The engines are booming on the Lucien Lebret circuit in Anneville-Ambourville. This weekend, the circuit on which Pierre Gasly was trained will host the French karting cup. In total, 230 competitors, from all over France, are present at the event. Among them is Tom. This 13-year-old Norman is classified in the cadet category but at a national level.
“I hope to make a podium already but I think I can win, tells Tom who knows the circuit by heart. I saw my dad here when I was 4 or 5 years old. I saw him having fun with his friends and at one point I tried rental karting, I immediately liked it so I wanted to do it all the time. “
– Manon Lombart-Brunel
“We cross fingers”
From passion to competition, there is only one step. Almost all of Tom’s weekends are taken by training or championships. “We get a stomach ache in a weekend, we have it at least 15 times, says Geraldine, Tom’s mother who came to support him. There it is in Anneville so Tom knows the track and it’s even more stressful because the other competitors will be behind him. We cross fingers.”
Make Normandy shine
“We still have two, three sizes that go fast, explains Claude Gripon, the president of the Normandy karting league. In minimal and junior, we have kids who are already champions of France and they are part of the Norman team there. “
– Manon Lombart-Brunel
“The pilots who are here at home, they want to show themselves at all costs, put on his side Jean-Charles Dumont, the president of ASK Rouen. If the mechanics want it, they have to be on the podium. You have to win because if the club wins, it is the Normandy region which will also have the pride of having top-level drivers. ”