Young kart driver has big league dreams

When I met Michael Ilavia he was unzipping his driving suit, saying, “Seems like it’s not pulling very fast.”

His mechanic, Eddie, looking a little haggard and frustrated, snapped back, “It’s not going to pull fast out of the corners. You’re going to have to keep the speed up.”

To which Ilavia nodded, seeming to think about where and how to do that. A few feet away another group was readying to go out for their first practice.

This was intense stuff. Apprehension so thick you could feel it all. Racing, like any other, I suppose; but this seemed more critical, more significant.

Eddie, who never stopped wrenching on the kart while I was there, commented matter-of-factly to me: “It’s not real fast right now. We’re way off. It’s geared too high”

Ilavia had just been out for the first time in his machine, a shifter kart, at GrandSport Speedway. He’s been kart racing two years and understands the physics of racing as well as anybody who’s been in this a lot longer.

In fact, Llavia’s only 10 years old. At this age, he has aspirations of greatness. You could see it in his face that weekend. His dad, Eddie, seemed to want nothing more than a few tenths of a second out of that machine that afternoon. He appeared to be there for the emotional contact high he got from his son.

Up and down the pit lane was the same story. Some drivers are youngsters, like Ilavia, trying to move up into racing. Some are young men, looking to hone their skills in order to drive full-sized race cars.

Some are businessmen, looking to finally quench their thirst for speed after all their years mired at work and making money. Karting is the quick fix, and it lets them know if they have what it takes to spend part of their well-earned fortune to take that next step.

Others are retired, and racing karts because they cost so little to buy and maintain. It can still cost up to $100,000 to race a full season of competitive karting. But most spend just a fraction of that. Ilavia has about $6,000 into his whole operation.

The appeal to karting, besides the cost is the competition. Up-and-comers drive karts because they are so responsive, so close to real open-wheel racing. Of the current crop of Formula One stars, all have had some sort of karting experience. Most have been kart champions. The fast way to the big leagues is through karting. And every kart driver out there is well aware of that fact.

Llavia wants to race. Like any young kid, he undoubtedly would like to make a living out of it. Time will tell if that’s a viable possibility. But his kart, a Tag Monza 60 cc two-stroke Gazelle Cadet Kart, is quick, almost as quick as a lower-rung formula car in power-to-weight ratio. Even so, he and Eddie, his father, have just $6,000 into this hobby. Eddie, who no longer races, is just there to assist his son.

Llavia is quick, turning laps at 1.13 seconds. which puts him at an average of 65 miles per hour. He weighs about 105 pounds and stands about 4 feet, 5 inches. He already knows as much about entry and exit of corners as the bigger, wiser (… hopefully) competitors.

His path will be hard. His competitors will make their career moves based on how good he is. In any racing, the goal is to always go faster. In karting, however, the pressure is on all the time to produce mind-numbingly quick lap times. Even if you’re 10 years old.

Llavia is still a kid. He could be in little league, Pop Warner, or tennis camp. His chosen sport just happens at a top speed of 75 miles per hour.

Like any competitive kid, he wants to win. And like his competitors, he has his role models. They just tend to be different from the Alex Rodriguezes, Mario Williamses and Yao Mings of mainstream sport.

“I like Lewis Hamilton,” he said sheepishly. “He’s young and he’s good at racing.”

That’s apropos. Ten years ago, Hamilton was this boy’s age, when he said the same thing about Michael Schumacher, who also came up in karts. Hamilton showed so well in karts that Mclaren signed him at that age to campaign karts. Ten years later, in Hamilton’s first year as an F1 driver, he missed winning the championship by one point.

I left father and son tweaking the kart, trying to squeeze some extra power out if it, looking for that elusive edge that puts one on top. And dreaming of what happens next.

Know of a newsworthy local driver, rider, team or event? Contact Tony Sakkis at tesakkis(at)hotmail.com and let him know.