Who am I
My name is Leo Sapgir, I'm a simple boy from Russia. I was born on 30th of June 2009 and I'm 15 years old. I was growing in a family full of Russians and never thought that I would move to Spain and study here, even though it was one of my wishes after I first came to Spain.
I was studying in a simple Russian governmental school till the age of 13 when my parents finally decided to move to Spain. From the age of 6 my parents also introduced me to my first ever sport in my life, it was tennis. I played it for almost 6 years until I got kind of bored of it. Tennis is not the only sport that I was trying to go pro with. I also did boxing, a bit of mountain skiing and Football. I didn't really get along with any however sometimes I still enjoy doing each of those at my free time. From 2023 I am studying in Sotogrande international school.
How I met with karting
When we were living in Moscow, my father was already really into racing business for quite a long time. When I was 7 years old, he decided to take me to the local small go-karting track in Moscow that was mainly for rental karting, however there was a karting school which had a training group for kids who were just starting with karting. It was also ran by one of the people that my father knew well from racing business in Russia.
​
When I first set in a kart, and the coach explained me the basics how to drive it, I went for my first trying lap, it was just for me to get used to the steering and speed of the kart. From the first laps, I really liked it and I wasn't scared at all. After that day, I still came for a coupe of trainings to the place, but unfortunately there was something unexpected waiting for me.
​
It was another training day, and I noticed that the new kid has came to our group. The day started from the warm up as always and we set in the karts to start our driving trainings. We did a couple of laps, when all of a sudden, this new guy went straight into me at the enter of the corner, I spun and hit the fence. Unfortunately for me, I had no protection that day on me, and as the seats of the karts are quite hard, I broke my rib because of the crash. I cried a lot and it was painful to breathe for a while. So this was the moment after which my passion to karting had gone for 1-2 years.
​
As you know I was playing tennis then, and at the age of 9 I started to ask my parents again if I could continue with karting, but my father didn't look like he really wanted me to go that path, and my mother was also quite scared after all. So I took a pause with racing and continued studying and playing tennis. But sometimes I still could ask my father to go to a local rental karting track just to drive for fun, and sometimes he took me there and I was enjoying it.
​
At the age of 13, when it was our first year moving to Spain, there were Formula 3 testings taking place in Barcelona in April. One of my father's racing driver who he was sponsoring was taking part in it, and my dad has invited me to go with him. Without hesitation, I agreed. It was just an amazing weekend. For the first time in my life I saw what proper racing car looks like. The sounds where terrific, and the view of how the cars are flying around the track was so spectacular. After absorbing all the atmosphere, I decided that I also really want to race.
​
This time, my father agreed and permitted me to start with karting once again. After that weekend I have immediately signed to a local rental karting group that had trainings 2 times a week in the evening. Every day when there was a training day I was so excited to go there. After half of a year, for the first time in my life I have participated in a rental karting race. Even though it wasn't that professional, it was still a serious event for me.
​
​
​
​
​
My career so far
After returning back to karting, as I mentioned before I joined a local karting school, and after half of a year have competed in my first rental karting race. My father was there and as he told me later, if I won, he would think about to promote me forward to professional karting. And guess what? I won.
​
After that my passion for karting really increased, and in may 2024, with contacts from the past karting business that my father was In, he had organised me a professional karting tests with a team that I would later continue training with, ward racing team.
​
This time it was a completely different experience. When I first set in a proper racing kart, I was so shocked. The acceleration was absolutely different, and the speed was unbelievable compared to what I was used to. Even though I went sideways through every corner, I felt that I was rapid fast. I barely lasted 5 sessions of 15 minutes each, and went to the hotel where we were staying to rest. The next day we started with proper trainings and my coach began to explain me how everything works and break down the driving skills and technics. After that weekend I have really improved ,my racing technique, and I was ready for more.
​
It was time for the Summer holidays and we went to Russia for 2 month. Even there I found the track where I could train, and spent there almost the whole summer, there were 3 training days a week, (training day means 7 hours at the track). On September, it was time to go back to Spain and prepare for school, but I also had huge plans except of it. On 11th September I flew to Italy to compete in the last round of the Italian karting championship. It was my first pro racing weekend, and I was so excited for it.
​
The racing weekend was epic for me and went quite well (except of the crash) and I managed to gain some positions and points, but those were definitely not at the competitive level. So after that we have decided that I will continue with trainings with the team, to prepare for the full next season of racing, so there is much more to come!
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
