Austria’s Kevin Reichard has taken the honours for a well-deserved win at the third and final round of the Middle East Karting Cup in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to take the Championship title.

It was a comfortable victory for the 17-year-old Intrepid Force Rotax driver at the Ghibli Raceway, after he clocked the best time in qualifying before winning both heat races and cruising to victory in the pre-final and final.

The young pilot from Vienna made it a clean sweep of the newly introduced series, sealing the title by securing the opening round in December in Egypt, then the second event in Dubai in February and finally the championship decider last weekend. For the IFR driver, it was a great opportunity to compete outside of Europe once again and a most satisfying experience having the results he did.

“It was a pleasure for me to have raced in the UAE and I really enjoyed the entire experience. The events where fantastic with a lot of effort put into the series by the organisers to make it quite professional. They had very impressive driver parades with lots of beautiful girls, welcome parties where they invited the biggest stars from the UAE, plus a gala dinner and amazing press conferences afterwards.

At the second round of the series, the son of the Prince of Dubai was my biggest competitor on his home circuit at the Autodrome, where I managed to set the new track record in Senior Max and won both finals. I’d love to return next year to defend my title, but I am unsure as yet if I’ll have the time because I will focus on Formula Renault 2.0.

The weather was fantastic during every event, so we could do a lot of testing with the Intrepid chassis’ which was the main reason for going to the Middle East. Being able to better prepare for the Euro Challenge in winter was a bonus, but of course, I never expected to win all the finals as I did. My goal was just to stay fit and do as much testing as possible, so it’s nice to win a championship like this.

At this stage, I really have to thank my mechanic Steve Chapman who is excellent. We first worked together last year at the Rotax Grand Finals and came 5th, so this is our second successful event. I also want to thank my dad who supports me and gave me the opportunity to make my way in Motorsport. Last but not least, I need to thank my coach Michael, who is with me at every race to assist, as he’s an experienced and amazing driver himself.”

The MEKC prizes include an invitation to Abu Dhabi for a special presentation and press conference promoting the championship in early May. There’s also an automatic entry for the Bridgestone Kart Cup Final in Lonato, Italy next October.

Reichard will now rejoin the Salzburg-based IFR Team in preparation for the second round of the European Rotax Championship to be held in Germany at the end of May.

Με τον Παππού, στην Ισπανία, σε τοπικό αγώνα, χωρίς το πατέρα του απο τον φόβο της φήμης και πρώτος αγώνας για τον μικρό Mick!

With seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher retired from Formula One and his kid brother Ralf moving on to DTM, the racing world was just getting used to the idea of the post-Schumacher era. Racing fans, however, can look forward to the continuation of the dynasty, as Michael’s nine-year-old son has taken to the track himself. Mick Schumacher got behind the wheel of an Alonso kart, ironically, for a low-level event in Spain, finishing the two races tenth and eighth, and will proceed to three more rounds in the series. The Schumachers tried their hardest to keep the young Mick out of the press limelight, entering him in the race under his mother’s maiden name Betsch and accompanied at the event by his grandfather Rolf (Michael and Ralf’s father), but you can bet the motorsport press will be keeping a close eye on the young Schumacher - already nicknamed Schumi III, following his father and uncle - as his career progresses.

By F1Live & AS

James Appleton used the advice reigning Super 1 champion Chris Rogers gave to him in the best possible way, by winning the second round of the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Championship at PFi yesterday (19/20 April).

12-year old James – who races with the NJR team - took a convincing victory at the rain-soaked Lincolnshire circuit.

He started his Stars campaign well on Saturday’s opening round, with an encouraging 6th place in the Final which convinced the team that they had a strong platform to build upon for Sunday’s racing.

And it certainly looked that way when James took a convincing win in his first race of the day. He said: “I started in 4th place (on the grid) and it was raining hard but I got to the front, pulled away and opened a massive gap to win.”

In his second heat, James started from 23rd place and tigered up to 8th place. Despite this, he wasn’t entirely happy: “I started dead last, but wasn’t quite quick enough to get further.”

In the third heat, another superb performance saw him muscle his way from 9th place into 2nd - “I got up to the front of the chasing pack in just two laps but the leader had got away and I just couldn’t catch him. Still, I was happy with 2nd.”

