RMCGF 2024 Daily Report 3: Pole Positions Awarded in Micro MAX, Mini MAX and MAX DD2 Masters
The day started under cool and calm conditions at the Circuito Internazionale di Napoli in Sarno, Italy, but the track action heated up throughout the day, concluding with three Qualifying Practice sessions. Setting the grids in Micro MAX, Mini MAX, and MAX DD2 Masters, the remaining classes will qualify tomorrow, with wheel-to-wheel action to follow. Of note, Non-Qualifying Practice 6 for Junior MAX Even, Senior MAX Odd and Even, MAX DD2 Odd and Even were cancelled today due to heavy rain, as those classes still have Non-Qualifying Practice 7 tomorrow morning.
E20 Senior Non-Qualifying Practice
Team Sweden’s Junior Jonsson (#601) led the Non-Qualifying Practice 4 for the E20 Senior drivers but not by much, as the #617 entry of Uruguayan Maximo Castro was just .033 behind with a time of 1:01.074. Team Hungary’s Armand Hamilton (#607) was third quick at a 1:01.112 as French driver Amandine Travadon (#613) and Team Switzerland’s Phillip Loacker (#611) rounded out the top five.
Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the E20 Senior saw Team Hungary and Armand Hamilton (#607) at the top with a 1:00.824, a slim .038 ahead of #609 and German Robert Schopian. Raul Vargas from Spain was more than three-tenths of a second off the quickest time in third, with Team Uruguay and Maximo Castro in fourth. Practice four fast-time driver Junior Jonsson was back inside the top five, this time in fifth.
The final Non-Qualifying Practice of the week for E20 Senior took to the track just after the lunch break as drivers had one more opportunity to fine-tune their equipment before Qualifying Practice. Leading the way at the end of the eight-minute session was Armand Hamilton with Robert Schopian in P2. Showing their pace in back-to-back sessions, both drivers will look to fight for the pole position. Maximo Castro disposed of Amandine Travadon late in the session to steal third, pushing Travadon down to fourth and just ahead of the #614 entry of Portugal’s Leandre Carvalho.
E20 Master Non-Qualifying Practice
With Team Sweden leading the E20 Senior practice, they did the same in E20 Master with #702 Jonatan Morin. Morin turned a lap time of 1:02.099 and was .247 ahead of the #703 entry of Maurits Knopjes from the Netherlands in second. Team Switzerland was third quick at the hands of Gilberto Loacker (#707), with Team Peru holding down the fourth and fifth positions and Mundy Loyer (#709) and Jhonny Gushiken (#713) as seven-tenths of a second separated first and fifth.
Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the E20 Master was once again led by Morin, with Team Hungary’s Peter Gyutai (#714) in second, .327 in arrears or Morin. The #703 entry of Maurits Knopjes from the Netherlands found himself in the third position when the checkered flag flew just ahead of Loacker in fourth and Team Argentina’s Emiliano Parisi (#705) in the fifth position.
Gilberto Loacker topped the charts in Non-Qualifying Practice 6 for the E20 Master out pacing Maurits Knopjes who completed the session in second. .002 behind Knopjes was Team Hungary’s Peter Gyutai, who looks to make a run at the pole position. Emiliano Parisi improved from Practice 5 to 6 to jump from fifth to fourth on the time sheets while Jhonny Gushiken rounded out the top five.
Micro MAX Non-Qualifying Practice
Just as he did the day prior, Achilleas Peruzzi (#39) found his familiar position at the top of the charts in Non-Qualifying Practice 4 for Micro MAX. With a lap of 1:09.434, was .554 faster than Team Switzerland’s Robin Raikkonen (#27) and .641 quicker than Great Britain’s Lucien Smith (#19). British drivers were third and fourth on the charts at the hands of Luke Milward (#23) in fourth while Team New Zealand’s Nixon Cripps (#5) rounded out the top five.
Team Great Britain led Non-Qualifying Practice 5, sweeping the top three positions. Led by Joshua Cook (#2), Lucien Smith (#19), and Luke Milward (#23) were second and third on the results sheet, as all three drivers were in the 1:09.5 time bracket. Lithuania’s Jokubas Vaskelis (#25) led the rest of the field from the fourth position and had a lap time of 1:09.714, .003 ahead of the fifth-place finisher of #36 Vicente Capela from Portugal.
Non-Qualifying Practice 6 for Micro MAX was the final practice before qualifying, led by #24 Jan Wozniak from Poland. A lap time of 1:09.597 led the field, but the top six were less than two-tenths of a second behind. Achilleas Peruzzi has consistently been at the front throughout Practice so far and slotted himself into P2 ahead of Team Portugal’s Vicente Capela. Joshua Cook, who led Practice 5, fell to fourth when the checkered flag flew, with Lucien Smith hot in two in the fifth position.
