Here is the race that counts, the U18 Final, with it’s grid made up from the combination of the two Prefinals. The formula promises to be intense for those who negotiate the twists and turns. With 25 laps on the programme, it would be wise not to rush…
Julian Wagner (Mach 1) and Matias Koykka (Maranello) were on the front row, ahead of Maximilian Koch (Maranello) and Alex Baron (Sodi) in a group of favourites. The order was Wagner first, followed by Koykka, with Dennis and Favaro already returned to the front, so the tone was set.
Vincent Fraisse (Intrepid) was 5th, ahead of John Norris (Intrepid), Teemu Suninen (Maranello), Anthony Micoud (Intrepid), Victor Colome (Intrepid) and Jake Lloyd (Intrepid). Baron fell to the bottom of the pack in a clash that we knew would have consequences later.
Now Koykka was leading and was ahead of Dennis and Favaro by a few tenths. Norris took Fraisse, spurred on by the dreaded Suninen. On lap 5, Favaro stormed into the lead, Dennis closed on Koykka, Norris was 4th, Suninen 5th and Fraisse 6th. Dennis took Koykka who also ceded to Norris. As might be expected Suninen attacked Koykka who was now chased by Fraisse.
Favaro was more than a second ahead of Dennis when he was stopped by the black flag on lap 9, due to his aggressive driving on the first lap which was sanctioned after verification on video, which was a good thing!
The lead went to Dennis, followed after a second by an unrestrained quartet: Norris, Suninen, Koykka and Fraisse. Mantyla was in 6th, Colome 7th, and Wagner, the polesitter, in 8th.
It seemed impossible that anything else would happen, but changes were not out of the question. Koykka took 3rd from Suninen at halfway and soon attacked Norris for 2nd. Suninen didn’t stay there for long and Fraisse also looked to overtake. Dennis dominated the race, 1.2s away from an attack from Koykka, himself a second ahead of Suninen. Mantyla threatened Norris for 4th, but the positions didn’t change and the award went to Jake Dennis, Topkart and the United Kingdom.
Info Kartcom with Kartlink / © Photos KSP