Phoenix FM-sponsored karting champion Lochlan Bearman took on some of the best drivers in Europe over the week in the BNL Championship warm up round in Genk in Belgium.
The BNL series attracts top drivers from all over Europe as the top 3 in the Championship get a free entry into the World Finals which can be held anywhere from Dubai to Las Vegas with all equipment provided.
13 year old Bearman had to move up a racing category from Minimax to Junior Rotax where the age limit is 17 to compete in this race. Whilst most of the teams and drivers had arrived days earlier to test and get set-ups for the karts Bearman and the CooperMotorsport Team arrived on Friday evening ready to test on Saturday and race Sunday.
Genk is a long and technical circuit and the team started with a track walk. Then for the first practise session it was guesswork to set the chassis, gearing and tyre pressures. Bearman was also running a new Praga chassis, and driving a Rotax Junior for the first time. Practise session one was learning the track and getting the feel of the chassis, all was going well until the chain came off and left Bearman stranded out on the circuit.
Session 2 went even better and Bearman was making steady progress. Already faster than his 2 team mates who are experienced in Junior Rotax the youngster was finding the limits and the right lines.
In Session 3 he went even faster before an engine failed and left him stranded again. With many karts running new components called an ‘Evo kit’ Bearman managed to secure a kit and another motor to go out in session 4. This time he was much faster and closing in on the top 10 times.
The rain came and the team had to guess at wet setups. In the 2 wet sessions that completed the day they were all going quicker with Bearman now threatening the top 10 times.
Race morning dawned with heavy rain. The drivers took part in practise and Bearman came in asking for further changes to the Praga’s set-up before qualifying which would determine the grid for the pre-final. As the karts took to the track it was immediately apparent that the changes made were working as Bearman pulled away from those behind him whilst still learning where to use a wide line or use the kerbs for the best time. When the chequered flag signalled the end of qualifying Bearman had qualified an amazing 9th out of the 29 competitors who came from all over Europe.
In the Pre-final Bearman was run wide at the first corner and lost many places dropping to 16th place but he kept calm and began to pick off those ahead one by one eventually coming across the line in 8th, meaning he would start the final from 8th on the grid.
Tension was in the air as the field rounded the final turn to take the start with a big crowd on their feet to watch. Bearman made a great start and slotted into the inside for the first turn getting up to 7th place. As they exited turn the Italian Michalangelo Amendola pushed him off the circuit onto the grass. Bearman maintained control but dropped down to 14th. Again he began to claw his way back through the field and having passed 4 in front of him he was visibly closing on the front runners. The CooperMotorsport team were now of the opinion that a top result was achievable. As they entered the last corner Amendola was in front and ran into the back of another kart, this slowed him down and on the exit Bearman powered through on the inside. He was clearly past and on the racing line when Amendola inexplicable turned in on him. The karts touched and Bearman was thrown into the air completing a full 360 spin over the top of Amendola, incredibly he landed facing forward, and calmly re-started the kart and continued although now he was down in about 20th place.
Yet again he began to recover positions eventually finishing 16th. The BNL final positions are taken from the results of qualifying and the 2 races to give an overall finishing result. Despite his problems Bearman was classified 9th overall.
“It was an incredible experience”, he said. “Whilst the Final was disappointing from the poor driving, overall the driving standards have been far better than in the UK. I now know that I could win in Europe and I really want to have that chance to compete in the full series.”
Bearman’s father John commented “I’m so proud, what he done is remarkable. He’s never raced in this category, he’s never driven here before and yet he was definitely in with a chance of at least competing for a podium position before he was taken out. I’d also like to thanks Gary Cooper of CooperMotorsport who has done another amazing job to get a set-up that worked without being here before and competing against all these teams with experience and day’s worth of testing beforehand.”
Cooper commented, “I am sure that has surprised a few people. This unknown team from the UK turning up and only running on the Saturday and then putting in a very competitive showing, The boys and dads have worked really hard this weekend and did not get the rewards they deserved.
“I do hope that Lochlan can find the funds to compete in the full championship as he really would have a chance.”
If anyone would like to support Lochlan or get involved please contact his father John on Bearman.racing@gmail.com.