Micro MAX Qualifying Practice
Three minutes before the track went how to Micro MAX Qualifying Practice, the heavens opened again, and the heavy rain began to fall. With a seriously soaked track, all thirty-six competitors headed out on the course to try and get as many laps as possible they could on their brand-new Mojo rain tires. There was no time to waste on a slick surface that saw a few drivers having trouble on the opening lap as they looked to find the grip quickly with a short session. Pedro Campos (#31), who was in the hospital yesterday due to an on-track accident, set the bar with a minute to go as all drivers were counting on the final circuit to set their quick time. When the checkered flag flew, the positions changed dramatically for the final time by the stripe. Campos was quickest but beat the checkered flag at the line and got an extra lap compared to most of his competitors. Campos secured the pole position for Team Brazil, with Thailand’s Chinnaphat Vejabbhuti (#16) taking a position on the front row. Row two positions were secured by Kyrgyzstan’s Ilia Mazo (#12) and Lithuania’s Emilis Juozaitis (#17), while Thailand’s Patthapol Kaewkarnjanasat (#18) and South Africa’s Matthew Shuttleworth (#7) were fifth and sixth overall. Rounding out the top ten were Nixon Cripps (#5) from New Zeeland, Luke Milward (#23), from Great Britain, Lithuania’s Jokubas Vaskelis (#25), and Achilleas Peruzzi (#29) from the UAE.
Mini MAX Non-Qualifying Practice
The #129 entry of Cees Muys and Team Netherlands were top of the charts in Mini MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 4 for the Odd-numbered driver by the slimmest of margins. With the top five separated by .107, it was the #127 of Hong Kong’s John Han, just .056 behind Muys with a time of 1:06.386. Estonia’s Nikita Ljubmov (#133) was third quick with a 1:06.407, while British drivers Jenson Chalk (#155) and Oliver Spencer (#109) were fourth and fifth with a 1:06.429 and 1:06.437.
Mini MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 4 for the Even-numbered drivers was led by a trio of British competitors as #110 Albert Friend led the way with a 1:06.125. Just .046 behind him was Emerson Macandrew-Uren in the #102, and #122 of Harry Taylor was less than a tenth behind with a 1:06.224. Team Canada was the best of the rest in fourth with the #146 entry of Jeremy St-Cyr (#146) as the United Kingdom put four competitors in the top five as Finlay Lines finished the session fifth.
Second in the first Non-Qualifying Practice of the day, John Han led Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the Odd-numbered Mini MAX competitors with a 1:05.917. Estonia’s Nikita Ljubmov (#133) was second, with South Africa’s Aaryan Singh rounding out the top three. Team Croatia’s Vito Coza (#121) was a new name inside the top five in fourth, as Team Canada’s Christian Sanguinetti was fifth, just .216 off the quick time of John Han.
Even-numbered Mini MAX drivers were slightly slower in Non-Qualifying Practice 5, but some familiar names were inside the top five when the checkered flag flew. Team Great Britain continued to flex their muscles by putting four drivers inside the top six, led by Harry Taylor, who topped the charts at a 1:06.237 followed by teammate Albert Friend in P2. The #130 of Ben Mccloughry from Ireland was third, .139 from Taylor, with Emerson Macandrew-Uren and Lithuania’s Jocius Patrikas (#138) rounding out the top five.
Estonia’s Nikita Ljubmov jumped to the top of the charts in Non-Qualifying Practice 6 for the Odd-numbered Mini MAX competitors, beating Great Britain’s Jenson Chalk by .052 to take the point heading into Qualifying Practice. Zdenek Babicek (#163) from Czechia found himself in third with a great lap late in the session to finish less than .02 behind Chalk and .076 from the quickest lap of the session. Bahrain driver Nasser Nass (#101) did the same with a lap of 1:06.058 late in the running to slot himself into P4, just ahead of Cees Muys in fifth.
A slight drizzle covered the Sarno Karting Circuit as Non-Qualifying Practice 6 for the Odd-numbered Mini MAX drivers entered the track. With a few drivers able to turn a decent lap before the conditions became increasingly slick, Ecuadorian Julian Rivera (#136) led the way with a 1:06.682. Due to the rain, new names appeared in the top five with Ramiro Carreira (#132) from Argentina second and Oliwier Mazurkiewicz (#116) from The Netherlands in third. Team Canada’s Jeremy St-Cyr crossed the line earning the fourth fastest lap of the session, just ahead of Team China’s Hu Zhehan (#126) in fifth.
Mini MAX Qualifying Practice
Continuing to be broken into Odd’s and Even’s for the wet weather qualifying, the Odd-numbered drivers hit the track first for their session. With a short six-minute run that saw drivers get four or five laps. Czechia’s Zdenek Babicek (#163) led early, but Team Great Britain’s Oliver Spencer (#109) took the top spot with two minutes remaining as he was .454 faster than anyone else early on. Babicek briefly took the top spot back, but Spencer reset the quick time the next time by the flag. When the checkered flag flew, Spencer kept the top position at 1:20.415, just .292 ahead of Babicek in second. Francisco Rocha from Brazil was third quick, with Hong Kong’s Han John fourth, just ahead of Lithuania’s Majus Mazinas, Jenson Chalk (#155) was sixth, Aaryan Singh from South Africa was seventh, while Nikita Ljubimov (#133), Peerapongpan Sutumno (#147) and Team USA’s Enzo Digennaro (#107) rounded out the top ten.
