Qualifying Gets Underway at CIK-FIA World Karting Championship in Macau 10.10.2009: With morning qualifying practices determining the starting grid for the qualifying heats of the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship, the competitors were determined to be at the their best ahead of the afternoon racing.

 With morning qualifying practices determining the starting grid for the qualifying heats of the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship, the competitors were determined to be at the their best ahead of the afternoon racing.

Of the 42 competitors vying for the 2009 world championship title, Great Britain’s Ben Hanley earned pole position, and was the only driver to record a time under 46 seconds throughout the morning qualifying practice sessions. Hanley was followed by Italy’s Alessandro Bressan, Great Britain’s Gary Catt, the young Frenchman Brandon Maïsano, and Aaaro Vainio of Finland. With the top five drivers coming within two-tenths of a second of each other, some competitive racing awaits before crowning Sunday’s 2009 world champion.

With the competitors then separated into four groups for the six different qualifying heats, Hanley was again classified first in qualifying heat A-D, while Bressan finished first in qualifying heat B-C. The top 34 after the qualifying heats will start Sunday’s championship final.

Many of the world’s best karters have arrived in Macau for the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship, the first time the championship is being held in Asia. Among the competitors is two-time defending champion Marco Ardigò, as well as Czech karter Libor Toman, who was second in 2008, and Catt, who finished third in last year’s championship. 

After the two 2009 CIK-FIA Karting Asia-Pacific KF3 Championship morning qualifying practices, Briton Jordan King had clocked the fastest time of 49.16 seconds over the 1.203km circuit.  Spanish karter Jordie Oriola was second fastest in the sessions, just 0.076 behind the leader, while Kevin Susilo of Indonesia was the top Asian karter and had the third-fastest time of 49.351. The sessions were highly competitive, with the top six karters coming within 0.4 seconds of each other.
 
After the morning sessions, the Stewards of the meeting decided to postpone the remaining CIK-FIA World Karting Championship and KF3 qualifying heats for the day due to issues with the track surface.  A revised provisional race programme will be issued for Sunday.
 
 

- PR Plus Marco Tsang , Nikki Kemp -  also photo