Winner of the World Cup for KF1, third at the World Cup for KZ1 and now third at the World Cup for KF2, the Maranello brand had a fantastic season in 2008. On September 21st, at La Conca, Czech driver Zdenek Groman did not miss the opportunity of the season in the KF2 category, while Davide Forè provided more evidence of the competitiveness he had shown throughout the season and achieved an excellent 5th place overall, in a World Championship that was more
difficult than ever.
It was with brand new and wonderful decorations that the Maranello team arrived at Muro Leccese (Southern Italy), for this major 2008 event: the World KF1 Championship. A copy of Davide Forè’s chassis was on exhibition at La Conca circuit, near a partner space where products by companies like Dado Ceramica, Antica Ceramica Rubiera and Trial were also on show.
On track, these two drivers’ performances were just as good as the quality of their equipment and they both reached top places during qualifying. Davide Forè and Mark Litchfield, who decided to join the Maranello Team starting from this race, finished all their heats in the top five. For Maranello, the main objective was to enable its two drivers to fight for a podium, so its mission was accomplished.
In the final, in front of Eurosport cameras that were broadcasting the World Championship live, Forè soon found himself fighting for a place on the podium, but due to excessively worn tyres he had to content himself with a 5th place overall. “After the victory at the World Cup and the top 3 in KZ1, I wanted to conquer another podium, but it was a good race anyway”. As for Litchfield, he was satisfied with the chassis he used at La Conca for the first time. “During the final, I really enjoyed driving my Maranello-Maxter. Unfortunately,
when I was recovering positions and I had just doubled Davide, my
engine broke”.
Another World Podium
Comments by Armando Filini, in charge of Maranello Team: “I am very happy for Zdenek Groman. We provide him with major technical support and advice, but he has his own structure and he has proven he can achieve great results with our chassis in a world race. As far as our
two KF1 drivers are concerned, they were always in the leading pack.
They were very close to climbing on a podium, but some race mishaps
decided otherwise”.
Red Everywhere, As Far as Eyes Can See
After conquering two victories in the heats, Zdenek Groman and James Thorp took full advantage of all the qualities of their Maranello chassis at the World Cup for KF2. Thorp was not particularly lucky on Sunday, just like fast “Giaguaro Nero”, while Groman showed an impressive performance in the pre-final and climbed from 13th to 2nd place. “In the final, I thought I could really keep my place of vice champion, but I made a little mistake and Rowland took advantage of it to overtake me. But I must confess that climbing on a world podium is always a thrill”. |
