At Mariembourg, the RS7 chassis proved to be very effective both in KZ2, with Alessandro Piccini’s second place, and in KF categories, thanks to Davide Forè’s presence in the top 3 during most of the KF1 race.
In Belgium, the protagonists of international karting can always expect to find variable weather. And this is exactly what happened on 7 and 8 June. “There was a real downpour during free practice and the start of timed practice. Driving in those conditions is never easy. Some pilots did well, others had problems”, Maranello Team members commented.
In KF1, Davide Forè was enthusiastic about the competitiveness of his chassis in such delicate conditions. “At the end of my first qualifying session, I had the best time, with a margin of more than five tenths over my pursuers. The weekend started well, since I gained
access to the Super Pole, where the ten fastest pilots in timed practice compete”, Davide commented. Finally, the Italian pilot obtained the third best performance at the wheel of his Maranello-Maxter, on a dry track that remained so up until the finals.
Davide managed to maintain his third position during the first heat, when he set the second best time in race, but also in the second heat and in the pre-final. “Since I had a place in the second internal row, I was very optimistic about the final. I had a good start and I quickly found myself fighting for victory against Cesetti and Kozlinski. Unfortunately, a piece of the front brake control broke and I could no longer compete on equal terms! I only managed to keep my 10th position, but this still allows me to aim at the final WSK podium”. His team mate, Austrian Patrick Fontner, finished his performance at Mariembourg with a great recovery of as many as 15 positions.
Alessandro Piccini’s second place in the KZ1 final comforted the Maranello Team after Forè’s misfortune. “This result is a great satisfaction for my team” said the Italian pilot. “It was nice to see our efforts rewarded. My Maranello-TM was already very fast during the
heats, so much so that I even set the best time in one of them. Afterwards, I had to fight hard against very strong rivals and I was finally 7th in the pre-final and 2nd in the final. The performance of my chassis was really excellent, as was that of the braking system, something fundamental at Mariembourg”. Now 4th in the Championship ranking, Piccini has certainly the potential to aim at the top 3 in this WSK. In KF2, the rain falling over Mariembourg cooled the fervour of Maranello pilots, who had some difficulties in fully exploiting the potential of their karts during timed practice. “Pity, because the rest of the race allowed several pilots to obtain good performances”,
Maranello technicians said. Indeed, Czech Zdenek Groman, British James Thorp and Italian “Giaguaro Nero” all showed superb recoveries during the qualifying, and Groman set the best lap in race. In the final, Thorp continued with his progression and reached the top 10, while Groman missed a good opportunity to score more points in the WSK, after a collision at the start of the pre-final.
Comments by Armando Filini, in charge of Maranello Team: “Alessandro’s second place has shown that our equipment for KZ 125cc gearbox categories is really effective. Moreover, this excellent result has come here, on the Mariembourg circuit, which is highly reputed for being a testing ground for chassis. Instead, I am a bit disappointed about what happened to Davide, since he had the potential to conquer a podium, if he had not had a problem with the front brake lever. However, his third place in the pre-final is very positive. It’s a good omen for the European Championship at the end of June”. |
