Indian racer Dion Gowda scored a personal best qualifying result of third overall at ProKart Raceland, Germany for Round 3 of the FIA Karting European Championship, securing a front-row start for all five Heat races across Saturday and Sunday.

Coming off the back of a positive, albeit disappointing Round 2, Dion was in fine form at the Wackersdorf circuit. Despite missing two dry test days performed by competing teams earlier in the week of 7th September, Dion arrived to an initially wet ProKart Raceland with time to gain. He worked together with team Ricky Flynn Motorsport and Kokoro Performance coach Harrison Scott to extract performance from his kart prior to Friday afternoon’s Qualifying session.

Dion described ‘it all coming together’ by Friday afternoon’s practice, and the 12-year-old driver duly made the most of his talent by qualifying just two tenths shy of the overall fastest time, topping his group’s session by 0.121s.

1.    48.381s – Alex Powell – Jamaica
2.    48.475s – Ugo Ugochukwu – USA
3.    48.598s – Dion Gowda – IND

Reflecting on his performance, Dion said;

“We started on the back foot this weekend, as most other teams tested earlier in the week before we got there. It was dry for them and wet for us, so I maybe got just one relevant run in to dial the kart in before Qualifying. Initially we struggled to find pace in the kart but we worked at it, and over Friday it just got better and better. In the third practice that day it finally all came together! It feels good to be starting from the front.”

Saturday morning brought the first of that day’s four Qualifying Heats, with Dion starting each at the very front thanks to his efforts.

Qualifying Heat 1 – 2nd, after abrilliant battle with Tony Kart driver Harley Keeble.
Qualifying Heat 2 – 6th
Qualifying Heat 3 – 4th
Qualifying Heat 4 – DNF, contact on Lap 2.
Qualifying Heat 5 – 4th

Despite his lack of experience in leading the racing pack down to Turn 1, Dion fought valiantly to remain at the sharp end of each Heat – with the exception of Heat 4’s unfortunate incident. Another competitor forced Dion wide onto the grass and into a spin, ending his hopes of a deserved Final grid starting position.

“[The plan] was to go out there and do the same I’ve always done. I could sense the opportunity we had starting at the front for each heat – I gave myself the best chance for a good result in Qualifying. However, leading the pack into a start is not something I’ve experienced before and doing it at this level, and with everyone so close, it’s a challenge. We had the pace all weekend to challenge for wins, including in the Final, but perhaps the extra pressure of that being achievable was something that interfered with being fully focused on my personal objectives. Still, I’ve learnt a lot and feel really good going into my next races [at South Garda].”

The unfortunate non-finish meant Dion would line up 19th of 36 qualifiers for Sunday’s Final event, which proved to be a long battle of attrition with several other karts keen to break the top 10. Starting from the inside row, Dion made a clean getaway and focused on making progress through the field over the coming laps, eventually finding himself 12th. His charge was soon halted however, as unavoidable contact bumped him back down the order to 17th with just a few laps left to race.

Speaking of the Final, Dion said;

“It was tough to come through the pack. The top 10 broke away and pretty much from there back, it was a massive fight for position. I made good progress to around 12th with a few laps to go, before being pushed wide and dropping back. It’s just how it goes sometimes. There is still some fine-tuning we need to do, but all of the elements are there now. I’ll learn from the negative experiences this weekend and push for a good result next time out.”

There’s no rest for the young Indian – Dion returns to racing action this very weekend at South Garda Karting, Italy, for Rounds 2 and 3 of the WSK Euro Series.

Full Results at FIA Karting | Photography by LRN Photo ©

Dion Gowda is supported by Strawberry Star Group, Ricky Flynn Motorsport, Kokoro Performance and Minus 273.

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