The second round of the CIK-FIA Under 18 World Karting Championship which took place this weekend at the Motorland Argagõn circuit near Alcaniz, confirmed the form which was shown in Germany : the general level of the competitors continues to be high and there were several drivers capable of taking victory. After the success of the Englishman Jake Dennis (Top Kart) at Wackersdorf, it was the turn of the Northern Irishman Adam Stirling (Intrepid) to take victory.
Trailing throughout the Final behind the Finn Teemu Suninen (Maranello), Adam chose to mount his attack on the very last lap. “Teemu was really very fast”, explained the winner after the end of the race. “I concentrated hard throughout the race following him and I was helped by the opportunity to slipstream on this very fast circuit. I had every intention of mounting an attack on the last lap and after a really good passing move it worked. I’m really very happy!” One of a family of three kart racing drivers, Adam hadn’t often had the opportunity to travel abroad to compete in a World Championship. “It isn’t at all easy to find the budget”, he confirmed, “but this championship on a level-playing field offers new opportunities for drivers like me.”
Dominating all weekend, Teemu Suninen finally had to settle for second place on the podium. He was understandably a bit frustrated after having set the fastest lap in qualifying practice and having secured pole position for the Final. “Third in Germany, second here... I hope to finally get the win in the last championship round in France. That will be a most important weekend because I can still win this title.” As for the championship, the young Finn drew level on points with Jake Dennis, “only” fifth in Spain. It was the case that Jake had to start further down the grid after a collision in the second prefinal.
The big Spanish surprise was from the Italian lady Chiara Poletto (Parolin). Seventh on the grid of the Final, Chiara executed a magnificent move into 3rd place before the end of the opening lap, a position she maintained until the end. For a brief moment it seemed it might have been even better if she could have profited from the dice between the two front-runners. “This is incredible to be on the podium of a World Championship round”, she smiled. “That has really been a fantastic race for me!”
Behind the leading trio, a fabulous race ensued between no fewer than nine drivers. Exchanging places several times thanks to the slipstream phenomenon, the Brits Jordan Chamberlain (Intrepid) and Jake Dennis (Top Kart) got in front of the Spaniard Adrian Del Rio (PCR), showing good form in front of his own fans, and also the Swiss Levin Amweg (Energy), the Finn Ville Mäntylä (Energy), Irishman John Norris (Intrepid), another Brit Sam Snell (Intrepid), the second Spaniard Victor Colome (Intrepid) and the Frenchman Vincent Fraisse (Intrepid), who had started from the last row.
Academy Trophy : Kalesis and Amweg victorious
Organised in support of the CIK-FIA U18 World Championship, the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy threw up two new winners here in Spain. In taking the first of the two races which comprised the championship rounds, Filipos Kalesis has also written a new chapter of karting history in becoming the first Greek winner of a CIK-FIA event. To achieve this, he had to pull out all the stops to take a last lap victory passing not only Charles Leclerc of Monaco but also Swiss Severin Amweg, who was leading going into the final corner. But the Swiss took revenge in Race 2 which he led almost from start to finish! This time, he was accompanied on the podium by Finland’s Niklas Tiihonen and... Filipos Kalesis, again on the podium. With 5th and 4th places finishes, the Frenchman Antoine Hubert maintained his lead in the championship prior to the final round on the French track at Val d’Argenton on the first weekend of October.
|
