The sky remained overcast over Wackersdorf for the Final of the FIA Karting European Championship – KZ2, Round 1, with the temperature continuing to rise to around 27°. Although the domination of Senna van Walstijn (Sodi/TM) had been unquestionable until then, the competition was determined not to let him continue. Giacomo Pollini (CRG/TM), Laurens van Hoepen (Birel ART/TM), Paavo Tonteri (CRG/TM) and Giuseppe Palomba (Birel ART/TM) were among the opponents to be considered. Jean Nomblot (Sodi/TM) started in 7th position, with Arthur Carbonnel (Sodi/TM) and Hubert Petit (Sodi/TM) starting from the 10th row. The race was 26 laps long.
Pollini was quicker than van Walstijn when the lights went out, but a massive collision occurred in the pack at the first hairpin and the ‘slow’ procedure was initiated. A dozen drivers were involved, including the three Frenchmen, but some of them managed to get away. Palomba and Pescador were among those who had to stop. Van Walstijn had the time to take the lead against Pollini, Tonteri and Van Hoepen. The race was restarted on the fourth lap. The top four drivers quickly broke away in front of Kajus Siksnelis (Energy/TM), followed by several others. Nomblot started to make a desperate move. Alexander Schmitz (Birel ART/TM) had crashed in 29th position. Team-mates Lorenzo Travisanutto (Parolin/TM) and James Wharton (Parolin/TM) were fighting for 10th position.
At the halfway point van Walstijn was leading by 7 tenths of a second ahead of Pollini, followed by van Hoepen, Tonteri conceded 1,5″ in 4th position while Siksnelis gave up shortly afterwards. The leader accelerated and set several fastest times in a row, which only increased his advantage. The battle remained intense from 4th to 10th place. Leonardo Marseglia (KR/Iame) attacked Tonteri and moved up to 4th, three seconds behind the leading trio. Daniel Vasile (DR/Modena) retired after a spin in the second hairpin.
Senna van Walstijn won the race in the colours of CPB Sport 2,2” ahead of Giacomo Pollini, and Laurens van Hoepen completed the podium. Marseglia finished 4th ahead of Tonteri. After strong progress, Wharton finished in 8th place and Travisanutto 10th. Nomblot made a superb comeback in 14th place ahead of Alessio Piccini (Birel ART/TM).
This article was written live from the competition and does not take into account any subsequent penalties.
Info Kartcom / Photo © KSP