CIK / FIA - Mariembourg ( B )
The Belgian karting track of Fagnes, at Mariembourg, hosted the second European round of the season. Although unstable weather disrupted qualifying practices, races were blessed by summer sun for the first time this year. The «Fondation Julie Tonelli pour l’Enfance» was there as well, thanks to the support of many French and foreign pilots, who displayed the well known pink butterflies on their karts.
The Belgian karting track of Fagnes, at Mariembourg, hosted the second European round of the season. Although unstable weather disrupted qualifying practices, races were blessed by summer sun for the first time this year. The «Fondation Julie Tonelli pour l’Enfance» was there as well, thanks to the support of many French and foreign pilots, who displayed the well known pink butterflies on their karts.
Despite a difficult weekend, Dutch pilot Bas Lammers (Topkart/TM) reached the third step of the European podium. Bas lost his winning chances during timed qualifying: he set the 3rd time of his group, but was only 18th overall, owing to less favourable track conditions. Bas remained stuck around 15th position before he withdrew in the final.
Both regular and fast, Thomas Mich (F - Birel/TM) reached a nice 4th place in the overall ranking, exactly like last year. Thomas pushed his kart to the limit but that was not enough to worry race leaders. Alessandro Piccini (I – Maranello/ TM) showed a good performance and improved his position heat after heat: his incredible technique enabled him to get the best out of his kart and to play his game well in race. He ended 5th in the Championship.
Norman Nato (F – Intrepid/TM) made sparks fly again: he set the 3rd time in timed qualifying, then he won a heat, before being unexpectedly penalised. Although he is not sixteen yet, he conquered the 7th place in the Championship in his first race in 125 gearbox: a real exploit! Manuel Renaudie (F – Gillard/SGM) finished 5th in Race 2 and was 8th in the Championship ranking.
Back from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he reached a podium in LMP2 at the wheel of his Pescarolo/Judd, Pierre Ragues had a promising weekend debut: 7th in timed qualifying and 10th after the heats. Disturbed during the races, Pierre’s Sunday was less exciting. After racing for Swiss Hutless last year, Jaako Kainulainen (Fin – PCR/TM) continued his apprenticeship in KZ1, constantly improving his results after Angerville.
KZ2 and its hundreds of pilots required an impressive number of qualifying heats: 5 per pilot! Enzo Zéfirini and Pierre Etienne Chaumat were not very lucky, also because they did not have competitive karts, so their weekend was already over on Saturday evening. Lucie Panackova, Geoffroy Lelièvre, Cédric Erbland, Jesse Streibl and Maxime Bailleul did not get over the qualifying phase. Yard Pex (NL – CRG/TM) was the only one who reached the final, thanks to his 11th position.
After the second time he conquered in timed qualifying in KF1 and a pole after the heats, Armand Convers (F – PCR/TM) showed once again an impressive performance as far as his burst of speed is concerned. Unfortunately, his equipment did not perform equally well in the final phases. The scenario was similar for Davide Forè (I – Maranello/ Maxter), who dominated the qualifying heats, then finished 5th in Race 1 and withdrew in Race 2.
Alessandro Bressan (I – Kosmic/Vortex) also made an xcellent weekend debut: he reached the second step of the podium in Race 1, but did not finish Race 2. Jean-Philippe Guignet (F - CRG/Maxter) showed a remarkable progression from 26th position in timed qualifying up to 10th place in Race 1, but then was forced to return to his stand and did not finish Race 2.
Delayed several times, Jérémy Iglesias (F – Intrepid/TM) showed one of his most brilliant recoveries in Race 2, where he finished 12th after gaining as many as 22 places! Alban Varutti (F – Sodi/TM) dedicated the weekend to the development of his chassis with a view to end-of-season tests, constantly remaining around the 20th place. Lastly, always smiling Patrick Fontner (A – Maranello/Maxter) took advantage of Maranello’s improvements and reached a nice 18th place in Race 1.
- KARTcom -
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