After yesterdays qualifying practice, the drivers in the Super KF European Championship of Karting competed in their qualifying races this Saturday at Muro Leccese, in the south of Italy. During these three Heats which determine the starting grid for the first of the two races, it was a case of being at the same time both fast and consistent; an exercise which the British driver Jason Parrott delivered perfectly, and who will thus start in pole position for the first race this Sunday. But there are plenty of other potential winners and the races will obviously be fiercely contested!

The karting competition has to be maintained over the whole weekend. After the qualifying practice, the driver must again shine during the qualifying races to secure a good position on the starting grid of the first of the two races on Sunday, the only ones which allot points to the championship.

Even though he did not win any of the qualifying races (he had two 3rd places and one 2nd), Jason Parrott (Birel-Parilla) heads the intermediate classification and he will thus take pole position for the first race. The Briton precedes the Frenchman Manuel Renaudie (Gillard-Parilla), also consistent (he finished 2nd once and was twice 5th), and the Belgian Yannick de Brabander (Intrepid-TM), who would have taken pole if he had not been penalised in the first race following too heavy a contact with an opponent. Each the winners of one race, the Finns Simo Puhakka (PCR-TM), Aaro Vainio (Maranello-Maxter) and Miika Kunranta (Birel-Parilla) all experienced a mishap in one of the other races. Consequently they are placed respectively 4th, 7th and 11th. No success today for Robert Foster-Jones (FA Kart-Vortex), who had set the fastest time yesterday.

The British driver was let down by his mechanics during the first race and has to be satisfied with 6th place in the intermediate classification, behind the Czech driver Zdenek Groman (Maranello-Parilla). Still notable by her presence in the top 10 is the Czech lady driver Tereza Gromanova (Maranello-Parilla), in eighth place, and also in the top ten are Franco-Italian Floriano Alfano (Maddox-Maxter) and the Finn Miki Weckstrom (Birel-Parilla). Tomorrow, the start of the first race will be at 14.10 and that of the second at 16.15

The other category which begins its Championship of Europe at Muro Leccese is the KZ2, the second division of gearbox karts. In this class twelve of the fifteen qualifying races in the programme took place this Saturday. It was the Italian Angelo Lombardo (Tony Kart-Vortex) who made the greatest impression since he won his four qualifying races. But Riccardo Piccoli (CKR-TM) also won three races, the pole sitter from the qualifying practice Leonardo Fuoco (CRG-TM) dominated two races and Luca Tilloca (CRG-Maxter) took a race.

With four second places the Czech driver Patrick Hajek (Tony Kart-Vortex) also showed that he would be a force to be reckoned with! On the other hand if he shone in two races, Paolo De Conto (Energy-TM) encountered misfortune in the two others. For all drivers a qualifying race (making three races in total) remains to be settled tomorrow morning. In the afternoon, the finalists in KZ2, as in Super KF, will have two finals to contest and these are the ones that allot points for the championship.

By PaddockTalk

The Easter weekend saw the opening round of the new Central European Zone Karting Trophy (sanctioned by the CIK-FIA) hosted by the somewhat challenging Kecskemét circuit in Hungary, as the first of the six-round series. Intrepid Force Rotax was there competing with one Junior Max and three Senior Max drivers, who will contest the international event, together with some additional Austrian drivers at selected rounds following.

IFR’s Niki Laa, who finished 12th at the ’08 Rotax Grand Finals in Italy, just missed taking pole position Sunday in the senior class to start the first final that afternoon on the front row. All 27 karts in the notably competitive field were within eight-tenths of the polesitter, who in fact claimed the Austrian Championship ahead of Laa the year before. Unfortunately, the IFR driver was disadvantaged by the outside row grid, but managed to still finish 4th after an early attempt to take the lead. The 15-year old from near Vienna drove well to secure 5th amongst a competitive class, but later admitted that he was a little disappointed with the result from his first race of the season.

Making his debut in international racing and Senior Max, Tobias Weichenberger settled-in quickly to qualify in P11. The move from juniors after only two full seasons of competition was welcomed by the 15-year old, who finished 8th in the first race and then overcame an incident at the start of the next race to end up 13th. Weichenberger said the racing was hard against so many experienced drivers and the track fast, but was clearly excited to be running in the top 10 and definitely looking forward to the second round now.

The team’s senior lady driver Laura Kraihamer was the fastest in the racing when she competed at the Rotax Max Challenge last year at Kecskemét, but has only had minimal time in the Intrepid kart the previous six months, which she believes prevented her from being more competitive. At 17 years, the IFR driver who is no stranger to racing at the Euro Challenge and other events outside of Austria was sitting close behind her team-mate to take 10th in race 1. A slight error in the 27-lap final saw Kraihamer run wide momentarily, only to lose valuable places to drop down to 21st in the latter stages of the race.

Junior Max driver Corinna Kamper is continuously learning about adapting to new and unfamiliar circuits in her first year racing international, finding the fast, sweeping corners in Hungary difficult to master. Over the course of the event however, the 14-year old gained half a second on the front-runners after qualifying with the 10th best laptime, then had a 9th and 8th in the two races. The defending national champ, who again took the honours this weekend and competes against IFR’s youngest driver in the European Rotax championship has given Kamper a good benchmark for her racing this year, which she acknowledges is not as easy as it should be, but she is enjoying it.

