2007 became Sandy's best season so far, securing podium in 13 out of 17 races and always chasing for the race lead. The rewards of the year became as follows:
- True Vision Junior Kart Championship - Champion
- SuperKart Thailand – Runner Up
- National Championship – Vice Runner Up
Sandy is full of optimism and eager to achieve even higher goals for the 2008 season, one which he hopes to also start racing internationally.

Sandy took opportunity of the racing off season to go high altitude training in preparation for the 2008 season. Downhill skiing and open wheel racing does share many traits, not the least when it comes to coordination and quick decision making. And if not, then playing in the snow is great fun anyway....

Back to Bangsaen Grand Prix again, where Sandy won the inaugural race in 2006. This year practice was held on the closed of Bangsaen beach front in absolutely fantastic weather conditions on Friday Nov. 30. Just like last year, Saturday's race was thriller from start until end. Sandy qualified 2nd in Rok Junior category, with championship leader Top taking the first position. During the heats Sandy would loose out a position or more in the triple right hand start corners and then work his way back up again. In the final Sandy again started 2nd, and fell back to 5th by the 3rd corner. 3 laps later though, he was back up to 3rd chasing after the 2 runaway front karts. A couple of laps later he had caught up and went up into second position. He then set after the leader Top and closed down his lead. In the process Sandy set the track record for this entire event with a 26.23 second lap. The last 3 laps he was all over Top trying every which way he could to find a way past. There was unfortunately not enough laps left and Sandy had to settle for second position. He was though very happy both with his kart and performance in this very challenging event. He thoroughly enjoys racing the very tight street circuits and the Bangsaen Grand Prix will always be a favorite to Sandy. A big thank you to Khun Kitti the series organizer for arranging such a superb event. In the SuperKart Thailand 2007 series Sandy then became second overall in the very competitive Rok Junior class.

Sandy gratefully acknowledges all the help and support from his team, San the team mechanic, Thomas Raldorf his mentor and The Pizza Company, Swensens, Sizzler and Dacon Inspection Services, Sandy's sponsors.

THANK YOU :

The final National Championship of 2007 went back at Bira Circuit on November 18. Sandy was as always very fast in early practice, but were unlucky with the tires for Saturday's qualifying and could only qualify in 5th position. The race tires was half a second slower then the practice tires, but the team could only drive and wait for the tires to come in. Through the day the tires improved somewhat and Sandy climbed up the grid. Eventually he fell back again and had to settle for 4th place. This placed Sandy 3rd in the National Championship for 2007.

The 5th Round of the Thailand SuperKart saw Sandy qualifying P2, 0.1 second behind championship leader Top. In the first heat Sandy got overtaken in the start and spent the next few rounds getting back up to second again. In the second heat Sandy was all over Top and challenged throughout the race. In the final, Sandy again had a poor start and lost a place in the start. It would get worse though with an engine loosing power on the long straights and Sandy could only fight his way in for a fourth place finish.

Sandy was informed prior to the World Finals qualifier that even if would win, he would not be allowed to race in the World Finals in Al Ain, UAE because he was not old enough. This was nonetheless a good test for Sandy in the warm up for next year, when he finally will be old enough top compete in international Junior events. The qualifier was as close as ever, with Sandy taking P2, just 5 thousands of a second behind Shogun. In the following 3 heats Sandy would be chasing hard to get past Shogun and in the second heat Sandy went up and took the lead. He held the lead up until the end of the heat, before again losing it back to Shogun. In the end Sandy had to settle for second, but did provide some thrilling racing and charges together with Shogun.

The penultimate National Championship was again at Saraburi and Sandy was untouchably fast in early practice. Come qualifying Sandy secured P1 and confidence was high. In all of Sunday's heats and the final race, Sandy was smooth, fast and untouchable. His lap times never wavered more than a few hundredths of a second and he opened up a commanding lead on the remaining field. In view of the resent sad news regarding his participation in the World Championships, Sandy is delighted with yet another win and praises the support of his sponsors, The Pizza Company, Sizzler, Swensens, as well as his superbly fast ItalKart.

