Everyone has a story – this is mine,
MY STORY
Contents
1 — Foremost; A True Story
2 — Beginning of a Dream
3 — Power of Obsession
4 — Something Greater
5 — One Call
6 — One Year
7 — A Self Resolve
8 — For Real; French F4 23’
FOREMOST; A TRUE STORY
FOREMOST; A TRUE STORY
Is it nature or nurture? Kevin’s father, Les, was an avid enthusiast in everything mechanical and motorsports, mostly participating in local motocross events, and was in no small part responsible for sharing his passion with Kevin. Les had him on a dirt bike by the age of 3, riding around the property of a family friend. However, knowing the dangers that came with competitive racing on bikes, they would continue to ride together only as more of a hobby.
Whether it was supper nights tuned into watching the MotoGP, playing racing games with a keyboard on the family desktop computer, or racing bicycles around the park, Kevin would find a way to connect with the competitive racing spirit he had.
It would be hard to believe then, that Kevin’s first glimpse into the world of Formula 1 came through the medium of the official game. Watching YouTube videos of F1 2013 game races,
track guides, and content after school became somewhat of a routine. Growing up in the suburbs of Calgary, as well as an expectation to do well in school from a Korean influenced mother side of the family, the thought to go car racing hadn’t quite manifested quite yet.
May 17th, 2017. On Les’ way to Los Angeles Airport to meet with Kevin and the family for a spring vacation he had planned, Les was hit by a car whilst crossing a pedestrian walkway. Suffering injuries to his facial bones, shoulder, ribs, and arm, inevitably his pilot’s license was suspended after 12 years as a captain for Cathay Pacific Airways.
Beginning of a Dream
Beginning of a Dream
With Les now on medical leave from flying for the foreseeable future, came a restructuring of what daily life would look like, no longer was he gone for weeks at a time flying.
With Kevin now more immersed than ever into all facets of motorsports, it would take the discovery of one more racing discipline before all the pieces of the puzzle would fall into place; Karting. From the races he saw, the demographic of karting drivers being right around Kevin’s age, it was easy for him to insert himself right into the picture. Discussions and research about karting followed as memories about ripping around on a dirt bike came flooding back for them both.
July 7th, 2017. Kevin and Les picked up their brand new two stroke kart from the local kart shop that they had ordered, and with a membership to the local kart track approved as well, began to turn laps for the very first time the same day.
“I remember finding a video – Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals 2016 Highlight Clip – and was just awestruck. 360 new identical karts, 6 classes, with drivers who had won their national series being awarded a ticket to compete and represent their country; it was the Olympics of karting. Even though I had just started, the idea of being there, racing there, had infatuated me. I had a clear goal; a dream.”
POWER OF OBSESSION
POWER OF OBSESSION
“Looking back, when I went out on track for the very first time in the kart, there was just this immediate feeling of – I feel like I’ve already done this a thousand times. My eyes knew where to look, hands knew where the racing line was, my feet knew how to control the acceleration and deceleration efficiently; the only thing that was new, of course were the visceral forces I was feeling, going through a corner at two and a half g’s. That’s when I became obsessed.”
Kevin would go onto win his first ever kart race he competed in – although it was a field of a mere three karts, the trajectory had been set, and a taste of what it was like to practice a craft and watch a result flourish was an emotion like no other he had experienced.
“The 180-lap day – we never really got all that much help from the kids or parents at the track. They had all been racing together since they were 8 or 9, so to come out of the blue, 14 years old, it was hard to fit in I suppose. One day after school, we [Les and Kevin] had the track to ourselves for the evening. I drove until it was so dark that it was unsafe, and Dad could see the sparks flying from the chassis chattering the track. We ended up doing 180 laps that night, making setup changes to the kart one at a time. Dad came with a high level of mechanical understanding and could tune the two-stroke engine with his experience from riding bikes, but the intricate and vast number of changes you could make to the kart was something completely new to us. I think that really was what allowed me to develop a true understanding, or link, between what I could feel out on track with a mechanical, physical, adjustment to the kart.”
