The starting grid of the KZ Final of this first round of the European Championship was a foretaste of the tough battles ahead. Senna van Walstijn (Sodi/TM) started on pole next to Jérémy Iglesias (CRG/TM), ahead of Danilo Albanese (KR/Iame) and Emilien Denner (Sodi/TM), then Tom Leuillet (Tony Kart/Vortex) and Matteo Vigano (Birel ART/TM). The air temperature reached 20° despite the constant north-west wind. 18 laps were scheduled.
Van Walstijn didn’t have the best start of his career and Iglesias was leading ahead of Denner and Vigano. Adrien Renaudin (DR/Modena) had made up seven places in one lap to 13th position. On the third lap, Vigano took 2nd place from Iglesias, while Riccardo Longhi (Birel ART/TM) came back to 6th. Van Walstijn went on the attack to reach 3rd position after determined overtaking, ahead of Albanese and Denner. Iglesias had a very good pace at the front of the race, 5 tenths ahead of Vigano on lap 6. Leuillet had already retired, as had Francesco Celenta (Parolin/TM), Jorrit Pex (KR/TM) and Viktor Gusfasson (CRG/TM).
At the halfway point, Iglesias was leading by more than a second with a series of fastest laps. Vigano was 2nd, followed by Van Walstijn, then Denner 4th, Lorenzo Camplese (Tony Kart/Vortex) 5th, Longhi 6th, Albanese 7th. The only certainty of the moment was the speed of Iglesias, the leader. Renaudin was 14th, but he also had to retire. Vigano’s 2nd position attracted the interest of the Sodi Boys Van Walstijn and Denner. Even when he eased off the throttle a little, Iglesias was still the fastest on the track. The Frenchman showed an insolent speed and finally took a victory in the CRG colours. Vigano was 2nd at 1,5”. After a few battles in the chasing group, Van Walstijn secured 3rd place ahead of Camplese and Denner. Longhi finished 6th, Albanese 7th, Stan Pex (KR/TM) 8th, Lorenzo Travisanutto (Parolin/TM) 9th and Pedro Hiltbrand (Birel ART/TM) 10th. David Trefilov (Maranello/TM) completed his 17-place climb to 14th. Yohan Soguel (Oberon/TM) was 17th despite a spoiler penalty, Arthur Carbonnel (CRG/TM) finished 18th with an unhooked spoiler just ahead of Paolo Besancenez (Birel ART/TM), who finally gained 10 places.
Info Kartcom with Kartlink / Photo © KSP