– Laiho, Lambert, Norris and Eastwood win first finals of the season
– Frosty opening round with hottest race action
– Breath taking Live TV coverage with more than 22.000 viewers
On Easter weekend (27th to 31st of March) the ROTAX MAX Euro Challenge kicked off its racing season 2013 on the 1.360 metres long track of Genk (BEL). Starting into the tenth anniversary year of the Euro Challenge, the organizing RGMMC Establishment welcomed over 200 drivers from more than 35 nations with every continent being represented. For most participants coming to Europe, the wintery weather proved to be the greatest issue this weekend.
Just in time for the first decisive sessions snow was completely gone and the circuit remained dry until the very end. Yet the cold and frosty temperatures were a special challenge to all involved, turning the first round into a sort of Winter Cup race, which did not leave any space for spring-like feelings to Easter.
MAX Junior: Lando Norris takes Double Win
65 junior drivers competed at Genk, fighting for the first points of the season. In qualifying practice it was Josh Price (Chris Rogers M/Sport), setting the benchmark of the grid. In doing so he confirmed his excellent performance, he was already showing at the ROTAX Winter Cup at Campillos, when the youngster from the UK was pole-setter and prefinal winner. Even after the heats the youngster from the UK defended his top position, although Winter Cup winner Connor Hall (Strawberry racing) and Lando Norris (RL Racing Dept UK) were close on his heels after the Saturday ranking.
With a pile-up, involving almost ten drivers, the juniors started into their prefinal on Sunday. Most prominent victim of the crash was pole setter Josh Price, who found himself being pushed back to the very end of the grid. Lando Norris (RL Racing Dept UK), fresh from his KF3 win at Zuera, and Connor Hall were the lucky ones marking the new leading duo after a few laps. Quickly it became clear, that Hall seemed to be the fastest man on track. So it was no surprise that the Winter Cup winner took rank one soon. Yet the race was not over and a small mistake of Hall was seized by Norris without any mercy. From then on Norris defended his position by all means and took the victory in front of Connor Hall and Guan Yu Zhou (Strawberry Racing).
In the final Lando Norris had a much easier job. While there was a starting collision again, the Tony Kart driver headed away from the grid. By halftime his leading gap was big enough to control it until the falling of the chequered flag. Behind the winner Connor Hall had a bad start. Nevertheless he recovered quickly, making his way up again, which finally was rewarded with second position. “It’s not so long ago that I was racing in Mini MAX category. I am happy that I made my way in juniors now. The races were not that easy. Especially Connor Hall was really fast and pushing a lot. It was a great weekend, for my older brother Oliver managed a podium rank in seniors category as well”, stated Norris during the prize giving ceremony. Here Shanaka Clay from the UK, who is racing on an Sri Lankan licence, completed the podium, with a well-deserved third place in the final.
MAX Senior: Last Minute Victory for Charlie Eastwood
A great show was expected in the senior category. 84 drivers are heading for the European crown this year, which makes it the largest class within the Euro Challenge framework, lifting the competition to the most thrilling level ever. But the grid at Genk did not only impress with its quantity. Drivers’ quality was extremely high too and represented the best, which international ROTAX racing has to offer.
First in focus was Connor Jupp (Dan Holland Racing) from the UK. He was the quickest man on track and took the best time in qualifying practice ahead of his 83 opponents. James Singleton (Coles Racing) put his Tony Kart in second position, missing pole position by only 0.019 seconds. At last the first 70 drivers were separated by not even one second, which promised some thrilling races for Saturday.
And indeed it became a close decision. After ten qualification heats James Singleton, Harry Webb (Strawberry Racing), Philip Morin (Dan Holland Racing) and reigning world champion Charlie Eastwood (Strawberry Racing) shared the wins, while Connor Jupp was unlucky in his last heat thus dropping back to eleventh place. How close decision for pole position was, showed the fact of equal points between Webb and Singleton. Since Singleton was the quicker man in qualifying practice, he was the one gaining pole position for Sunday.
Senior prefinal seemed to become a triple fight between James Singleton, Harry Webb and Philip Morin. The trio quickly headed away from the grid. But by halftime the top three began to struggle for positions thus gaming away their leading advantage. Suddenly about ten drivers caught up and mixed up the classification dramatically. Positions changed perpetually until the very last lap and only time keeping was able to state the final order. And here it was Edward Brand (Intrepid Driver Program) being first in finish just ahead of Harry Webb, James Singleton, Charlie Eastwood and Connor Jupp. Yet the winner’s cheer was of short time. Brand was penalized with ten seconds, as he took advantage by cutting off the track in the very last lap. Him slipping back to position 18, it was Webb inheriting the full points for the win.