It was with the greatest sadness Sandy received the news that the FIA CIK would not allow him to participate in the Rok World Championship in Italy in October, due to being under age by only 6 months. All appeals were in vain and the team could only cancel this years World Championship plans and hopes. It is especially sad that this all came after several confirmations were given that he would be allowed to race. Sandy is sure he will qualify again later when he reaches the required age and looks forward to again be fighting his way all the way to the top.

The fourth round became quite a roller coaster ride, where Sandy at times lead the heat and other found himself well down the order. A bundled start by the pole sitter saw Sandy jumping the start and despite winning the heat he had to be penalized. Sandy drove strong all day, but the engine would just not run at optimum. Only after the race did the team realize that the new oil mixture was all wrong and Sandy raced with twice the prescribed oil to petrol mixture. Lesson learned and Sandy is again keen on his next race, day by day getting in better form through his fitness program.

Sandy makes it to the World Championships !

What an awesome event the SKT Round 4 turned into, Sandy was blistering fast in early practice and took the P1 in Sunday morning's qualifying. In Heat 1 Sandy had to battle hard charges from both Jonathan and Alex to stay out in front, but took the heat win. In the second Heat he was able to open an early lead and controlled the heat win with a commanding lead. In the final the team opted not to go for a half set of new tires and almost paid the price, as Alex charged hard. However, mid way through the 15 lap final, Sandy again managed to open a comfortable lead and secured not only the Race win, but also his place in the Rok International Final to go at South Garda Circuit in Italy in October 11-14, 2007. Sandy was elated with his win, after quite a few mechanical challenges in the past races and is now looking forward to returning to one of his favorite tracks, the Saraburi Circuit in preparation and run up for the Rok World Championship. A big thank you to the sponsors, The Pizza Company, Sizzler, Swensens and Dacon, as well the superbly fast ItalKart chassis. Ciao, South Garda, see you soon !

Round 4 of the National Championship brought challenges in many a form. After setting the pace in the early practice, the new tires for Saturday's qualifier saw Sandy completely off the times, only qualifying in 6th place. In heat 1 Sandy moved up to 4th, but was clearly struggling. Heat 2 saw the back axle shear completely off and Sandy found himself overtaken by his right rear tire and most of the axle assembly. In the final, he then started from the back, but could only struggle in to a 6th place. Later tire testing found that the race tires were a full second slower then his old practice tires. A more carefully selection of tires is now called for... The next race will be the 4th Round of the Thailand SuperKart race and Sandy is looking forward to again racing in the ROK Junior class.

Sandy joined his dad and Minor Group CEO Paul Kenny for the second round of the 2007 Toyota One Make Series in Udon Thani onboard Minor Aviation's Piper Malibu. Although well used to flying out to races, this is the first time Sandy has been invited onboard a private "business plane" and Sandy thoroughly enjoyed the ride. It must be admitted that after a few zero gravity moments while in flight Sandy's eyes was getting a wee bit glazed, but what a blast. A big thank you to the The Pizza Company for inviting Sandy along for this trip !

Sandy started the Friday and Saturday practice for the third round of the SuperKart Thailand championship by setting scorching fast laps around the freshly laid surface of the Saraburi Race Track. By qualifying Sunday morning he was still 7/10 of a second ahead of P2 and over a second faster then champion Top. Heat 1 went well and Sandy took the checkered flag 10 seconds ahead of Top. The asphalt on the track had just been laid new a few days in advance of the race and had proven time and again to be treacherous with local extremely slippery spots. Sandy found one of these and went flying off the track in the first corner of Heat 2 and found himself at the back of the grid. While racing back up through the other karts again he lost the chain and effectively finished Heat 2 last. He then started the final from 6th position and immediately started working his way up the field again, but only by the second lap the rented engine's ignition gave up and Sandy could only sputter around the track to salvage as many points as possible. In the end he came in to a 10th place and did score some valuable points. This still leaves him in second place in the Championship. The team though is extremely positive at Sandy's speed of late and he is proving himself fully capable of challenging the elite in Thai karting. Sandy is now looking forward to the next National Championship round some 3 weeks away.

