Intrepid Force Rotax has come away from the first round of the newly combined German-Austrian Rotax Max Challenge (RMC) at the famous Michael Schumacher ‘Erftlandring’ circuit at Kerpen in Germany with exceptional results in the Senior Max class, where Ferenc Kancsár secured pole position and took the win in Sunday’s final followed closely in 2nd by IFR team mate Maxi Gunkel, who had won the pre-final ahead of Kancsár. There was also the chance of a podium finish in Junior Max for Stefan Locsmandi, but the youngster from Vienna was knocked out of contention at the start of the last lap in the final.

The picturesque 1,017km track hosted the season starter under glorious sunshine and 20°C with 150 entries running in 8 classes. An invitation to compete at the Rotax Grand Finals in Italy next November for the highest scoring Austrian and German drivers makes up the sort-after prize in the Junior and Senior Max plus the Rotax DD2 ‘World’ qualifying categories, while the remaining five ‘Cup’ classes ranging from Micro Max to the DD2 will crown the national champions for 2010. The series consists of seven rounds where drivers must register for five and the four best results count towards the points.

The Salzburg-based team travelled to the west of Germany to compete with a line-up of five drivers at the event and was clearly dominant in seniors from the beginning of free practice Friday morning. It was 15-year old Kancsár who set the pole lap in the Max 0.139 seconds ahead of his local team-mate and 2009 German DMV champ Gunkel.

Two season newcomers to the Intrepid Force Rotax team have continued their impressive start to the 2010 season with the Austrian-based team, completely dominating the competition at the first round of the Central European Zone (CEZ) Karting Trophy over the weekend in Hungary.

Following their recent success to be running inside the top 10 at the Rotax Euro Challenge in France, Senior Max driver Ferenc Kancsár and team mate Stefan Locsmandi in Junior Max, were quick from the word go when their Intrepid karts hit the fast 935m Kecskemét circuit for Friday practice. Both drivers consequently topped the time sheets in qualifying to start on pole position for the first race on the program in their respective classes. It was almost as if the young IFR rookies couldn’t put a foot wrong, leading from the beginning of each race and never faltering.

The afternoon races again saw 15-year old Kancsár as the former Junior champ in the CEZ, make a confident stance to take maximum points in the opening round of the 4-event series, while his 14-year old IFR buddy Locsmandi did likewise. Although the grid numbers were down from last year’s line-up due to a conflicting local meeting, the level of the rival drivers and laptimes that exceeded the 2009 records, clearly showed the undeniable supremacy the pair displayed. They each set the best lap overall for race 1 and 2, pushing all the way in the finals to hold a comfortable lead of between 6 to 7.5 seconds by the chequered flag.

According to the IFR team chief technician Steve Chapman, both drivers were more than deserving of the great results achieved against some very good drivers in the field, It’s been a fantastic weekend for our boys here in Hungary, who not only won because of having the best equipment we could provide for them from our partners Intrepid and HRS, but also due to the combined effort and hard work they’ve done together with their mechanics Istvan and Mike. We made the most of every session to do the groundwork and got through a lot of valuable testing leading up to when it counted. On behalf of our team, I want to congratulate Ferenc and Stefan on a job well done; they really drove well and stayed focused to make this all possible!

The track-time and preparation will no doubt prove to be an advantage for the duo as they join their fellow IFR team mates for the round 1 of the German-Austrian Rotax Max Challenge this weekend at the famous Michael Schumacher complex, Kerpen. However, it is Hungary’s Pannoniaring that will play host to the next event on the CEZ international race calendar on May 22-23.

Junior Intrepid Force Rotax driver Maxi Gunkel has won the 2009 German Max Masters at the Vogelsbergring circuit, Wittgenborn, making it his third title win in just two weekends. In virtually another “whitewash”, the 15-year old claimed pole position Saturday morning while setting a new lap record. Again, he remained too quick for his rivals in the following heats, taking victory in both races and clocking the best lap as well.

In the first heat, Gunkel outdrove his Austrian IFR team mate Corinna Kamper to finish a very comfortable 6 seconds ahead when he took the chequered flag, before repeating his outstanding performance in the next race with a three-second lead over prominent Austrian youngster Julian Wagner. Starting from pole in the final, the IFR team driver got a good start to fight off any chance Wagner might have of catching him, once more claiming the fastest lap of the race, and crossing the line two seconds in front to secure the Masters win at his home track. It was the ideal way to close the season!

