Miami Native and UC Berkeley Grad Student Returns Home for Kart Race in Homestead

MIAMI - Oct. 7, 2013 - PRLog -- Mauricio Lastres a 27 year old UC Berkeley graduate student nears the completion of his Master of Science degree (mechanical engineering) this fall as he is simultaneously gearing up for a career as a professional race car driver. This past weekend Mauricio competed in a professional karting race in South Florida.

During his time as an undergraduate at Florida International University, Mauricio competed part-time in multiple karting championships within Florida but when he began his graduate studies he was forced to put racing completely on hold. Earlier this year Mauricio decided that 2014 will be his year to transition to Formula car racing. With 2014 fast approaching Mauricio decided to compete in a kart race because karts are extremely physical to drive and they are great practice for race car drivers. Professional race car drivers frequently use karts to train physically.

The event was part of Fall Championship Series held at the Homestead Karting track located on the grounds of the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Homestead Karting is one of the premier karting facilities in the state and it was just announced that Homestead will host the first race of the 2014 Florida Winter Tour a state tour which attracts the best drivers of the world to compete. The preparation for the event began with a day of practice one week earlier. The highlight of the practice was the participation of two racing stars. Izod Indycar Series stars Helio Castoneves and Tony Kanaan participated in the open practice to prepare physically for their next Indycar race. An opportunity to be on track with two Indianapolis 500 winners is truly special for any driver.

The event is made up of a qualifying session and a pre-final race which determines the order of the karts for the final race. Due to engine troubles in the preliminaries Mauricio was forced to line up in 10th place near the back of the field. At the start several cars came together in turn 1 opening up an opportunity for Lastres to make up several positions quickly. Mauricio dove to the inside of the turn avoiding the spinning cars. Then he quickly set off in pursuit of the cars in front of him. He quickly made a pass for position going into turn 12 and was now chasing down the leaders. Mauricio described the race “I got a really lucky start because I was able to avoid all the crashing karts and I barely lost any time. I was really determined to get to the front as quickly as possible. Then from about halfway the karts balance started to go away a bit and I began to understeer. I was catching the leader the first 4 laps but then the gap seemed to stay the same and towards the end I was losing time to the leader. Fortunately the engine was really strong and all the problems we had earlier were fixed. So I was able to bring the kart home in 2nd and I’m really happy with the result especially when considering all the frustrations we had earlier today.”

Mauricio summarized his week with these thoughts “It has been a really great week for me. It started out with practicing with two Indy 500 champions and it ended with a great race and a 2nd place trophy. The whole purpose of this week for me was to knock out some of my rust because I hadn’t driven a race car since February and I’m just trying to focus on my racing schedule for 2014 and this was just a little warm up. Plus, I got to spend time with my family and I got a chance to see the beach and spend some time in the sun. So overall I’d have to say it was a successful week.”

More about Mauricio’s racing career: Mauricio Lastres began racing on computer simulations when he was 10 years old. These sophisticated state-of –the-art simulators helped Mauricio learn about the mechanics of a racing car and how to feel for the grip balance and how to setup a car. Race craft and mental strength are things that transfer directly from a simulator to a real life race car. At 18 year old he tested a Baby Grand Stock Car at a local track. Later, Mauricio began racing professional karts in Florida. In 2011 he finished 3rd in the series championship and in 2012 he finished 2nd for the season. In 2013 Mauricio began his move to cars by completing the Simraceway Racing School and the Skip Barber Racing School.

More about Mauricio’s academics: Mauricio Lastres graduated summa cum laude from Florida International University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. During his undergraduate career Mauricio spent two years with a research group in the Department of Physics. During the summers of 2010 and 2011, Mauricio participated in REU programs at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara, respectively. In the fall of 2012 Mauricio joined UC Berkeley’s Mechanical Engineering Department with Professor Tarek Zohdi as his advisor. When Mauricio is not at a race track you will likely find him in the Zohdi lab in Etcheverrry Hall working on homework assignments and working on various projects. Mauricio’s research deals with optimization of material coatings used on ballistic fabric and it is the topic of his Master of Science thesis.

More about Mauricio’s personal history: Mauricio was born in Lima, Peru. When he was three years old he moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil. This had a large impact on his life because Brazil is fanatical for auto racing. During the 80′s the passion and admiration for the hometown hero Ayrton Senna was unavoidable. Formula 1 and Ayrton Senna had a great impact on Mauricio’s life. Then at the age of six he immigrated to the United States. Mauricio grew up in Miami, Florida where he resided until moving to Berkeley, California to begin graduate studies in 2012.