Winner of the KF2 World Cup following a Final over a hard battle of some 30 kilometres Loris Spinelli (Tony Kart-Vortex) fully deserved hearing his national anthem played in his honour at Sarno. Already leading after the qualifying heats, the Italian took full advantage of his pole position from beginning to end, which allowed him to be at the front of the grid for the start of the Final, the sole decisive race. Having taken the best start Loris was unable to build up a gap. Not only was he rejoined but even overtaken by Antonio Maria Giovinazzi (PCR-Parilla) and by the Thai driver (competing with an Irish licence) Tanart Sathienthirakul (Tony Kart-TM). But Loris Spinelli did not panic. Just before the half-way mark, he retook the lead never to relinquish same. At the young age of only 15, he can proudly add a victory in the KF2 World Cup to his record of achievements.
Second to cross the line, the Dane Christian Sorensen (Tony Kart-Vortex) was almost as delighted as the winner having climbed back from 7 th place on the grid and especially after having lapped Giovinazzi in the final lap. The Italians Paolo Ippolito (Tony Kart-Vortex) and Stefano Cucco (Birel-Parilla) also rejoiced the local spectators, with four of their representatives finishing in the first five. The top-10 was completed by the Frenchman Pascal Belmaaziz (DR-Parilla), lapped by Cucco in the final lap, the Italian Gianni Vigorito (Birel-BMB), Tanart Sathienthirakul, who fell back to 8 th place, the Brit Sam Snell (Energy-TM) and the Frenchman Victor Sendin (Tony Kart-Vortex).
Others might also have been able to claim, at minimum, at top-5. This was the case for the Dane Nikolaj Moller Madsen (FA Kart-TM), who had climbed up from 17 th to 4 th place in the Pre-Final. However the 2010 European Champion was unable to start his engine and had to set off from the back of the pack. Having come back into 8 th place on the starting grid for the Final, after a 46 th best lap time, the Belgian Sami Luka (Energy-TM) hardly got any further: an accident in the first bend put an end to the reigning European Champion’s ambitions. Last but not least, the Danish female driver Michelle Gatting (Birel-BMB) looked as though she was heading for a 4 th place when her engine betrayed her.
KF3 World Cup: Leclerc in style
The most prestigious event amongst the Juniors (13-15 years) of the KF3 category, the 2011 World Cup version should remain as a grand cru in everyone’s memory. Because the number of candidates out for victory, not forgetting the young drivers all with an excellent potential future ahead of them, was especially important. And yet one of them was to excel above all the others throughout the weekend. Having set best lap time during the qualifying heats Charles Leclerc (Intrepid-TM) was only stopped from victory in the qualifying heats as the result of being penalised twice for excessive speed at the start. And so for the Pre-Final he set off from 3 rd place … and winning same, which entitled him to grabbing pole position for the decisive Final. However a rather difficult first lap saw the Monegasque drop down to 4 th position, behind the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (FA Kart-Vortex), the Brit Callan O’keefe (FA Kart-Vortex) and the Dutchman Max Verstappen (CRG-Parilla), finally being forced to retire a few laps from the finish. As from the second lap, O’keefe, previously 3 rd in the KF3 World Cup in 2010, took over the lead and when Leclerc managed to grab second place, the gap was practically two seconds. As from then the Monegasque gleaned away tenths of seconds lap after lap to finally take over the lead 5 laps from the chequered flag. Following his victory last year at the Monaco Kart Cup, Charles Leclerc has now enjoyed his second major success, and he hardly had time to remove his helmet before he also received the congratulations by telephone from his manager Nicolas Todt.
Highly disappointed to have come so close to victory, Callan O’keefe was pleased to score his second consecutive podium in the World Cup, whilst Harrison Scott (Intrepid-TM), previously 3 rd in the European Championship in 2010, once again managed to grab the bronze medal. The Brit took advantage of the battle between Esteban Ocon and the Italian Mattia Vita (Birel-BMB) in the last lap, the latter two losing several places in the adventure. The Norwegian Oystein Helgheim (Parolin-TM) in fact finished in 4 th place ahead of « Speedy », alias Antonio Fuoco (Tony Kart-Vortex), the Brit Matthew Graham (Zanardi-Parilla), Mattia Vita (dropping back to 7 th), the Spaniard Alex Palou Montalbo (FA Kart-Vortex), the Dane Nicklas Nielsen (Tony Kart-Vortex) and the Norwegian Dennis Olsen (Energy-TM). As for Esteban Ocon, he finished in 14 th place overall. |
