Toro Rosso’s Formula 1 rookie Jaime Alguersuari will confirm his status over the weekend of September 5–6 as perhaps the busiest man in motor racing, when he adds yet another championship challenge to a list that already contains World Series by Renault as well as F1.
Jaime is taking on the Karting World Championship in Sarno, Italy, though the Spanish F1 star hasn’t raced a kart in anger since 2005. But in a bid to get as much track time as possible to up his F1 game, Jaime has accepted an invitation from the Intrepid factory team to race in the KZ1 series for the world title. At the team, he’ll hook up with current European kart champion Bas Lammers (son of former F1 star Jan) to take on the best in the world. Upwards of 80 drivers will contest the opening rounds at the Sarno track, near Naples, with just 34 making it through to the grand final on Sunday.
“Being an F1 driver ay my age is a privilege that requires me to become better every single day,” said Alguersuari of the kart challenge. “So I try to fight with the best drivers in the world outside of F1… On the Sarno track, there will be the best drivers in the world, the whole of the karting industry and the world’s most powerful karts. It is also an honor to be one of the younger drivers of this world karting championship 2009 and be able to fight against them.”
The decision to take up the invitation from Intrepid hasn’t caused the young F1 star any problems with his team, either.
“With Franz [Tost, Toro Rosso team principal], we understood each other perfectly from the first moment we met, the same with Giorgio Ascanelli [team technical manager]. Both are very demanding, but they agree with me that, based on my age, I should continue a process of training at a top level, which I would also have developed if I hadn’t entered into F1 so early.”
And with the boss giving his consent, Alguersuari is looking forward to the fight in Italy.
“In Sarno, my first challenge will be to make the cut and qualify among the 34 top drivers for the final – if I succeed, I will have achieved 50 per cent of my goals,” he said. And the other half?
“Frankly, finishing among the top 10 in the world would be good enough!”
Once the weekend is over, there’s no rest, though. The following weekend, it’s back to F1 action at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, and thereafter, the final two rounds of the World Series by Renault championship, in which, after victory in Portimão last month, Alguersuari now lies third. The rookie insists that he’s not spreading himself too thin, though.
“No one demands more of me than myself,” he says. “I know who I am: a rookie in F1 at 19 years old. My chance will come sooner or later, but it will depend on the circumstances. I can’t decide the circumstances, but I can decide about my training, so I’m going to run in the world KZ1 championship – and the World Series by Renault, with the aim of winning that in my debut season.”
By RedBull and F1SA
