European CIK-FIA Championship wrap up

The CIK-FIA KZ and KZ2 European titles were awarded last Sunday, in Sweden, at the circuit of Kristianstad. In one month, in England, the final round of the European KF and KF Junior Championship, on the PFI Circuit in Brandon. The season started in Muro Leccese (LE) and in Zuera (E), the venues of the first two KF and KFJ rounds. Then, the it continued on the Belgian circuit of Genk (KF, KZ and KZ2) and on the German track of Wackersdorf (KZ and KZ2). The 2014 season finale is now approaching fast: the 2014 championships have shown an outstanding quality of equipment and drivers’ skills. Once again the world of karting has proved to be the throbbing heart of the CIK-FIA racing season which is about to end. This is the spirit that lies behind the great motorsport events: events that increase their prestige and visibility thanks to the media coverage guaranteed both by the live streaming – on the CIK-FIA websites or on the websites of the promoter, WSK Promotion – and by the delayed broadcasts of the races on schedule on TV this week. It will be possible to experience once again the thrill of the weekend in Kristianstad on Rai Sport 2. The usual delayed broadcast of the Finals is on schedule today at 06:00pm; on Friday 1st August the special TV report with the recap of the whole weekend and the predictions for this season finale at 10:30pm.

Rick Dreezen (Pic: Press.net Images)

Thanks to his consistency, Dreezen is the new KZ European Champion.
He was, doubtlessly, the most consistent driver of the pack. So much so that Rick Dreezen (Zanardi-Parilla-Bridgestone) had to discard both the results he scored in Sweden, even though they were pretty good results (sixth in the heats and third in the Final). But they were not as good as the ones he achieved in the previous rounds in Belgium and Germany. The championship rules provide that the lowest score achieved both in the intermediate phase and in the Final must be discarded. So, Dreezen has kept the points he gathered with the second places achieved in the first two rounds: the 24-year-old Flemish driver won the KZ Championship without succeeding in any of the rounds on schedule. In the final sprint, Dreezen had to deal with his fellow countryman Thonon (Praga-Parilla-Bridgestone) and the Italian Marco Ardigò (Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone), the winners of the previous rounds. They made themselves conspicuous during the heats, but the two rivals of the leader did not manage to win the Final, which was what they needed to gain the leadership. Eventually, Thonon is – deservedly – the runner-up, while Ardigò – thanks to his win in Belgium -keeps the third position even though the Dutch Bas Lammers (FK-Parilla-Bridgestone) had closed the gap The latter always managed to take part in the battles for the top positions, but besides the third position scored in Wackersdorf, he did not manage to achieve other important results, despite his undisputable skills. In the final standing, behind the English Jordon Lennox-Lamb (CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone) and the Dutch Jorrit Pex (CRG-TM-Bridgestone), the sixth position is occupied by the Italian Paolo De Conto (Birel-TM-Bridgestone), a position he conquered thanks to his terrific win in the last round of Kristianstad.

Andrea Dalè dominates the first round and wins the KZ2 title.
Andrea Dalè (CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone), 27 years from Brescia (Italy), is the new KZ2 European Champion. This was the most uncertain category of the season, with continuous changes in the standing in each of the three rounds. The crucial event for Dalè was the first weekend in Genk, when the Italian driver dominated the race from the heats until the Final. Getting the highest score possible in Belgium was fundamental for Dale’, because he was not as lucky in Germany. There, in fact, the Lithuanian Simas Juodvirsis (Energy-Maxter-Bridgestone) won the round and got on top of the standing ahead of Dalè. The latter could not keep the pace of the terrific Swedish Douglas Lundberg (Alpha-Parilla-Bridgestone) in the last round: Dalè just controlled the race and scored the fifth place, which was what he needed to win the title. Moreover, Lundberg had to discard the poor results of Wackersdorf, where Dalè scored zero points, and finished the Championship in second position. Juodvirsis, on the other hand, was not lucky: in the Swedish Final he had a gearbox failure and was obliged to pull over. So, he lost positions in the Championship and finished third, behind Lundberg. Fourth position for the Italian Fabian Federer (CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone), followed by the Czech Jan Midrla (Birel-TM-Bridgestone) and the German Maik Sibecke (CRG-Modena-Bridgestone), who had a terrific end of season.

Ahmed keeps the leadership, but the battle in KFJ is getting heated.
Hard times for Enaam Ahmed (FA Kart-Vortex-Vega) during the Swedish weekend; he managed to keep the lead with 53 points, but he had to fend off his opponents’ attacks, always starting from the back of the pack. Daniel Ticktum (Zanardi-Parilla-Vega) took advantage of the situation and achieved a remarkable recovery, thanks to the positive results scored both in the heats and in the Final of the Swedish round. The fifth position scored in the decisive race rocketed him to the second position of the championship, five points behind the leader. On the other hand, Devlin Defrancesco (Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) did not seize the occasion to close the gap in Kristianstad: his Final lasted few laps and he did not score any points. The American lost his position in the Championship, overtaken by Ticktum and closely pursued by Mick Junior (Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) – who achieved a brilliant third position on the Scandinavian track – and by his fellow countryman Logan Sargeant (FA Kart-Vortex-Vega). The Swedish Anton Haaga (Kosmic-LKE-Vega) put in a bad performance in two heats and this prevented him from taking part in the Final: the winner of the Spanish round dropped back to the sixth position of the Championship. Great leap forward for the Italian Lorenzo Travisanutto (PCR-TM-Vega): the brilliant winner of the race in Krinstianstad went straight to seventh position. The Dutch Bard Verkroost (FA Kart-TM-Vega), the Russian Artem Petrov (DR-TM-Vega) and the German David Beckmann (Tony Kart-Parilla-Vega) close the top ten. Now, they all have the same target: the PFI Circuit in Brandon, where in a month the KF Junior title will be awarded.