Introduced in 1990, the CIK-FIA Viking Trophy continues to play the part allotted to it at its creation: it is aimed at promoting Karting and young Northern European talents as well as at enabling all Nordic kartmen to take part in a CIK-FIA event held in their region.
The Viking Trophy is hosted alternately by Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden. In accordance with the rotation between countries, the honour of organising it this year goes to Finland. As luck would have it, the circuit hosting the event is the “Kimi Circuit” of Lappeenranta this season, whereas the patron of the track, a former brilliant kartman, has the No. 1 on his single-seater in this year’s Formula One World Championship. Karting specialists quite remember Kimi Räikkönen’s prowess at the end of the 90’s: in those days, initially as a private driver and then as a semi-private one, the Finn played the leading parts in international Karting championships. Like Keke Rosberg, Mika Salo and Mika Hakkinen, who had as well been kartmen at the beginning of their careers, Räikkönen is also demonstrating that Finland is not just a breeding ground for rally wonders.
As years went by, the Viking Trophy has developed. First limited to one single category and to drivers from the four main Nordic nations, it is now held for three categories (KF2, KF3 and KZ2) and, moreover, it is open to competitors from Russia, Iceland and the three Baltic countries. Out of the 28 trophies awarded to this day (all categories taken into account), 9 went to Danish drivers, 8 to Sweden, 6 to Finland, 3 to Norway and 1 to Russia. And on the list of results of the event only one driver won the title twice, in 1994 and 1995 successively: the Dane Nicolas Kiesa, who drove a Formula One Minardi in 2003 Grands Prix.
In total, 84 drivers are entered in the 2008 edition of the Viking Trophy, most of them Finns. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Russia and Estonia are the other nations represented. Because of the proximity of the border, there are a large number of Russian competitors entered, with no fewer than 12 entries, 9 of which in KF3, i.e. the Junior category! As well as giving the participants the opportunity of landing a CIK-FIA title, the event will also open the door to the World Cup for KF2, which will take place next September, for the top 15 classified drivers in that category.
Qualifying practice and heats will take place on Saturday 14 June, the pre-finals and finals being scheduled for the Sunday. All the results will be available live on www.cikfia.com |