That same month, Kevin would enter a national kart race playing host to a ticket to the Rotax World Finals of karting, Kevin would find himself leading the opening few laps before being passed by series favourites and just falling shy of the podium.
SOMETHING GREATER
SOMETHING GREATER
Continuing in karts for 2018, Kevin would finish the local club championship in 2nd, and 3rd in the Western Canadian Karting Championship winning 1 out of the 3 rounds. To cap off the year he was awarded with a Formula 1600 test through a driver search award. Due to the families concerns over finances, Kevin did not compete in 2019.
2020 was stunted hard by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Kevin now 16, broke a deal with Les to go racing again, bartering that he would take care of his racing program from here on out albeit with a reduced budget. “I didn’t realize how much I loved racing until I was out of it for a year. Watching all the different series and categories online, keeping up to date with the latest news in motorsports, to not be in a seat myself driving, to not be doing what I had once loved so much, was a knife in my back that was stabbing me everyday.” Thus, for the final few months of the 2020 season, Kevin was back in a kart, travelling to races alone, carrying out the roles of both mechanic and driver.
After years of testing and being on medical leave, the conditions were met that declared Les unfit to fly resulting in a permanent loss of his pilot’s license, a subsequent insurance payout was issued. This would mark the end of his career, but Les saw it as a chance to give Kevin one final year to achieve his dream. 2021 saw the creation of Alloy Racing (a karting team formed by Kevin and 2 friends) with the goal of taking a professional approach to kart racing not seen at the club level, as well as to win the Canadian Rotax karting title to go to the Grand Finals. Alloy Racing and Kevin were simply unmatched, the increase of budget to afford equal equipment as his competitors after years of running the same, gave Kevin a chance to showcase a talent that had been previously diluted.
However, when it came to the Canadian Rotax series for the coveted win and ticket to worlds for that year, Kevin would just fall short.
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same...”
– Rudyard Kipling
ONE CALL
Kevin was now truly at a crossroads; falling short on the year where they had given absolutely everything they had and turning 18. The path of going to post secondary and closing the chapter on racing was becoming ever more the viable option.
That all changed.
In May of 2022, a friend of the Fosters had given Kevin a call with a tip that Area27 would be hosting a private karting shootout at Kartplex with a scholarship for the winner, and that he should drive out there to meet with Bill Drossos and get involved.
Seeing that there was a club race on the calendar at Kartplex not too far away as well, Kevin packed the race trailer with his and his teammates karts from the 2021 season, and the three of them trekked out west to the Okanagan.
The open practice day before the club race at Kartplex would be the first real laps Kevin would turn that year, not having the opportunity to do so prior. Nevertheless, he would take P2 in qualifying and go on to win, pulling a gap on local favorites. His drive impressed Craig Finer, the owner of Kartplex, whom not only offered a subsidized program to race with his team, Racelab Kartplex, but also added Kevin last minute to the roster of entries for the karting shootout, where the scholarship was named to be the entry fee for the FEED F4 racing school in France that Jacques was also a part of.
With a new team and a financial commitment from T. Swamy, a close friend of Kevin, he would also again compete in the Canadian Rotax series. The last thing Kevin needed to do was break a deal with his mom, who had been against the idea of delaying post secondary for a year to go racing again. The conditions in the end were simple; He had one year to show evidence that he could find a career in racing.
Kevin would win the karting shootout and secure the scholarship from Area27 and Road 2 Racing to go to the FEED Racing school.
Created by ex-formula 1 test driver Patrick Lemarié and Jacques Villeneuve, the FEED Racing school emulates the French racing volants (competitions) of the 80’s and 90’s; offering a guaranteed 5-day course with instruction, turning into a competition shootout over an additional 3 days of quarter, semi finals, and the final. On offer for winning the FEED Racing school, a fully paid for season in the following years’ FIA French F4 Championship.
