The fourth and final round of the 2019 Euroseries took place at Salbris in France. With the championship set to be decided this was a perfect opportunity for me to demonstrate my capability to run up front against the toughest competition.

I was consistsently on the pace and achieved great results in my heats and the prefinal.

In the final I started P9 but with patience and excellent racecraft I worked my way up to P3 on lap 14 of 19. With a podium in site I held on but couldn’t make it to the end as the top 4 in the championship battled around me.

I finished 9th on track which i was really pleased with given this was only my second race at the European championship level

Round 4 of the Benelux championships was an opportunity to score some strong points on a track I did well on last year. It was to prove more of a challenge than I anticipated.

With an extra day of testing on Thursday I expected to get rid of any rustiness ahead of official practice on Friday but instead we ended up chasing our tails unable to find a problem that was robbing us of a second a lap (an eternity at this level). Running out of options, the team asked former World Champion Danny Kierle to jump in and see if he could find the problem. He couldn’t, so the risky but necessary decision was taken to swap the trusty Alonso chassis for Kart Republic.

Satyurday dawned with constant rain foecast. I was going to have to drive the KR machine for the first time in wet conditions knowing that qualifiying might well be dry. It is at times like these that teamwork pays off and Team Evolution and mechanic JP were able to provide me with set ups with which i could attack the track aggressively.

I qualified reasonably well in 13th in my half of the draw on a drying track and would have been a lot higher but I was baulked on my last flying lap. Knowing I had the pace I started my three heats in 13th an steadily made my way forward securing a 5th, 8th and 6th place meaning I would line up for the final in 10th.

Finally as the final approached on Sunday the weather improved meaning we would start on slicks but I knew I wold have my work cut out. I was confident in the set up from the team but there had been no opportunity to finesse the settings to my driving style so I would have to adapt. I did. Starting 10th I held my own, only falling to 11th in the latter stages as a more expereinced driver with better tyres was able to outpace me.

A great learning weekend which taught me the importance of resilience and teamwork in delivering results in sport. Once dropped rounds are taken into account I am standing 11th in the championship standings and 3rd rookie with one round left at Mariembourg.

This year has been one of constant improvement.

I started the year in Mariembourg, Belgium in the IAME Benelux championship but was unlucky to capitalise on my strong pace in qualifying and early heats when a rain affected heat saw me relegated to plumb last and I had to settle for a place in the B final.

At Ostricourt, France I was able to prove myself and until the last lap of the final was in a strong position to take the Senior Novice Trophy before a coming together saw me bring the kart home in 13th.

Swapping to my first Euro Series race in Castalleto, Italy, I was unable to get on the pace in an extremely competitive field but acquitted myslef strongly in the B final gaining 17 places.

Back to the Benelux Series and my progress continued to improve and I sscore my first European top 10 position with 9th in Spa, Belgium.

Whilton Mill was the venue for Alfie’s first outing in Senior racing. After a strong practice session on Saturday we knew we had a good set up and could be on the pace but Alfie would need to be laser focused to race well against a quality field on Sunday.

Alfie improved throughout his heats only going forward and would have qualified better for the final if not for an oiled up plug at the start of Heat 1 and having to take avoiding action in a first corner Heat 3 incident.

Starting 15th in the final, Alfie improved steadily and was able t work his way up to 11th on the track before being promoted to 7th as others ahead of him were disqualified for gaining an unfair advantage by exceeding track limits.

A great start to Alfie’s Senior career and a great first race with Team Evolution.

After two successful years in the Junior category, Alfie has moved up to Senior to target further success in Europe in 2019.

After winning many honours in Cadet and Junior categories with Ambition Motorsports, Alfie is moving to Team Evolution to target top honours in his first year in Senior. In preparation Alfie spent an intensive two days in testing at Campillos Karting Centre in Spain, working with Evolution to hone his skills for a first race at Whilton Mill in late January 2019.

Alfie Prince Winter testing in Campillos Spain

Round 3 of the IAME Benelux championship took us to Genk, the home track of F1 drivers Max Verstappen and Stoffel van Doorne.

The circuit is extremely complex with many technical turns and an abrasive surface that rewards the smooth driver. Alfie worked on his technique in tough practice sessions on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday saw us qualify P16 a steady improvement on the previous two rounds and that would put on the fourth row for the heats. Our first heat gave us a P8 but the best was to come in our second heat where a great start saw us up to P2 before tyre deterioration saw us slip back to P8. This was another promising sign getting closer to the front.

The final on Sunday was tough and Alfie raced well with the top 10 all closely battling. As the group spread itself out we were left in 10th and finished there.

A very productive weekend and now looking forward to the final round in Ostricourt, France lying 10th in the championship.  