Overall, IFR Manager Ernst Penninger believes the CEZ event proved to be a positive beginning to both the series and the season for the team. “We will continue to work with our drivers and be more prepared again for the next round, as this weekend in Hungary gave us a good comparison of where we need to be if we want to be more competitive. Niki did very well to be on the front row and almost on the podium against some very good local drivers. The meeting was well organised, the racing was good and so was the general atmosphere. I think like us, it’s only going to get better as the year progresses.”

The second round of the CEZ Karting Trophy is once again in Hungary next month at the Pannoniaring circuit, where IFR has done considerable testing and racing in the past, so they’re anticipating a better result. The remaining four rounds of the series will be held in Austria, Czech Republic and Poland.

Do fairytales come true? Tristram Oman, the designer of the CRG Dark Knight chassis might well argue that they do after seeing his kart take stunning victories at Whilton Mill last weekend (4/5 April).

In Junior Max, Coles Racing’s Ed Brand was in brilliant form – fastest in Timed Qualifying before winning the heat and first final. After leading much of the second race, he sensibly opted for points over the possibility of crashing out, to finish as runner-up and leave the Northamptonshire circuit with the series lead in his pocket.

Commenting on the Dark Knight chassis, the Hertfordshire driver said, “It feels really good to drive. The chassis is very well balanced and did me proud. It’s given us a great start to the season and is clearly fast. Lee (Jenner) and I have proved that.”

Despite nursing injured tendons in his arm, Lee Jenner was able to run at the front and cope with the furious pace set in the Senior class.

Second quickest in qualifying, the 26-year old HRS driver also crossed the line in second place in the heat. Pushed wide at the start of the first final, Lee fought back to take a strong 3rd at the chequered flag - giving himself that all-important inside line for the first corner for the start of the following final.

An excellent start saw him survive the opening-lap dramas to join a thrilling dice for the lead. The race had the crowds thronging the barriers, as the spectators tried not to miss the drama unfolding in front of them. Making his move at precisely the right moment, Lee seized the lead.

“The start had been a bit edgy but I got my head down and worked my way into second. With four minutes to go, I thought ‘Give it a go’ – and went for it.”

After crossing the line to take a popular victory, Lee added, “This is a great Super 1 debut for the Dark Knight. It’s easier to set up than other karts, the tyre wear is fantastic and it’s so easy to drive.”

HRS boss, Tristram couldn’t contain his delight, “We couldn’t ask anymore from Lee and Ed, I’m ecstatic.”

“We designed the chassis specifically for the Rotax classes,” he explained, “And I’m over the moon to leave Whilton leading the (Junior and Senior) points tables.”

“Can we maintain our form? I think so. We’ve worked for a long time to have a kart that is strong both at the beginning and the end of a race and we’ve got that.”

Coles driver stokes up early Super 1 title challenge with winning performance at Whilton opener… Ed Brand was in sparkling form at Whilton Mill, near Daventry last Sunday (5 April). Quickly getting to grips with the new event format of timed qualifying, followed by a heat prior to two finals, he recorded the pole-setting time - before winning the single heat by over two seconds…

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Strawberry Racing dominated the opening round of the Rotax Euro Challenge at Zuera, Spain last weekend (28/29 March).

In Timed Qualifying, the Senior drivers, James Greenway, Joseph Reilly and Luke Varley and Junior ace Josh Webster were all well within the top ten - with Greenway fastest in his group. This gave the team a solid platform from which to challenge for race wins.

Reilly opened his account in the first heat with a well taken win. Not to be outdone, Varley won the following race to give the team a superb start.

If this put pressure on the young shoulders of Webster, he didn’t show it. Josh confidently took victory in the second Junior heat. He repeated this with metronomic efficiency in his following two races to head the intermediate classification with no penalty points.

Similarly, the rapid Londoner Reilly maintained his 100% win-rate – leading home a Strawberry 1-2-3 in heat six – to seal pole position for the pre-final. Varley and Greenway both ran strongly, but a DNF and a 23rd place saw the pair make the cut in 17th and 13th places respectively.

Team manager Warwick Ringham said, “At this stage, I was delighted. No one had had to come through from the repecharges, and apart from the glitches for Luke and James, we couldn’t have asked for more. Our main job was to get the set-ups right to maintain Josh and Joseph’s pace at the front and give James and Luke the kit to come through the mid-pack traffic quickly, and then push for the top places.”

In the pre-finals it was business as usual for Reilly and Webster, who converted their pole advantages into straight victories. Greenway battled through to 3rd with Luke moving up to 11th.

So far, so good. However, Joseph’s fantastic weekend was about to hit the skids – literally.

As he led the pack into the first corner, James was pushed past him by the fast-starting Van Splunteren. Pushed wide, Joe then had the inside line for the following left-hand corner - but found the Dutchman in unyielding mood. They touched and span, ultimately leaving the Englishman furious and out of the running. This left James leading, and behind him Luke was rocketing up the order. In this form, he was unbeatable and took a sensational triumph, with James sensibly opting for the points rather than risk a clash. Josh had no such dramas and his subsequent lights-to-flag win was a fitting reward for his faultless performance in every race.

A delighted Warwick commented, “The results speak for themselves really. To win all our heats and both finals, well, it’s almost embarrassing. I’m disappointed for Joseph because he deserved so much more. But he’ll be back. Every one of the lads did all that we could ask of them – and more!”