2022
ONE YEAR
July 3rd, 2022 – Wins round 1 of the Rotax Max Challenge Canada Championship
July 20th, 2022 – Second fastest qualifier for the FEED Racing Group Stage
July 31st, 2022 – Wins round 2 of the Rotax Max Challenge Canada Championship (Securing ticket to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals)
August 3rd, 2022 – Fastest qualifier for the FEED Racing School Quarter Finals
August 4th, 2022 – Fastest qualifier for the FEED Racing School Semi Finals
August 29th, 2022 – Wins Team Canada Scholarship shootout for Formula Ford
September 14th, 2022 – FEED Racing Champion 2022 (Becomes first driver confirmed to race in the 2023 FIA French F4 Championship)
October 23rd, 2022 – Races in the Formula Ford Festival in the U.K. with Team Canada Scholarship
November 6th, 2022 – Races in the Walter Hayes Trophy in the U.K. with Team Canada Scholarship
November 19th-26th, 2022 – Races in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at Portimão
It was a dream come true, 5 years in the making; Kevin had qualified for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal – talent had met opportunity. In addition to realizing a dream, Kevin had truly maximized the scholarship Area27 provided by becoming FEED Racing Champion and securing a season in F4.
From an uncertain future with racing as an after thought, to having a fully paid for season in F4, that was Kevin’s 2022.
“That’s when it began to all make sense – this just changed my life.”
– Kevin (after becoming FEED Racing Champion)
A SELF RESOLVE
A SELF RESOLVE
“Patrick [Lemarié], in a way, became my dad anytime I was over in Europe racing. From the very first time I walked through the doors at FEED to celebrating the win, I was alone. At first it was because I didn’t feel it was necessary for us to spend the extra money on having Dad or the family travel and accompany me, but the narrative shifted, it then became a source of power and resolve for me; a testament to the fact that this was something I wanted to do.”
“We [Patrick and Kevin] knew that hard work laid ahead. The level of talent at FEED was high, but going into the official F4 series, of course the level would be a step above that as everyone is putting the resources in to reach the ultimate pace possible. But I was prepared to put in all the work and more to give myself the best possible foundation to challenge the year ahead; that way, regardless of the result, I could look back on the season knowing I gave it everything – I honestly lost count of the number of hours I put in the simulator, gym, and analyzing race footage.”
Area27 would partner with Kevin for the upcoming season, as well as facilitate a fundraiser to cover the costs of additional series tests dates within the race calendar. Around 80,000$ was raised and invested towards Kevin to bolster his championship campaign.
FOR REAL; FRENCH F4 23’
FOR REAL; FRENCH F4 23’
Kevin would find himself in arguably the strongest field in the series’ recent history, with a large contingent of notable karting drivers also stepping up into their debut year of formula racing. The 26-car field would see the likes of karting World and European champions as well as second and even third year drivers, all with an aim on the championship.
“The one thing I couldn’t cheat was experience. Everything was ultimately going to be a first for me, so to use that as an excuse was always cheap in my mind. It became a balance of showing up faultless and learning from mistakes. I had to believe that regardless of the circumstances I was the best there and differentiate learning experiences from needing to adapt myself to elevate my abilities – and that took a tremendous amount of self confidence.”
Kevin would take his maiden win during the first round of the championship. He would go on to take 2 pole positions, 7 second place finishes, and head to the podium a total of 10 times out of the 21 races across 7 rounds of the championship. This would help Kevin secure 3rd in the 2023 championship standings.
“Reflecting on the year, a universe does exist somewhere out there where all the “if’s” you think about happened, but its not this universe. Mounting a challenge for the title was never the explicit goal between myself and Patrick, it was more so making sure we showed up and did best we could – I think we managed that. We were always in contention for the victory, and when mistakes were made or factors outside of our control influenced our weekend, we were able to efficiently limit the damage to our championship campaign.”
