SERIES EVENT
Up and down weekend for Tony Kart Junior Racing Team driver
SALBRIS, FRANCE (July 26, 2009) -- Riding high off his recent success at the European Championships in Spain, American karting star Gustavo Menezes looked to be locked in for another solid weekend at the fifth round of the WSK International Series. Coming into the event 14th in the KF3 championship standings, the Californian nearly pulled off a victory at the previous round until contact took him out of contention. The weekend at the Circuit de Salbris south of Paris however did not pan out as predicted for the 14-year old.
Testing leading up to Saturday morning's qualifying session was successful with Menezes in the mix among the quick drivers. Though he had improved his qualification techniques in previous rounds, Menezes fastest lap was not what he had hoped for, ending up 24th out of 53 drivers. His result placed him in Group D and starting in the fifth row of each of the four heat races. The first three saw Menezes hold his ground strong. Moving up to eighth in the first heat, Menezes ran seventh after improving his race craft on track. Posting fast laps of the third heat, Menezes was up to fourth until a brake issue cost him positions near the end of the race, dropping him to ninth. His final heat race was the best performance of the qualifying races as he knifed his way up to the fourth position.
When tallying the points from the four events, Menezes' consistency earned him a 13th grid position for the Prefinal. The 14-lap race Sunday afternoon was a tough battle with the tight field. Menezes was on the charge early, working himself up to fifth place until getting hit off the track by another driver on lap 10. He fell back to around 25th position and worked back to 18th, where he would finish outside of the points. Starting in the finishing position for the main event, Menezes would again gain ground on the leaders early as he progressed inside the top-10. A spun kart directly in front of him cost Menezes any chance of a good finish. Once he was pointed the right direction, Menezes was nearly in the last position and began running times similar to those of the leaders, eventually working himself up to the 21st position.
The Tony Kart Junior Racing Team driver will return home to California where he will have roughly a month to prepare for the CIK-FIA KF3 World Cup event in Sarno, Italy on September 3-6. Menezes will spend the time preparing mentally and physically, making contacts with his sponsors and supporters while also taking time to out to be a 14-year old on summer break.
-credit: gustavomenezes.com
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article WSK: CRG Racing Team Salbris summary
Next article WSK: Series Salbris summary
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Gustavo Menezes
Menezes to make ELMS return with DragonSpeed
European Le Mans
European Le Mans
Red Bull Ring
Menezes to make ELMS return with DragonSpeed
Menezes: Le Mans quali lap put me on Peugeot radar
WEC
WEC
Menezes: Le Mans quali lap put me on Peugeot radar
Magnussen, di Resta land 2022 Peugeot WEC drives
WEC
WEC
Magnussen, di Resta land 2022 Peugeot WEC drives
Latest news
Autosport Business Exchange New York Examines the Forces Driving Racing’s Next Era of Growth in America
General
Misc General 10 min
Autosport Business Exchange New York Examines the Forces Driving Racing’s Next Era of Growth in America
Dan Ticktum secures Formula E Gen4 berth with newly-acquired Fortescue Zero team
Formula E
FE Formula E 16 min
Dan Ticktum secures Formula E Gen4 berth with newly-acquired Fortescue Zero team
Marc Marquez targeting “as close to 37 points as possible” at Aprilia-friendly Phillip Island
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Marc Marquez targeting “as close to 37 points as possible” at Aprilia-friendly Phillip Island
Porsche's IMSA GTP programme set to end: Could Penske switch to Cadillac?
WEC
WEC WEC
Losail
1 h
Porsche's IMSA GTP programme set to end: Could Penske switch to Cadillac?
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe