What impact does an unusual, little-used circuit and highly variable weather have on race results?
It’s a question that legitimately arises after the second round of the FIA Karting European Championship – OK and OK-Junior, which has just finished in France on the Val d’Argenton circuit. To begin with, let’s look at the specific parameters of this race.
The Val d’Argenton circuit has aroused real interest since its creation in 1996. High-level competitions have been organised there, with the participation of great karting champions and future F1 stars. Let’s put aside the 1998 pace-car incident, which was more of a news item than a sporting event. The boycott, for safety reasons, of several famous drivers and teams at the start of the second Formula Super A Final, with police intervention, is symptomatic of a very different era.
Val d’Argenton remains a beautiful, demanding and selective circuit, on which the teams have little data due to the lack of international competitions for over 10 years. The track has recently been resurfaced, but the width of the track is still typical of the 90s, and 8m is now considered narrow. These are two unusual parameters likely to cause changes in the race hierarchy.
Organised in the spring, the FIA Karting event could have been expected to have pleasant, sunny weather. This was also the case two weeks earlier at the Champions of the Future Euro Series. This time, however, the weather showed all its tricks, alternating short but sometimes intense spells of rain on Friday and Saturday with numerous dry periods. It wasn’t easy to find the right set-up in advance, or to avoid the pitfalls of uncertain grip. It’s worth noting that the Maxxis rain tyres coped with long runs on a barely damp track without flinching.
Turney and Martinese the heroes of the Val d’Argenton
Despite all the comments above on the particularities of the track and the weather, two drivers put in an outstanding performance at Val d’Argenton. What they have in common is their excellent performances and flawless consistency through all the pitfalls of the event.
Britain’s Joe Turney of the KR Motorsport team won everything in OK from the Qualifying Heats through to the Final. The fact that he finished ‘only’ 5th in Qualifying was of no consequence. His performance was all the more remarkable given that he had suffered a serious accident last October during the World Championship Final at Franciacorta. His long recovery kept him away from the track for several months. He is a very experienced driver, fast and combative, collaborating with Dino Chiesa in the development of KR chassis and very pleasant to deal with out of the kart. He deserves a big round of applause for his victory at Val d’Argenton, which put him in the lead of the Championship.
Young Italian Iacopo Martinese is also racing with KR Motorsport in his second season in OK-Junior. Used to fighting for victory, he put in an impressive performance at Val d’Argenton. The pole-sitter, he only conceded a 2nd position in one heat and another in the Super Heat, and even then he probably acted intelligently so as not to risk making the slightest mistake. Leader of the heats, poleman at the start of the Final, he won masterfully despite the threat from Dries van Langendonck for the Final finish. Martinese returned to 3rd place in the provisional European rankings.
Info KARTCOM Selection / Photo © KSP