Taking place at the refurbished Val Vibrata circuit at Sant'Egidio alla Vibrata (Teramo), on July 22nd is the fifth and final heat of the "2007 International Open Masters - FIA Authorised Series” , the international karting championship which will have its highest number of competitors so far with over 250 enrolled from 32 countries and the presence of all the important constructors.
The International Open Masters is therefore preparing to close the tenth edition of the series with another triumph of participation, after having seen great champions emerge in the last 10 years, like todays Formula 1 “aces” , the Pole Robert Kubica, winner of the 1998 and 1999 Italian Open title, and the astonishing Lewis Hamilton, together with his then teammate Nico Rosemberg, who were amongst the leaders for a good four seasons of the Open from 1998 to 2001 inclusive.
This years edition has already established a champion, the Englishman Gary Catt (Tony Kart) who in the highest performance category, KF1, routed the most aggressive competition in 4 victories, ascending the podium a good 7 times out of 8, thus also gaining the first class title of "2007 ACI-CSAI Karting Open Masters Italian Cup". If the game is over as regards KF1, the same can’t be said for the other three categories, where there is still much uncertainty over who will come out on top.
In KF3, the category for the youngest drivers, the maths offers to a full 8 drivers the possibility of winning the title, even if the shootout at the top of the board looks like being between the current leader Matteo Vigaṇ (Birel/Xtr), the Englishman Jack Harvey (Maranello/Xtr) the star of the first part of the season, and the amazing Kevin Ceccon (Birel/Tm) who with the last race at Lonato was able to re-establish his credibility in the championship.
In KF2 there are 7 drivers who can aspire to the title. Back at the top of the ranking is the Englishman Will Stevens (Tony Kart/Vortex), but the field is still very open, above all for the German Maring Burkhard (Birel/Parilla), unlucky during the last race at Lonato after his double victory at Jesolo, and the Spaniard Miki Monras (Maranello/Parilla), making his debut in this category after having won the European Junior title last year.
Definitely set for a near Photo-finish is the manual-change category, KZ2, where Manuel Cozzaglio (Monza-Birel/Tm) has taken himself to the top of the table with a margin of only 3 points over Marco Ardig̣ (Tony Kart/Vortex). The latter, who after having won the KF1 World Cup in the last few days was also able to win the KF1 European title in advance, will certainly turn up at Sant’Egidio alla Vibrata with a great desire to redeem himself after the unfortunate heat at Lonato. In the struggle for the KZ2 title, there is however a third ‘inconvenience’, Roberto Toninelli (Intrepid/Tm), back in the running after his fantastic double success obtained during the previous heat. |