After qualifying in P1, almost 0.2 second ahead of Champion Shogun it looked promising for Sandy to dominate the third round of the championship. So also when Sandy won the first heat. In the second heat the grid started to catch up and after a couple of lead changes Sandy still ended up first. Then staring the final Sandy initially held his lead, but would eventually have to give in to Shogun's attack. From there Sandy chased Shogun, but would eventually have to settle for second. The Italkart worked great and the team can only blame itself for not being a little more daring with its kart set up. Sandy is though thrilled with yet another podium position and is looking forward to the next SuperKart race in Saraburi in two weeks time.

Sandy's international race debut became by all accounts a very successfully and educating experience. Sandy only got 2 practice section in on Friday as most of the day went to setting up the brand new kart. The very technical and demanding track combined with a new and unknown kart would be the biggest challenge for the weekend. Sandy was though very quick in picking up the new layout of the Kota Bharu track and the team started their set up routines. By qualifying Saturday afternoon Sandy managed to post 8th fastest of the 21 kart grid. The grid saw some of the best Rotax Max drivers from Malaysia, India, Singapore and Indonesia attending. In the first heat on Saturday Sandy advanced to 6th place and held the same place in the second heat. Sunday morning saw the pre-final and while riding 6th Sandy got stuck behind a sliding kart and lost a position, finishing 7th. Before the final of the race Sandy was intrigued to personally meet His Highness the Sultan of Kelantan, as the event was held in honor of his birthday. In the final Sandy was of to a good start and again was up to 6th place, the team had finally got a reasonably good set up together thanks to Thomas' hard work and Sandy was clearly faster then some of the karts in front of him. Eventually though, the long track got the better of Sandy and on lap 16 out of 20, he pushed to hard through a sweeping corner and ended up outside the track in a plume of dust. Pushing the kart back on track Sandy could only scramble in for a 17th place. The team is though very happy with Sandy's performance and thoroughly enjoyed racing in Malaysia. Much wiser Sandy is now looking forward to his next Championship race.

After initially qualifying 4th in this very strong 13 kart grid, the Pizza Company Team went all out for improving Sandy's set up. This worked perfectly and in the first heat Sandy drove a blistering heat to go from 4th up to 1st, which he eventually had to relinquish when his tires started overheating. He finished 2nd. For Heat 2 the correct tire pressure was in place and Sandy put in a steady race pace and finished on third together with the 2 frontrunner's. Sandy saved all his energy for the final and blasted straight into second in the first corner of the final. From there on it was clear that the leader Thanart and Sandy would pull away and so they did. All the while Sandy was up on Thanart side every other corner trying for the lead. The team had nailed the kart set up perfectly and Sandy could challenge all the way to the checkered flag, which he took a mere 16 hundredth behind champion Thanart. Both Sandy and the team were excelled by the great performance and is really looking forward to go all out for the lead in the next race at the new Saraburi track.

Khorat's Sathorn circuit has always been one of Sandy's favorite tracks - one which he has been racing yearly since 2001. During the last two weekends practice he quickly adapted to the track again and constantly set new personal lap records. Saturday's qualifying saw Sandy securing P2, only one tenth behind the leader Shogun and a half second clear of the 3rd placed kart. In the first heat on Sunday Sandy chased Shogun through the entire heat. The second heat saw a poor start and Sandy fell down to 3rd. Trying to find a place past the much slower kart in front, Sandy clipped a corner and cut his chain and was out of the heat. Starting the final from 3rd, Sandy had an excellent start immediately behind Shogun and despite an amateurish move by another kart to try to bump Sandy of, he easily secured the second position. Again back to chasing Shogun, the two of them left the rest of the field behind and maintained their positions till the end. Yet another excellent Khorat weekend for Sandy and he is now already planning ahead for the next Super Kart Thailand round in the end of the month.

