Jefferies happy despite US heartbreak

Sport
UNITED Arab Emirates-based Zimbabwean motor racing star Axcil Jefferies is pleased with his 2019 racing season despite missing out on a podium finish at last weekend’s Austin Circuit of The Americas (COTA) 24 Hour Endurance race in Texas, US due to a late mechanical fault.

BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE

UNITED Arab Emirates-based Zimbabwean motor racing star Axcil Jefferies is pleased with his 2019 racing season despite missing out on a podium finish at last weekend’s Austin Circuit of The Americas (COTA) 24 Hour Endurance race in Texas, US due to a late mechanical fault.

Jefferies was making a debut appearance at COTA, teaming up with seasoned drivers Henrik Still, Martin Konrad and Luca Stolz under the Toksport WRT flag, driving a Mercedes AMG GT3.

The Toksport WRT team looked on course for a podium finish, occupying second and third place for the better part of the race until Stolz suffered from rear-end damage two hours before the end of the race to eventually finish in fifth place.

“The target going into the weekend last week was to win and nothing else. We had the equipment and driver line up to do it. We were on track to accomplish that until our mechanical failure unfortunately,” Jefferies told The Sports Hub from his UAE base.

“It’s been great to get another 24 hour race under my belt. It was the first time racing at COTA but more importantly my first time working with Toksport WRT driving the Mercedes AMG GT3.

“For sure, it was challenging to get up to speed in such a short period as we only had two sessions to practice before qualifying. Nevertheless, we all powered through, worked great as a team and fought for the win throughout the weekend.

“Unfortunately, with a couple of hours to go we had a mechanical failure on the right rear, which cost us 20 minutes in the pits, which ultimately took us out of contention for the win. In the end P5 was the best we could manage,” added the 25-year-old driver.

Jefferies, whose dream is to become the first African driver to make it onto the Formula 1, has competed in 24 hour races for the past two years featuring at Paul Ricard Circuit in France, Portimao Circuit in Portugal and Dubai Autodrome in UAE.

“In 2019, I raced the Nurburgring 24 hour Race with my Lamborghini team Konrad Motorsport and several other endurance races being between 4 and 12 hour races. My best 24 hour Race result is fourth place but I have won six hour races.

“I am scheduled to do a few more 24 hour races before the 2020 European championship kicks off again in the Lamborghini GT3. However we leave COTA content with our performance and very confident for upcoming races,” he said.

The driver, who is also senior race instructor at Yas Marina Circuit, the host venue for the Formula One Dubai Grand Prix, reflected on his 2019 racing season.

“In 2019, I competed mainly in the VLN Championship with Konrad Motorsport in a Lamborghini GT3 Evo. We had a strong year and consistently ran toward the front all year. It was also my year competing at the famous Nordschliefe which was super cool.

“This was mainly a preparation year as for 2020 we as a team have big plans and big support from our partners. I can’t announce 2020 plans just yet, but I expect to be even busier next year as we have a fair bit on the plate,” he said.