Another Positive Weekend as Steady Progress is Made

This weekend saw Grabko GP hook back up with the main AD Motorsport outfit for the Axamo Open, hosted by Jönköpings Karting Club, and is included as the 4th Round of the IAME Series Sweden, and the 3rd Round of the Swedish Kart League.

The event is a popular one, and enjoys its reputation as a signature race on the Swedish karting calendar, attracting a large and highly competitive entry list in all categories from not only both Sweden’s coastlines, but also its neighboring Scandinavian brethren - Denmark, Norway, and Finland.

With the weather again being agreeable, it was full focus on making sure everything was prepared for maximizing the prerequisites for a result. It is a track that our young driver, Deven, has historically never really gotten on terms with, with massive grip levels more reminiscent of those seen on classic Italian circuits rather than up in Sweden, so it would be a lie if the team didn’t admit there were some in the camp that went into the weekend with more than a little bit of trepidation.

Deven Grabko, however, was not one of them. Coming off the back of a podium performance in Gothenburg last weekend at the 2nd Round of the Kart Cup West championship, another track where previously pace and results had been hard to come by, the young driver seemed to be brimming with a renewed vigor and resolve. His driving style and technique were barely recognizable, the racing machine a much more tamed beast underneath him now than earlier in the season, but the decisive fearlessness of his attacking race mentality still remained. It was an enviable combination that when he could harness it, produced some highly entertaining and fast paced racing. When he could harness it. Doing this consistently was the next box to tick off on the development journey. He seemed more than ready to show how far along he had come to date.

It was a glorious sunny weekend that greeted the Grabko GP and AD Motorsport at the Team 13 Gothenburg Karting and Racing Club. They were host to the 2nd round of the Kart Cup West Championship Series, and home to the sweeping, high speed Torslanda National Karting Circuit.

The 2nd round of the championship would be the last before the Summer break, and attracted another strong international entry list in the Mini 60 class. It was going to be another ultra competitive weekend in the premier category of mini karting, and the team were feeling up for the challenge.

But we almost didn’t even make it to the starting grid. Racing Driver / Extreme Sports enthusiast, Deven Grabko took a nasty tumble while skateboarding on the Monday before the race, spending most of Tuesday in and out of hospital and x-ray rooms in hopes that he hadn’t ruined his prospects of driving not only this round of the Kart Cup West championship, but also the following weekend for the Swedish Kart League and IAME Sweden Series rounds in Jönköping, Sweden - not to mention the Swedish National Championships in a month.

If the ankle had been broken, it would have been a long recovery period on the sidelines with no definite comeback date. It was touch and go as specialists were called in to review the x-rays. In the end a huge sigh of relief for the fledgling racing driver as he was informed that he had only severely sprained his ankle and that nothing was broken. He did have a tiny piece of bone dislodged but nothing that needed treatment and the ligaments would not be affected. He was given the green light to race, with instructions for a regimen of pain killers as needed over the race weekend.

This was assuming he could actually push in a throttle pedal. He could not put any weight on his foot through Tuesday evening, fully reliant on crutches and it was doubtful if he would be able to get into the driver’s seat up until Friday morning, when he awoke able to limp around without crutches for the first time. By the time he awoke on Saturday morning he declared himself ready for free practice.