It was a hard fought round in very changing conditions, but Sandy stood it out an secured second place after some awesome driving. After qualifying 3rd, just 0.1 second behind Top - with a rented engine, the team's hopes were high for a good weekend. Sure enough in the first heat Sandy was quickly up to second place, but eventually had to settle for 3rd. In the second heat, just after a torrential downpour, the team had to send Sandy out on old rain tires. Sandy pushed as hard as he could and managed to hold forth place. He then started the final from 4th position, but overtook the 3rd kart on the first half lap, then the second placed kart was passed on the next lap. Sandy caught up to the leader Top and chased him for the next 5 laps, before his tires started to overheat and he eventually had to settle for second place. Sandy is very happy with the result and proving himself competitive driving against some of the best youth drivers in Asia.

Sandy was instantly fast on the brand new Saraburi track during pre race practice and enjoyed the very twisty layout of the track tremendously. This also showed clearly in qualifying where he set the second fastest time easily, 0.7 second clear of the next kart. Only Shogun, just back from qualifying 2nd in the World Championship, could better Sandy's time.
Consequently Sandy was really looking forward to again be racing with Shogun in the Sunday race. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as the track started to disintegrate the left starting line was cowered with loose material from the track. Sandy therefore fell down to the middle of the grid in the first turn and it was clear this would be a long fight back up again.
Although the track is long at over 1300 it is also very narrow and very difficult to overtake on. Sandy slowly worked himself up through the field and by the final was chasing the second placed kart until he touched him trying to overtake and Sandy saw himself on the grass with a stalled engine. By the time Sandy got his kart pushed back on track many karts had gone past and he could only scramble in for a 7th place.
Sandy is though positive for the season as he has proven himself as one of the fastest karts in the Junior series and is now looking forward to the next race on one of his favorite race tracks - Khorat.  

Press Conference
Sandy took center stage during the Pizza Company's 2007 season launch, held a MotorSportLand in Bangkok on February 20, 2007. The press conference focused on the Pizza Company's involvement with youth in motorsport. Also featured was Formula BMW racer James Grunwell. The event was later covered with front page color photo's in most of Thailands leading news papers and several TV channels.

Endurance
The race was made up of 2 one hour sessions and Sandy had for the last couple of weeks been planning to race each session non stop. However on the race day a mandatory pit stop was included to avoid fuel shortages. Not a problem, as quick pit stops already had been practiced down to an art. After the Le Mans start were the racers ran across the track to their fast machines, Sandy went very well in the race. He pushed a little too hard in one corner and went wide and lost 3 positions. He fought back though and regained some places. In the end he accumulated 72 laps in the first one hour at Bira, putting him third.

In the second session Sandy's engine would not immediately start and by the time he finally got it going the field were far ahead. Sandy got into it and within a few laps were up behind the last karts and started overtaking one by one. The second pit stop went excellent, but unfortunately he was held up at the weighing station for half a minute as the controllers were not ready when he came in.

Sandy did though easily accumulate enough laps (145) to secure the 3rd place in this challenging and very competitive class. Considering that the opposition counted some of the best Junior drivers in the world, Sandy is very happy with his performance. This confirms the teams decision to put Sandy in the very competitive TAG Junior class for 2007.

Sandy proudly receives his first runner up trophy form Kart Association President Khun Poonpun Hirvanijchakul live on national TV on January 6th, 2007.

2006 would prove to be Sandy's best season yet, with a total of 4 race wins. The season highlight undoubtly was Sandy's win at the Ban Saen street race, which was a major spectator and TV event and certainly the most glamorous event in 2006.

All focus is now towards the 2007 season and Sandy has already proven his competitiveness by taking an excellent 3rd place in the recent Endurance race at Bira. Lap times and resolve showed that Sandy is full ready to challenge his older competitors in the TAG Jr. class.

In between races Sandy practices regularly 2-3 times a week at the excellent international kart track Bira Circuit.

Good luck for 2007 !

Sandy's latest video, hard at practice at Bira Circuit. The initial 2007 race will be the SuperKart Endurance race on January 6th and Sandy has been doing some grueling long duration races to prepare himself and his neck muscles for the event.

Sandy had an excellent 2006 season and is now fully set to go for the 2007 Championship in the TAG Junior class.

Check out Sandy's video here.

Qualifying
Sandy was fast but not quite used to the brand new frame, but still qualified P2 just 8 hundredth of a second behind P1.

