PAOLO NECCHI REVIEWS OUR 2021-2022 SEASON.

We are getting close to the summer and the heat is raising up over UAE. Is now time to chat with our Founder and Team Principal Paolo Necchi to make a full review of the last season and talk about the next projects.

Q: How is the Academy going?

PN: We are very happy about our results. Since we properly started our activity we counted more then 45 customers and actually we are managing around 40 karts including our rental fleet. For the dimension of the karting local market we placed our company in a very high spot mostly being focused on training people and made them faster trough our training program. For the future our targets are to keep as long as possible the deal with the actual customers and to deal with new ones in order to keep this trend for the next year too.

Q: The Kart Advisor Academy Racing Team attended the RMC UAE last season, how do you rate the racing season and which are the next racing goals?

PN: For us was basically the first proper season as a team and we knew that it could have been tough to be competitive in a such experienced field of drivers and teams. The series has grown very much over the season and Rotax is doing a good job in terms of customer care. We will confirm our entry in the upcoming 2022-2023 season too and we are willing to increase the number of drivers. We have already closed some deals and we hope to have a full line up by the end of June. Our future commitment is to have drivers in all the categories and I think that this season we can make this step forward. As an Academy our core business is training the drivers and for that the racing team is just a part of our business and not the fundamental one but just the final step of our training process. The last season we scored a very good P3 with Hannam in the best category of the RMC UAE (Junior) and we are very proud of that. It could have been even better but a TOP 3 in the first season is definitely something that makes me happy. We learnt a lot from some mistakes and we will come back this year with more knowledge and more focus on some technical aspects. By the way all the drivers did a good job with Dharmadasa growing being very competitive, especially in the second half of the season, and my daughter Sofia able to end P7 in the overall Junior standing despite a very bad start of the season for many unlucky events. During the season we have also welcomed Bassier who, despite the short time spent with us, has shown a good potential for the next season. Let’s work hard overviewed the summer and be fully ready for the start of the season in September.

Q: How much has been important the technical support from Birel ART for those achievements?

PN: It has been fundamental. Birel ART is one of the market leader in karting all around the world. Our brand CL belongs to them and we have choosen it knowing the high marketing and technical value. I want to thank also Birel ART Middle East for their full support along the season and I am sure that the best is yet to come. We are pround to be the official dealer for UAE of Charles Leclerc Karting brand and the good F1 results scored by him for sure will boost even more our sales. On top of that we are also discussing with Birel ART about some other projects that soon we will unveil.

Q: Recently you have launched a SIM training program…can you explain in details the project?

PN: This is a project in which I really trust for the future. Motorsport is very expensive and it’s becoming mostly unaffordable for those that want to get into it. The idea to develop a proper “virtual’ academy starts from this specific topic. Our idea is to get two different customers: virtual racer and real racer. Both are definitely fitting in our programmes and are all prospects for us. We both a professional SIM and we have defined 4 different trainings with different kind of cars and different kind of tracks. Virtual racing and testing is nowadays very common and there is a very big and already mature market for this industry. For sure is something in which we will keep investing in the future.

Q: Which important news are coming up from the academy?

PN: We have many projects on the table and we don’t want to unveil anything until all will be totally done. For sure we will have at least 2-3 new drivers in the racing team and some important news regarding the virtual academy. Stay tuned and you’ll see and not get deluded.

Q: Any chance to see the academy involved in motorsport instead of only karting?

PN: Actually is not in our short term plan but we never know. Karting is the grass root of motorsport and the idea to create a second step for our driver is in our mind. Actually we are still “new” in karting so our first goal is to succeed in this before moving forward. For sure we will evaluate some options about car racing in the future.

Q: Final question…what do you think about the overall karting industry in UAE?

PN: Honestly when I arrived here in 2018 I did not expect such level of drivers. Nothing is comparable to Europe but who think that racing here is an “easy job” would made an epic fail. Some drivers are quick and expert and their team experienced and well prepared. From the promoter side both IAME and Rotax there are trying to get the best out of their series but a better cooperation between them, the tracks and the EMSO (UAE Motorsport Federation) could lead to some better results.