On 28th May Alfie travelled to Spa-Francorchamps in the beautiful Belgian Ardennes forest to compete in Round 2 of the IAME Benelux Series.

The circuit is perfectly nestled within the historic F1 track and as he went out for practice on Saturday the high shrill of the IAME kart engines was occassionally drowned out by Maclaren owners blasting there way just to the left down through Blanchimont. The kart circuit itself is short flowing and fast but the biggest challenge is the chicane just before the home straight. Get this wrong and it will spit you into the wall and a rapid trip to the kart shop.

Unfortunately, with this being a new track to Alfie and with much to change to find speed and grip , he was not perfectly set up for Saturday qualifying and could only manage 22nd. But each time he took to the track he was getting better. Starting 15th in his first heat he drove the wheels off the kart and got up to 10th despite damage to his exhaust which was misdirecting the burning gases up the back of his neck.

Come Sunday, we were greeted with rain for practice and further speed was coming. So much so that in Alfie's second seat he was able to make progress from 15th to 6th. He would start the final in 12th.

The final was contested over 19 laps and was a terrific contest. Alfie worked his way up steadily with UK rival Zach Ripley to 7th. With Zach ahead of him the pair were able to gap the karts behind and set about chasing the leaders. Depsite closing the gap in the closong laps it was too much. On the last lap, Zach left the door open and Alfie threw his kart donw the inside as the approached the long donwhill 180 left but he left his braking too late and Zach was able to cut back inside to preserve the position. 7th position was safe and Alfie came home very pleased with such a strong showing.

Alfie lies 12th in the standings after two rounds with Genk, Belgium and Ostricourt, France to come in the summer.

Having secured 3rd place in the Buckmore Park Chmapionship in his rookie year, Alfie is turning his attention to the next level of challenge. In 2018 he will compete in the IAME Benelux challenge, The Open Plate UK meeting and the British Kart Grand Prix. The aim is to secure a coveted invitation to the X30 International Finals in October 2018.

2017: Junior Class

After a winter of continous testing and two third places in warm up events Alfie achieved winner's laurels in the first race of the 2017 Buckmore Park Summer Championships. He has followed that up with a Grand Slam in the Kent Kart Championship, qualifying in pole and winning the heat, pre-final and final.

In the Kartmasters British Kart Grand Prix Alfie raced from 33rd to 16th in the final to secure a coveted automatic inviation to the Inetrnational IAME Finals 2017 at Le Mans.

Alfie rounded off 2017 with a well deserved 3rd place trophy in the last ever Buckmore Park Club Championship.

---

2016: National Championship

In 2016 Alfie took the next step up in his karting career, entering the British Super 1 Championship. With his birthday falling on the 31st December this would be his one and only chance to compete at this level as a Cadet.

The year began well with a solid start in Cumbria and was swiftly followed by achieving 7th place in the National Open Plate race meeting at Bayford Meadows.

Unfortunately, as we took the long trip to Scotland it was becoming obvious that Alfie was growing beyond the kart and it was robbing him of the precious tenths of seconds needed to compete at the highest level. 

We took the option to jump up to the Junior X30 class and Alfie was again thriving. After a baptism of fire at PFi comepting in Super 1 Junior X30 and achieving a creditable mid pack finish, Alfie put his mind to learning the new kart in detail and had by the close of 2016 achieved a high of 4th position at Buckmore Park.

---

2015: A year of building success

Alfie stepped up to the Honda Cadet class in 2015, a key step in managing the transition to competing at a National level in 2016.

Results did not go his way in the early part of the season with a combination of bad luck, mechanical failure and getting stewarding decisions against him, contributing to a run of poor results.

However, in the latter part of the season, with a new kart under him and inspired by the competition created by top 10 drivers among the field, Alfie put togetther a string of great results to achieve multiple podiums and finish the season 3rd in the Buckmore Park Championship, the most prestigious in the South East, and 4th in both the Bayford Meadows and Kent Kart Championships. 

---

2014: Podium at London Cup

This was a break out year for Alfie in Honda Clubman with consistent racing at the front of the field. In the early part of the year he raced at Bayford Meadows and Buckmore Park, also competing in the Kent Kart Championship. Results were strong but and unfortunate 5 place penalty in a Buckmore final removed Alfie from contention for a championship trophy. It was very disappointing that such a small error should have such big consequences.

Alfie was a regular visitor to the podium during the year in all his championships and it meant we approached the 2014 London Cup at Rye House, made famous by Lewis Hamilton with high hopes. Driving a blinding race (highlights of which can be seen in the video section of the website) Alfie came home 3rd, by far his most prestigious achievement of the year. This led to some great coverage in the Surrey Mirror.