Heat 1
A very short heat as the brand new battery on Sandy's gokart died after only one lap. DNF.

Heat 2
Starting from the very last place on the grid Sandy blasted through the field and within 4 laps had overtaken 6 karts and got up to second position. The gap up to the leader Kittitat, was however too big to close.

Heat 3/Final
Staring from 4th Sandy knew he had to get past the first few karts in a hurry to prevent Kittitat from running away from the field. He blasted into third in the start and within 2 laps was again up to second and starting chasing after P1. It was a very exiting race and Sandy kept pushing till the end to close up. It was though not to be and he had to settle for second place. This also ensured Sandy the second place in the National Championship Rotax MiniMax series for 2006.

Sandy is extremely happy with performance of his ItalKart and his Pizza Company Racing Team. After 4 wins, 1 second and 2 thirds to show for the season, Sandy gratefully acknowledges and thanks his sponsors The Pizza Company, Swensens, Sizzler and Dacon Inspection.

In 2007 Sandy is hoping to start competing internationally to learn the ropes of both European and Japanese racing. In Thailand Sandy expects to race in the youth group TAG Pro Junior.

THANK YOU :

After the very successful 2006 season with ItalKart, there was little doubt which frame to go for in 2007. The new ItalKart was delivered just in time for the last National race and the frame turned out to be fast straight out of the box. Sandy took the new frame on track and instantly set faster times then he ever had with his old frame. Over 6 tenths faster in fact ! Sandy is now looking forward to an exiting 2007 season driving for ItalKart.

In spite of Sandy's excellent rain dance, the sixth round of the National Championship went on a sunny dry track. Sandy knew that in the dry it would be a long day, with a real hard fight to keep up with the lighter and much more nimble kart of Kittitat. After keeping 2nd place secure, the team opted for a radical set up for the final in a desperate attempt to go beyond the proven capabilities. That would though not pay off and instead saw the performance drop off, which again resulted in a third place in the end. Sandy is though optimistic and looking forward to the next race where the set up and frame will be tweaked even more.

Sandy Nicholas Stuvik "testing" out the AIM II Concept car at Bira Click for large picture

In between the practice rounds for the next National Championship race at Bira, Sandy joined his dad in the pit at the Big track to suss out the Pizza Company Race Teams latest adventure, the Lipo Sport Challenge race with the AIM II Concept car. Although Sandy insisted he fit right perfectly in the cockpit and was instantly familiar with the gearing, it was still just too evident that he needs a lot more milk before he can both reach the pedals and look over the steering wheel. Soon Sandy, soon...

Sandy Nicholas Stuvik "testing" out the Formula BMW at Bira International 2006.

Thanks to Peter Klein from Bira Circuit, Sandy had a marvelous day "testing" the Formula BMW at Bira Circuit after the Thai leg of the Asian Formula BMW Championship. Too young to drive the car (actually too short to reach the pedals and look over the steering wheel at the same time) Sandy was thrilled to learn so much, test sit and play with the Formula BMW car. The objective is now all clear and defined for Sandy !

At the same event, the Thai leg of the Asian Formula BMW Championship, the Pizza Company who is sponsoring both saloon cars, Sandy's MiniMax and James Grunwell's Formula BMW this year, for the first time had all the teams motor racers at one spot. An impressive display of force and determination by the Pizza Company.

The fifth round turned challenging in more ways then one, as Sandy drove a blistering 5th round of the Championship. Although battling all the way and for a short moment taking the lead, Sandy was severely underpowered in this race. Sandy is now looking forward to the next race at Bira Circuit in October and is all geared to fight for the win again, underpowered or not.

Qualifying
During both practice and qualifying, Sandy was stunningly fast and eventually posted a qualifying time of 43.18 seconds, six tenth of a second ahead of P2.

Heat 1
After the struggle with the turned air box in Round 3 Sandy was nervous ahead of the wet start. He therefore pushed hard the first 4 laps before he dared to look back. When he finally looked back, there was just nobody behind him.

Heat 2
The heat went on wet, but drying conditions. Again Sandy did several laps before looking behind himself and could only barely see the karts chasing him several hundred meters behind. He kept pushing till the end and again secured a huge win.