James’ results gave him pole position for the Final and prior to the start, he was very cool – but only about the race - “I was sat on pole and said “Dad I’m getting really stressed”. He said “Why?” and I said, “Because I haven’t done my RE homework.”

With the rain teeming down, Clerk of the Course, Nigel Edwards ordered a start at “jogging speed”, which James delivered. However, once the light had gone green, he rocketed away from his unsuspecting rivals. He explains: “Within two to three corners I was a second ahead. My team-mate, Jake Dalton, had got up to 2nd and was very quick.  Unfortunately, he had a mechanical failure and that helped me to extend my lead. But I was really disappointed for him.”

However, a mistake midway through the race saw him lose time and the 2nd-placed man, Matt Parry close to within a metre. However, Parry too made an error allowing James to re-establish his lead and keep pushing to the chequered flag.

James was keen to thank Chris Rogers, Nick Jest of NJR and Ricky Grice for their superb help and support throughout the weekend.

Now lying at the sharp-end of the table, James is confident that he can build upon Sunday’s success: “I’m up there now (in the Championship standings) and want to be on top at the end. But I’m now one of the drivers everyone else would like to beat, so we’ll see…”

Former Austrian Junior Rotax Kart Champion Dominik Kraihamer will make the official move to cars this weekend, when he joins the S-berg Racing team at Silverstone on April 19th and 20th for the opening two rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship.

Following some successful testing with S-berg Racing in Italy and Germany recently, Kraihamer impressed team owner Hans Weitgasser in the Lamborghini Gallardo with its powerful V10 Lambo engine. He was then invited by the newly-formed Austrian team to join another local driver, Hans Knauss, for the first event of the 2008 season. The pair will contest the GT3 class in the two one-hour races scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Kraihamer was clearly over-the-moon when he found out the great news only two days before. “It’s really awesome to be racing in the GT3 at Silverstone and I’m looking forward to teaming-up with Hans [Knauss]. It think it’s pretty cool to compete with him because he’s already done some racing with the Lambo in the GT3 and he’s a nice guy too, having helped me a lot already with what I need to know. My goal is to gain experience in the car for now and there’s no pressure on me for a result, although I want to do my best.”

For team-mate Knauss, he admits it’s good for him to have a young, talented driver joining him for the series, who brings racing experience from Karting. “I know Dominik’s going to be fast and I’m sure we can learn from each other. As I have already been competing in the GT3 championship with the team during 2007, it will only help him to become more familiar with what to expect.”

The 18-year-old from Mattsee, near Salzburg, is the most senior driver in the Intrepid Force Rotax Kart Racing Team which aims to assist young drivers in pursuing a successful Motorsport career. Since his introduction to Karting just four years ago, Kraihamer has represented his nation at international level and now becomes the first of the team’s drivers to make the progression into cars.

IFR Team Manager Ernst Penninger says it’s a part of their ‘Race To Get There’ philosophy. “As a team, we provide the ideal platform for young drivers looking to make Motorsport their career. It begins for us with Karting, where both drivers and mechanics each share in the passion for the sport in some way. The program includes testing, fitness and racing, together with personal driver tuition through Formula BMW and Renault. The team is run on a very professional level and the drivers are therefore better prepared for the next step. Our association now with S-berg Racing, who share our workshop, has led to the perfect opportunity for Dominik in this case, to step-up into the GT3. We’re really excited about seeing our drivers achieve their dreams and look forward to continuing to do so for our other drivers.”

British Super 1 title challenger Jonathan Walker has vowed to put his frustrating start to the domestic kart racing season behind him, and return to form at the first round of the European Championship at Angerville, France in two weeks time.

The 19-year old crashed heavily during testing, spraining his wrist, which then plagued him for the remainder of the weekend.

The Three Sisters circuit at Wigan leaves little room for error. Unfortunately, with the meeting hit by sudden and frequent rain showers, judging where the grip was became very difficult. Jonathan explains: “I went down the ‘Valley’ section and hit a patch of water and speared straight off into the barriers. It was a big accident, and I wrote-off a brand new chassis in the process.”