Notwithstanding the early morning rain, no less than 5,000 spectators were on hand at the Genk circuit this Sunday (there had already been 3,000 the day before) to watch the third event of the KF1 World Championship as also the KZ1 and KZ2 World Cups, the two divisions for karts fitted with gearboxes. And they thoroughly enjoyed the visit, as the spectacle being provided by the best karting drivers was enough to take their breath away!
For this third round, the KF1 World Championship definitely retained its share of developments and spectacle on the Genk circuit. On Saturday the Italian Flavio Camponeschi (Tony Kart-Vortex) clinched the first Race ahead of the Brits Jordon Lennox-Lamb (CRG-Maxter) and Alex Albon (Intrepid-TM). As for the championship leader, the Dutchman Nyck De Vries (Zanardi-Parilla), he finished 4th after a splendid climb-up from the last place on the grid, as the result of a technical problem during the practice sessions. In the second Race however De Vries this time around was the first to take the chequered flag ahead of Jordon Lennox-Lamb and the Italian Felice Tiene (CRG-Maxter)… however Nyck was excluded from the Race as the result of coming into contact with Flavio Camponeschi. The Dutchman’s Entrant having made an appeal regarding the decision, the reigning World Champion recuperated his points whilst waiting an ulterior judgement.
On the spectacle front, the two Races held this Sunday were on a par with those of the previous day. Having grabbed pole position during the morning practice sessions, held on a drying track, Nyck De Vries got the better of everyone … Prior to committing a small error when braking too late in the first bend. Beaten by a mere 6/1000th during the timed laps, Alex Albon was only too pleased and slotted into the opening at the same time as the Belgian Sébastien Bailly (Kosmic-Vortex). For De Vries, matters became even more complicated seeing he was lightly nudged by another driver returning to the track and going into a full spin. Whilst Albon was building up some distance and a ferocious battle was going on between Sébastien Bailly, Felice Tiene, Yu Kanamaru (Tony Kart-Vortex) and Léo Roussel (Sodi-Parilla) for second place, Nyck De Vriees managed to climb back into the pack. At the end the Dutchman still managed to grab the lowest tread of the podium behind a determined Albon and Sébastien Bailly, Léo Roussel and Flavio Camponeschi completing the top-5.
Having taken full advantage of his pole position in order to have a good start in the fourth and final Race of the weekend, Alex Albon soon found himself being threatened by Nyck De Vries. During several laps the two championship leaders swapped the lead under the applause of the crowds. Taking advantage of the fight the Italians Ignazio D’Agosto (Tony Kart-Vortex) and Flavio Camponeschi went as far as to surprise the two leaders by taking over the race reins. But Nyck de Vries was too strong … Five laps from the chequered flag he recovered the command and flew off to clinch victory. At the end of the race Alex Albon managed to grab points for second place just a hair’s breadth ahead of Flavio Camponeschi, the Frenchman Anthoine Hubert (Sodi-Parilla), who put in a brilliant climb up through the pack from 21st place on the grid, and Léo Roussel.
In the championship Nyck De Vries and Alex Albon have distanced themselves and will continue their duel in less than two weeks time at Sarno, in the vicinity of Naples, which will stage the fourth and penultimate rendezvous of the season. |