Who thought, that prefinal already was a terrific show, was not disappointed in the final either. Singleton, Jupp, Eastwood and Webb delivered a tough show on the top. When it got to the final spurt manners got rougher, resulting in Jupp and Webb getting off the track and by this losing their chances for podium. Singleton on the other hand got the lead, the win within his grasp. But he did not expect a final attack of Eastwood. The man from Ireland seized his chance in the last but one corner. With a slight contact Eastwood managed to get through, which made him win the race in last minute. Singleton dropped back some positions and showed some unsportsmanlike behaviour after the race, which he finally was disqualified for. The podium was completed by Aavo Talvar (Talvar Racing) from Estonia, and Oliver Norris (RL Racing Dept UK Ltd) from the UK. “This was a really close race. When it got to the last corners I got a chance for overtaking. I simply had to chance it and at last it worked out”, says Eastwood, who gained the first championship lead of the year.
DD2: Flying Finn Miika Laiho succeeds in Final
Last but not least DD2 category promised a lot of action, too. With 55 drivers the grid was well-stocked and consisted of the top drivers of ROTAX gearbox karting, which was already reflected in the qualifying practice: It was Sean Babington from the UK (Dan Holland Racing) and Ferenc Kancsar from Hungary (KMS Europe) driving exactly the same lap time, which put both of them on the very top. In this case the second quickest lap time decided about pole position, which was set by Babington. “Actually I was not so sure if my time was quick enough but finally it worked out. Obviously we tie in with our good performance at the Winter Cup. Yet the races will be really tough. I could easily tell you a list of ten drivers, who have the skills to take the win in DD2”, stated Babington before the heats.
His statement proved to be right: The qualifying races became a very close matter, mixing up the classification again. Ranked third in the Euro Challenge 2012 and recently winning the Winter Cup, Xen de Ruwe (FK Racing Team AB Ltd) seized his home field advantage. The Belgian won all of his heats and put himself right into pole position, lining up with Finland’s Miika Laiho (MPT Racing) in second position in heat ranking. Sean Babington slipped back to third position, still having good chances for the final phase. A remarkable job could be attested to Ben Cooper (KMS Europe). Experiencing an engine problem in qualifying practice, the world champion was not able to set a time, which put him back to the end of the grid. Yet the Birel driver made his way through the heats by improving to twelfth starting position.
In the prefinal pole setter de Ruwe lost his lead immediately after the start. He had to leave the door open to Babington and Laiho. Yet de Ruwe kept in touch with the top. After one third of the race distance, leader Babington was visibly losing performance, finally only ending up on rank four. On the top Laiho did not leave any doubt. He defended the lead until the chequered flag ahead of Xen de Ruwe and Sandro Lukovic (Intrepid Driver Program). Actually it was Ben Cooper crossing finishing line in third place, yet a penalty for leaving the corridor threw him back to seventh place again.
Xen de Ruwe, Miika Laiho, Ben Cooper, Sean Babington and Ferenc Kancsar formed the leading quintet in the final. After a few laps Hungary’s Ferenc Kancsar proved to be quickest, making his way through the pack until his opponents struck back and pushed the Birel driver back into fifth place again. Cooper and de Ruwe were the next ones trying to improve their positions. But both got into a slight collision, which cost the targeted podium. The flying Finn Miika Laiho was not bothered by this incident at all. He kept cool and crossed the line in first position, closely ahead of Kancsar and Babington, who completed the first podium of the year.
In the classification of the DD2 Masters only two drivers qualified for the final phase, namely Florent Lambert (Tatum Racing) and Christophe Adams (Sporting Formula K France). While Adams decided the prefinal in his favour, Lambert took the victory in the decisive final. “This year I aim for the Grand Finals in the USA. I have been waiting too long for the championship win. This year I will do everything to succeed. Today was the first step for that”, Lambert said after the races.
All told the opening round of the anniversary season exceeded all expectations. The races at Genk proved the highly balanced level of competition and was host of thrilling race action in each category. Besides the perfectly organized event, RGMMC CEO Roland Geidel and his crew set another benchmark in karting: Live TV coverage of about 40 hours of streaming were brought to everyone around the world. In the end one was broadcasting to more than 22.000 viewers from all around the world.
“The TV coverage was a great success. We did not only the live coverage of the practice sessions and races, but really went into depth. Our aim was to bring other aspects of karting to the viewers at home and I think we managed it quite well”, says RGMMC vice president James Geidel. Especially Tiffany Chittenden was the new face of the Euro Challenge for this meeting by moderating and interviewing drivers, team heads and parents without any pause.
After the first breath taking round the ROTAX Euro Challenge hopes for warmer weather at the second event at Castelletto (IT), which will take place from 20th to 26th of May 2013. But one thing is sure right now: The race action will be hot indeed! So stay tuned on the official website www.rotaxmaxeurochallenge.com, where you get all information regarding reports, photos, results and live TV stream.
