European KF2 & KF3 Championship Qualification - Alcaniz ( E ) - 13.07.2008
Last weekend, the qualifying round of the European KF2 and KF3 Championships gathered simultaneously 420 of the best pilots, in three different locations. For the French, the meeting place was in Spain, where this major international event was held for the first time at the new circuit of Ciudad del Motor, in Alcaniz. In the middle of the Aragon desert, temperature rose quickly under the sun and sometimes under helmets too.
With such important stakes, there were numerous collisions in several races. On Saturday, rain calmed the spirits a bit and dealt the cards again. The Julie Tonelli Team was there, in support of its loyal pilots. However its pilots had mixed results, something rather frequent in this kind of races, where the happiness of success borders more than elsewhere on the disappointment of non-qualification.
In KF2, a few pilots did not even overcome the qualifying heats hurdle. Tension was so high that racing in the pack often became a sort of lottery. The first victims were Bluy, Clément and Elie, Nils Bernardet, who were pretty confident in their first laps. Another victim was Swiss Alex Fontana and his PCR, 3rd at the Open Masters in Italy, as well as Portuguese David Rambeaud, always loyal to Zanardi for his return to international competitions.
Races continued, more intense than ever. It was now necessary to finish in the first 24 at the end of Sunday’s two races.
Paul-Loup Chatin and his Sodi prepared by Kart Runner made a few exploits. 11th after the heats, he reached the 5th position in Race 1 and even battled for victory in Race 2. After a superb start, Paul Loup drove a total of 7 laps in the lead, but unfortunately he did not repeat his extraordinary performance in the last lap. 2nd in race, 3rd overall, Paul-Loup brilliantly reached the group of the best pilots in Europe.
William Benedetti from Equipe de France made progress throughout the races. A better knowledge of the racetrack and a finishing touch to the set-up of his equipment allowed William to conquer a brilliant 6th final position.
Irish Robert Butler from PDB Team was second after the heats but lost many places and points in the first race. More comfortable in the following phase, he recovered 6 positions in Race 2.
Unsuccessful on meeting debut, British James Thorp - driving an official Maranello - had a hard first race, where he finished 23rd. However, this situation allowed him to brilliantly show his capacities in Race 2, where he avoided all the traps and opponents and concluded a superb recovery of 19 places!
Heavy disappointment, instead, for Julien Deschamps, who was fast on wet track and managed to limit losses in dry conditions. The qualification was easily within his reach. However his engine betrayed him in the final.
Flavien Bouzana made sparks fly with his FA Kart/Vortex 2G Racing. However, after a series of race mishaps, he had lost too much ground on Sunday to win his ticket for Braga.
Brandon Maïsano was once again successful in KF3. But this pilot from Intrepid France under the LM Karting structure would have preferred to win. His two second places in race allowed him to reach the top of the final ranking.
The other Tonelli pilots were not equally successful this weekend. First of all British Henry Easthope did not reach the final phases. Then there was Jonathan Hélias, who had a disappointing performance in the two races. Swiss Jimmy Antunès recovered, but not enough and Mathieu Jaminet missed the qualification for a withdrawal in Race 1.
- KARTcom -
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