The boss of CPB Sport, Paul Bizalion, was kind enough to share with us the current situation of his team and how he envisages the course of a season that promises to be very disturbed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
How would you sum up this rather unusual start to the season?
It’s a very encouraging start to the season and we’re very satisfied with our results during the first two races, with top performances for the majority of our drivers in very difficult competitions such as the Winter Cup or WSK.
Jean Nomblot is the leader of a team where the good surprises are rather encouraging with drivers at the top of the rankings like Lorenzo Giannoni, Arthur Carbonnel, Hubert Petit and Artem Kosarev who shone on all the competitions at the beginning of the year. Good results with the qualification of Daniel Lindholm in the Winter Cup final and of Nikita Artamonov, our youngest driver, who also obtained his place in the WSK final for his second race in KZ.
Good performances also of our drivers in general with Jovan Pavicevic, Lev Lomko, Damien Vallar, Valentino Fritsch who showed potential for future competitions. In addition, the arrivals of Senna Van Walstijn and Marco Valenti have reinforced an already strong line up and we are very much looking forward to return to the competition to work with all our drivers.
Finally we wish a good recovery to Slavik Putiatin who injured himself during the Winter and who will come back even stronger.
What do you think of the situation of Karting International in the face of the Covid 19 crisis?
The situation is very serious and we should not be afraid to say so. First of all I would like to have a thought for our Italian friends who are the hardest hit by this epidemic.
For my part and speaking on behalf of CPB Sport, I will not hide from you that the situation is very worrying and that we must show solidarity at this particularly complicated time. CPB Sport drivers are also impacted by this unexpected situation and are regularly kept informed about our organisation. Unfortunately, we have to wait for the evolution of the calendars and decisions of the nations and federations concerned.
I remain optimistic and I trust everyone’s common sense, but we can think that we will not see the circuits again for a month at best and that is what I deeply wish. We must be wise and respect the measures taken to honour those affected by this disease in order to avoid a spread that would have far more serious consequences than the current situation.
Of course, this situation has significant economic consequences, but we can count on all our partners to get through this situation.
How do you see the end of the 2020 season?
The whole team remains very positive and we are preparing for a very busy end of season with a very tight schedule, culminating in a world championship in Le Mans where we will definitely go to defend our title.
Info Kartcom / Photos KSP