Schembri stars on global stage

Nicholas Schembri recently put Australia on the map by starring at the Dutch Superkarts Grand Prix in Assen.

Schembri waved the Aussie flag with pride, taking on the best in the world at the famous Assen TT Circuit.

In the 250 class, he showed immediate pace by finishing both practice sessions in the top five and carried on that momentum into qualifying by getting fourth on the grid.

Schembri raced his way onto the podium in the opening race before a solid seventh and fifth place finishers ensured he secured a strong fourth overall for the weekend.

Having warmed up for the adventure with a drive at Donington, Schembri was thrilled with the result in one of the biggest superkarts races in the world.

“I cannot complain at all with finishing fourth overall,” he told Auto Action.

“The guys who finished ahead of me have been racing for a lot longer than me and happy to be among them.

“The competition was a lot better than what we have in Australia.

“Seeing that many 250s on track at once for the first time and the quality of the track was unreal.

“You can win as many Australian championships as you want but you cant see how you stack up against the best.

“It is nice to know we are still competitive on the world stage and that shows we are fast.”

Schembri said the speed shown in practice gave him a big boost of confidence he carried through.

“To be honest there were a lot more nerves at the start of the weekend,” he said.

“We had a few dramas in Donington that we needed to sort out and once practice was done we generated a lot of confidence.

“Those dramas had been rectified and the kart was quick which put our minds at ease.

Nicholas Schembri with his team and family in Assen.

“I did not know what to expect. A lot of the guys there were the same I raced against in the UK so hoped to be on the pace.

“I would have been happy to be anywhere in the top 10, but from Friday the hopes did go up.

“Maintaining that pace was a struggle though just with a different tyre and fine-tuning the set-up.

“It was a new track, but the sim helped a lot.

“The most stressful part was qualifying because with so many karts, a bad session makes the whole weekend a lot harder, so starting on the second row was great.”

Since arriving back from Europe, Schembri has already hit the track as superkarts roared around Sandown for the first time in well over a decade.

He was the only 250 in action and set record pace, while the likes of Tim Clarke, Martin Anderson, Russ Occhipinti, Rod Clarke, Oliver Bonaccorso, Tyler Williams, Rick Setterfield, Jeff Duckworth, Colin McIntyre and Jessica Zakanj were also victorious in their respective classes.

“It was the first time I have raced at Sandown and first time for Superkarts in a while,” he said.

“I was not racing against anyone really with only two of us in a 250, but there were a number of other classes.

“The track surface being so bumpy made it really tough, but we broke the record by about 5s compared to 20 years ago.

“Despite being hard on the body and kart, it was still a fun track.”

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