Heat 3/Final
For the final it was back to a dry, but green track. The team therefore opted for a conservative dry set up and high tire pressure – not a good idea. Sandy immediately opened up a lead, but not like in the previous heats. The high tire pressure soon went too high and Sandy had to push his hardest to stay in front. He so did though and soldiered on to take his 4th win in 5 races this year.

Despite being a year below the minimum age, Sandy was invited to race in this fantastic event, joining the Rok Jr class. Although racing this excellent engine for the very first time, Sandy immediately took full advantage of his Italkart's superb grip and posted some of the fastest practice times of the event. The team opted to scrub the Bridgestone tires before qualifying, which turned out to be a big mistake as new tires had a great advantage the first few laps. Consequently Sandy could only qualify 4th in the 10 kart grid. At the start of heat 1 Sandy was immediately up to 3rd place and chased the two in front. Heat 2 was an explosion of a start for Sandy and he shot up in the lead, never looking back. He just got down in his regular steady mode, posting almost identical lap times every single lap and at the same time just pulling away from the others in true Alonso form. Again in the Final, which went on the flood light streets at night, Sandy's extreme start reaction saw him pull several meters away from number 2 right from the start. He then went into overdrive and secured a fantastic win in front of the thousands of spectators, the best victory yet in Sandy's racing career.

Sandy Nicholas Stuvik

Sandy's qualifying was short as he tried to avoid a spinning kart and himself ended off track and could not get the engine restarted. He therefore only qualified 3rd on Saturday. In the first heat he went straight up to second and within 3 laps was up in the lead. He pulled out a nice "cushion" to the second place kart and cruised to heat victory. In the second heat (pr-final) he lead throughout the heat and again claimed victory. Then came a torrential downpour and the whole kart was quickly transformed to wet set up. In the process the air box was not properly fasten and this came back to haunt Sandy in the final. The air box turned and the intake was blocked against Sandy's race suit and the engine stalled. By the time Sandy had figured out the problem the lead two was long gone and Sandy had to trodle in to a third place finish this time. Lesson learnt and won't be repeated. With the point advantage from the two first race wins this season, Sandy still leads the championship by one point.

Sandy presented dominating times already at Friday's practice and by the qualifier at Saturday afternoon, he secured P1 with 0.3 second margin to the second place. Only the ICA class were able to post faster qualifying times then this Rotax MiniMax. On Sunday Sandy never waivered and lead every heat and secured the win in the Final with full control. Although temperatures went up to over 43° Celsius, Sandy maintained a totally steady pace, posting virtually all his lap times between 37.20 and 37.28 in the final. Sandy was grateful for taking yet another victory and thanks his sponsors the Pizza Company, Sizzler and Swensen's as well as his lightening fast Italkart chassis.

In his new Italkart Sandy totally blasted Saturday's qualifying for a Pole position in the National Championship MiniMax Class, over half a second clear of the second placed kart. Overnight into Sunday morning's first heat Sandy was controlling the race from the front. In the second heat he maintained his front position, although with the brand new Bira track surface starting to break up, his set-up was far from optimal. In the Final it was a gamble what set-up to go with, as by now there were large grooves in the racing line around the track. A tight set up was eventually chosen for Sandy's Italkart. This turned out to be difficult in the start and Sandy was overtaken in the beginning of the heat and started to lag behind the leader. Then, mid way through the Final Sandy's tires came up to temperature and he quickly hauled himself back up in the slipstream of Kittitat Wongprai and on the final lap out-braked Kittitat to overtake and regain first place. Sandy then pulled out a good 30 meter lead before taking the checkered flag.

Sandy finishes 5th in the 2005 National Championship
After a season flush with challenges, Sandy secured a very strong 5th place in the Thailand National Championship. With 2 DNF's out of seven races, the place must be considered the best in his young racing career. Sandy wants to thank his sponsors Pizza Company, Sizzler, Swensen’s and Dacon for their support and backing though the year. The Pizza Company Racing Team Manager Thomas Raldorf also deserves a big thank you for his never tiring help and optimism.