It was the first time Fabienne Lanz drove the Formula K shifter kart at the Vereeniging kart track with the Parilla X30 125cc engine.
Unfortunately, just before practice, Lanz had an accident at home slipping on the steps and landing on the base of her spine. Thankfully no serious damage was done but still left her battered and bruised.
Friday practice was a pace slower whilst walking, but once in the kart Lanz raced through the pain she had in her coccyx trying to analyse whether she was on pace, due to the accident restricting some movement.
Deciding to go ahead and race, Friday proved to be a late night for the team perfecting the kart set up. With Saturday’s warm up session Lanz gave the kart some final tweaks in time for qualifying.
Lanz has a new team mate, Connor Rogers, who helped her secure the maiden Pole position for the Formula K team, setting a blistering time of 47.147. With her tyres going off, Lanz had to pit early hoping she had done enough to maintain the fastest time. Team mate Connor came in early too after a broken water pipe ended his qualifying session.
“I had the most awesome feeling when the commentator announced ‘Fabienne Lanz is still on pole taking one for the ladies’ our hard work paid off and I was on Pole. There were 18 karts on the grid and the 2nd placed qualifier did a 47.158 so it was really close,” commented an elated Lanz.
“The race was a difficult one as I still need more practice with the standing starts using a clutch in my hand. Also, changing positions in the seat as much as I could alternating my seating position to rest on each leg so that my coccyx does to hurt too much proved to be real challenge especially through the tight corners.
“I had some coming together with an overzealous competitor who drove into me twice and set me back. The one shunt was so hard and continuous I thought my accelerator cable stuck open. We eventually ended 6th overall for the day and I got the fastest lap. All in all, an awesome outing for us,” said Lanz.
“I’d like to thank my sponsors, and supporters for all their hard work who make it possible for us to go out there and race,” concluded Lanz.
The next race for Lanz is on 20th April at Zwartkops in the X30 125cc Shifter Class.
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