Winner in 2007 with British driver Max Goff, the Maranello brand conquered another success at the Monaco Kart Cup in the KF3 category. Six weeks after the title of European champion, Finnish Aaro Vainio won a final marked by several coups de theatre.
The end of season is fast approaching, but the Maranello Team remained focussed and determined more than ever to prepare its drivers to race in the best possible conditions. The 12th edition of the Monaco Kart Cup was yet another proof of that. Already during timed qualifying, there were five Maranello-Maxter karts in the first eight places, with Aaro Vainio in pole position.
Maranello drivers showed the same competitiveness during the heats, with excellent results by Aaro Vainio – who conquered the pole position for the pre-final – as well as by Edvard Frolenkov, Henri Rajala, Mitchell Hale, Russell Danzey and Maxim Zimin. Zimin set the best lap in race twice in three heats. With six Maranello chassis in the top ten, i.e one every two, the final phase began under the best auspices.
An accident on the start of the pre-final broke up the pack and forced some Maranello drivers to abandon the race, while Aaro Vainio continued his race with even more determination, and brilliantly won it. As for Henri Rajala, he set the best lap in race. Vainio made the best start, but was passed by Brandon Maisano. Always behind the French driver and feeling faster, Vainio finally found the right passage on this city circuit where overtaking is not easy. At the beginning of the last lap, the Finnish driver remained at the lead. He told us what happened next. “On the last bend I was defending my position but Maisano pushed me from behind. So I lost my trajectory and he took advantage of that to accelerate and pass me just before the finishing line. Then, sports commissioners watched the accident on tape and decided to punish Maisano with a 5/10s of a second penalty.Given my performances during the weekend, I think I deserved to win and it is a great honour to conquer a victory in Monaco, where the Formula 1 Gran Prixis held every year”.
From the Rascasse to the Bureau de Tabac, through the “S’s” of the Swimming pool, the Maranello Team has written once again a remarkable page in the history of karting, in a race that has already been the springboard for success for drivers like Michaël Schumacher, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel. Henri Rajala was sixth and completed the excellent performance showed by the team: Maxim Zimin (+18 places) and Eduard Cheever, who staged superb recoveries.
Comments by Armando Filini, in charge of Maranello Team
“We had a very successful season, with many victories and several titles, but I am happy to see that everybody in the team is still focussed and that they all did their best at the Monaco Kart Cup. It is an important race inthe calendar and we were very pleased to win again here in Monaco, avery special place. Maranello drivers achieved an excellent team performance and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Maxter, whoseengines proved to be very competitive. It is very encouraging for the future.” |
