Wackersdorf - The Wackersdorf circuit in Germany hosts round 2 of the 2011 Rotax Max Euro Challenge this weekend, where more than 30 nations are represented by the 170 drivers competing. This will be the highest number of entries at the second season edition in the eight year history of the international event following-on from the opening round which has already set a new milestone for organisers and promoters RGMMC by exceeding 200 competitors.
At 1275 metres, the ProKart Raceland venue is one of the very popular locations on the European tour where many high profile events are held on the CIK-FIA karting calendar; 2011 being the fourth time the Euro Challenge has been run here. Renowned for being a track where the weather can change in an instant, it looks set once again to make a significant impact on the results for the opening day of official practice with rain showers forecast for the afternoon in the Bavarian region. Last year, the rain also played havoc with many drivers and mechanics, as the conditions alternated constantly until the end of Sunday’s finals.
Four Rotax classes will be contested on the program, and of course, the race continues for the points vital for those drivers contesting the championship who must combine their best three pre-finals and finals from the four-round series. In the largest field, former World and European number 1 Ben Cooper leads the Senior Max ranking after he won at Genk back in April in the rain, while in Junior Max, first round winner Ukyo Sasahara has been setting the pace in the lead-up to qualifying. In the Rotax DD2 2-speed category, Simas Juodvirsis made an impressive debut to the Euro Challenge in 2010 at Wackersdorf when the extremely tall Lithuanian was unbeatable and following his victory at the opening round this year, he’s obviously one of the hot favourites at this meeting. The reigning World Masters’ champ Christophe Adams will be hoping to repeat his form from the previous time at Raceland when he was the second round winner, while additionally competing in the DD2 Masters class, which he won at the first round this year.
Round 2 race program…
The race schedule Saturday is filled with 18 qualifying heats and bound to be action-packed racing all day, ahead of Sunday’s second chance deciders for Junior and Senior Max before the finals for all four classes.
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