Reigning world champion Davide Fore was intent upon a major performance at the season’s biggest meeting. Bad luck accompanied the Maranello driver right up until the final race, into which he threw everything he’d got, carving through the field in style and picking up the fastest lap in the race in the process. Davide was really the fastest driver in Belgium... but so unlucky!
It’s funny how odd-numbered years seem to be unlucky ones for Davide Fore! The Italian champion won his 100cc world titles in 1998, 2000, 2004 and 2006, year in which he also won the 125/Super ICC World Cup. Out on the Mariembourg circuit, in Belgium, cruel luck was to pursue him all weekend. “In the first two heats it was the same scenario twice running”, lamented Davide. “I got shunted each time right at the start and was unable to avoid spinning off. It felt like the kart behind me was deliberately trying to eliminate me! I was furious and went to see the marshals to ask them if they wouldn’t mind keeping a close eye on these antics”.
The first time it happened the kart suffered too much damage for Davide to continue but in the second he did manage to keep going. He got the bit between his teeth and moved up the field with a festival of overtaking and late braking, signing the second fastest lap in the race as he did so. Such class! “In fact, I paid the price for only being 18th fastest in the timed laps, when I was much faster in practice. The problem was that the weather was pretty cool on the Saturday and I would have needed the track to have more grip to get the best out of my chassis”. Although he did reach sixth place in the last heat Davide found himself back in 23rd place on the prefinal grid. “At that point, with still 20km to go plus 30km in the final i was still thinking I could get back into the race. But yet again it was the start that put paid to my hopes! There was a pile up in front of me. I was just avoiding it when a kart that had spun off flew back on the track and caught me at the rear. I was choked, especially for the Maranello team, because I knew that starting from 32nd on the final grid a podium place was virtually out of the question”.
Great champion that he is though, there was no way Davide was going to give up and he treated everyone to a spectacular 25-place climb in the final, with some breathtaking overtaking and a 54”272 lap record. He even managed to catch Cesetti just before the line and pipped him to seventh place. “It’s true my tyres were in better condition than those of the drivers who had completed the prefinal but I was determined to show just how competitive we were and I reckon I succeeded. In fact, I think this final was one of the best races I’ve ever driven in my career. But the race is over now and there’s nothing I can do about it. Ardigo and Catt would probably have been hard to beat anyway, but I believe I could have got on the podium. Come what may, I have to thank Iame for all their hard work in improving the engine in readiness for the World championship. And of course, my team Maranello who got the kart set up just right all through the weekend. We opted for the chassis which had been the most consistent during open practice and it proved to be the right decision”.
Overall, Davide Fore’s 2007 season was positive. “For a start, in Maranello I have found a team that is both competitive and welcoming, and in Armando Filini, a first-class team manager. I managed to win two of the rare KF1 races to escape the clutches of Vortexpowered machines this season. That was in the Italian Masters. What I hope now is that the Federation will give the manufacturers more leeway regarding engine homologation, in order to narrow the gap in the performance levels of the different engines. It’s vital for the future of karting and for the spectacle. In the meantime I have several practice sessions to look forward to with Maranello and Iame as we prepare for the end of season and for 2008. For the moment, I don’t know if I will be making the trip to Macau for the Asia/Pacific KF1 championship”. We’ll have to wait and see. |