The German champ was nothing less than ecstatic after his impressive effort the whole weekend, knowing that the “triple title” end to his junior kart racing career was the perfect exit. “It was a very nice weekend to win everything that I could and also to win for the first time at Wittgenborn. The qualifying turned out to be perfect; the Intrepid chassis and HRS engine was really good, so I was on pole position and set a new lap record.” “I had a good win in the first heat and in the second race I tried to look after my tyres, but still won by a gap. In the final I gave it 100% to become the 2009 Max Master in Juniors. It’s a great result for me! I want to say thanks to my super team for everything - Ernst, Steve and Josh!” Unfortunately, Gunkel recently narrowly missed out on winning the Rotax Max Challenge series for the invitation to compete at the Rotax Grand Finals in Egypt.

IFR’s Corinna Kamper qualified 3rd in Junior Max for a positive beginning to the meeting and drove well to take 2nd place to Gunkel in heat one. However, she had some bad luck in the second race when an incident at the start left her way down the order in the field, left to finish just outside the top 10. Although Kamper made up several positions, she was unable to regain her momentum in the final and had to settle for 8th. In Senior Max, Tobias Weichenberger was beaten to pole by fellow Austrian Simon Wagner, who proved too strong on the day to take the eventual win. Starting on P2, the IFR senior had a great race to hold 3rd in heat one behind the pole-sitter and Denmark’s Rasmus Wendelboe, but heat two ended prematurely after being crashed out in the opening lap. In the final, Weichenberger failed to maintain his pace, finishing 9th overall.

Intrepid Force Rotax driver Maxi Gunkel has claimed victory in Junior Max over the weekend at the Goldpokal 2009 event held at the Wackersdorf circuit, to win one of the most prestigious trophies in German Karting. This is the first time the class has been included, which makes it even more special.

As a result of taking the honours in the pre-final, the 15-year old also sealed the 2009 DMV Kart Championship, which he was leading coming into the last round of the series incorporated into the Goldpokal meeting. It was a truly fantastic achievement for the young German driver, who was ‘over the moon’ when the realisation set in that he’d won.

“It really was a great weekend and a lot of fun racing with the Austrian team, who have helped make this win possible for me. In the qualifying, the Intrepid chassis & HRS engine was working really well and I took pole position. In both finals Sunday I had a good start, with a gap of more than 4 seconds in the first race when I crossed the finish line first. The last race was not as easy, but I managed to hold my lead from the start and pushed hard to fight off a challenge to win the Goldpokal, also setting the best overall time in the final lap.”

“So, now I have the Goldpokal trophy in my hands and it’s a very cool feeling! I want to thank the people who have supported me this season, who include my dad and mum,  Manfred Schulte (Sports President DMV), Oliver and Michael Fröhlich (Happybet) , Klaus Ernst (Ernst Motorsport) , Uwe Jäger, Team VPD Racing - Mr. Kraihamer (Team Principle), Ernst Penninger (Race Team Manager) and my ‘very international’ IFR team mechanics Steve (GB), Josh (NZ) and Martin (NL).”

A famous German race driver, who was not so lucky after starting on the front row as well, was 7-times Formula One World Champ Michael Schumacher, who was also competing at the Goldpokal 2009. Taking a weekend away from the F1 circus, Schumacher lined-up in the KZ2 class with his German kart team KSM Racing, giving the Wackersdorf spectators a taste of why he’s a Motorsport legend.

It was not only a pleasure to watch, but no doubt incredible inspiration for the many other drivers there to witness his amazing racecraft skills and sheer confidence on the track. Unfortunately, a brazen move by another competitor to snatch the lead from Schumacher sent the former European ICA Champion spinning just laps from the end of the final, leaving him 4th at the chequered flag. However, officials penalised the ambitious driver who caused the incident, which promoted the #77 kart to 3rd.

This weekend, IFR travels back to Germany to contest the 2009 German Masters, where Maxi will join two of the Austrian team members at their last race on the European schedule for this season.

Pics by Jenni Wade VPD Marketing

The fourth and final round of the international Rotax championship that’s regarded by many as the most competitive series in its class worldwide, proved to be a competition to be reckoned with for the Intrepid Force Rotax drivers who travelled to the French Sologne Karting circuit.

In Seniors, Josh Hart made it into the history books as the only driver to take three consecutive pole positions in the Max class in one season and naturally was in a prime position to secure another podium. The IFR driver also had the chance to grace the championship podium as he did in 2008, with the title still undecided going into Sunday’s finals. However, it all began to unravel when an outside front row start resulted in Hart being overcautious in the early stages of the pre-final, claiming he was waiting for the crash that never actually happened. Delaying his move into the leading pack then missing the braking point on turn 2, the 23-year old found himself in the gravel with several others, before retiring into the pits to save his new tyres for the last race…

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