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It was recently announced that, following a long reflection, the 11-year-old karting talent would leave Parolin Racing Kart, the team he had been driving for in various international events since the start of 2018, to join Kart Republic for the remaining of the current season, still under the coaching of European Karting champion Rick Dreezen (picture below).

“After one year with Parolin Racing Kart and a lot of improvement and knowledge gained, it’s time for me to move on. It has been a fantastic experience. I’m thankful to Parolin Racing Kart and Marco Parolin for the opportunity, the great material they have provided me but also for everything I learned, the progress I made, and the great results I had during this time. The team has a fantastic pedigree as consistently shown by their results in all categories, and especially the mini and junior – the ones closer to me! For my own personal reasons, I have decided to move on now to something new!”

522,Dedecker Douwe(BEL),Parolin racing kart(PAROLIN/TM-RACING/VEGA), La Conca, 10 March 2019. WSK Super Master Series, © 2019, Alexandros Vernardis / The RaceBox.

A few days after the announcement, Dedecker was already back in action for the WSK Super Master Series’ third round at La Conca. Wearing the orange, black and white colors of Kart Republic, he quickly got up to speed with his new working environment and material. “First day and first race out with the new team and already I feel so comfortable! I was immediately on the pace since the Free practices, so when the time came for Qualifying, I set the 3rd fastest lap time in my group. That put me overall 7th out of 78 drivers, meaning I start all my Qualifying Heats in 3rd position.”

The Belgian kept his momentum going in the Qualifying Heats where he aligned a series of strong finishes (2nd, 3rd, and 5th) leading to a win in his last race as the icing on the cake! An impressive day only slightly compromised by an engine issue before the start of his second Heat that still didn’t cool down the driver’s determination. From 7th on the Prefinal B’s grid, he finished fourth before being penalized by a five-second penalty for a wrong positioning of his front fairing (11th). 21st on the Final’s grid, he climbed up the order to 15th to conclude his weekend on a positive note. “Regardless of the result, a 15th position in the Final after starting 21st, it’s been an awesome weekend for me. It started with a fantastic P3 in my qualifying group, then I drove in the top positions in all my Qualifying Heats leading several laps, setting the fastest lap time a few times and even winning one! I am happy and confident for what’s coming after this performance at possibly the most technical and physical track of the season, even more at a new environment for me!”

Self-assured, Dedecker can now look forward to his next assignment: the fourth and last round of the WSK Super Master Series at the end of March on the Circuito Internazionale Napoli in Sarno!

522,Dedecker Douwe(BEL),Parolin racing kart(PAROLIN/TM-RACING/VEGA), La Conca, 10 March 2019. WSK Super Master Series, © 2019, Alexandros Vernardis / The RaceBox.

Text: Guillaume Alvarez

Photos: Alex Vernardis / The RaceBox