With rain slowing and all but stopping when the green flag flew for Even-numbered driver, Team Great Britain set the benchmark early with Finlay Lines (#156), Harry Taylor #122), and Albert Friend (#110) occupying the top three positions after one flying lap. Team Canada’s Alexis Baillargeon (#144) moved to second with one minute to go. Friend moved to the point on lap three as Lines, Taylor, and Emerson Macandrew-Uren (#102) followed suit to push Baillargeon down to P5. With the checkered flag flying, Lines secured the quickest time of the session, putting Great Britain on top. Patrikas Jocius (#138) for Team Lithuania was second quick ahead of Friend, Macandrew-Uren, and Taylor. Baillargeon ended his session sixth quick with Team Ireland’s Ben Mccloughry (#130) seventh quick. Eighth through tenth positions were occupied by Argentina’s Ramiro Carreira (#132), Thailand’s Poomsit Klombunjong (#142), and another Argentinian Martin Bertolaccini (#134).
Oliver Spencer secured the Overall Pole Position for Mini MAX with Finlay Lines, Zdenek Babicek, Patrikas Jocius, and Francisco Rocha rounding out the top five.
MAX DD2 Masters Non-Qualifying Practice
Nicolas Picot (#513) from Team France led the DD2 Master contingent in Non-Qualifying Practice 4 with a 1:00.457, exactly .100 ahead of the second-place runner of Argentinian Matias Rodriguez (#514). In a very tight session, the #535 entry of Team Brazil’s Joao Cunha was .103 behind the quick time in third, while Federico Rossi (#526) and Team Italy were fourth, just .137 off Picot. Lithuania’s Martynas Tankevicius was fifth in the #523 machine with a lap of 1:00.630, .173 off the quickest lap of the session.
MAX DD2 Masters Non-Qualifying Practice 5 was led by Matias Rodriguez, with practice one fast-time driver Nicolas Picot in second. Rodriguez set a blistering pace with a lap of 1:00.265 late in the session to earn quick time. Charles Seguin (#516) was third on the charts, .272 off Rodriguez, as Cunha was fourth ahead of Federico Rossi.
Lithuania’s Martynas Tankevicius topped the charts in MAX DD2 Masters Non-Qualifying Practice 6 at a 1:00.418 lap as he beat Nicolas Picot by .003 for the honor. Non-Qualifying Practice 5 quick driver Matias Rodriguez was third on the charts for Team Argentina, with Team France’s Vivien Cussac-Picot fourth in the #501 entry. Team Brazil’s Joao Cunha found his way back to the top five for the third session in a row and was .190 off Tankevicius quick time.
MAX DD2 Masters Qualifying Practice
The final Qualifying Practice of the day was MAX DD2 Masters, as thirty-six drivers took to the damp but drying track. With the rain subsiding, it took a lap to get positions on-track sorted before drivers fully got in it and ran for the pole position. Team Australia’s Scott Howard (#522) was the quickest driver on the first flying lap, ahead of Alex Fielenbach (#508). With several karts spinning, running through the grass, and a few making contact, it was all down to business with two minutes to go in the six-minute session. Team France and Nicolas Picot (#513) moved to second with thirty seconds to go, but Howard remained on top. Brazilian driver Joao Cunha moved to P2 on the final lap, pushing Picot to third. Howard would go faster on the final circuit to score the pole position with a 1:14.947, while Cunha will join him on the front row but by .482 behind Howard. Quick in the dry practice sessions, Nicolas Picot proved he could get it done in the wet with the third fastest lap to secure a row two starting spot alongside #530 Rodrigo Eckholt from Chile in fourth. Kyrgyzstan’s Dmitrii Kofanov (#515) secured the fifth position unofficially, with Team USA’s John Bonanno in sixth, Team Mexico’s Javier Gonzalez Alcant (#512) seventh, New Zealand’s Matthew Hamilton (#507) in eighth and the ninth and tenth positions occupied by Colombia’s Juan Pablo Rico (#524) and Team Germany’s Alex Fielenbach (#508).
Junior MAX Non-Qualifying Practice
Great Britain continued to show their strength in Non-Qualifying Practice 4 for the Odd-numbered drivers as Scott Marsh (#227) led the way with a 1:01.483. UAE driver Conor Patrick Clancy (#255) split the Brits who were first and third on the charts, finishing just ahead of the #239 pilot of Kai Clarke. Team France and Alois Girardet slotted into fourth with a time of 1:01.750, just .010 ahead of the fifth-place competitor of Ivonn Simeonova from Austria.
Team France and Gabriel Benecchi (#232) were atop the Non-Qualifying Practice 4 results sheet for the Even-numbered Junior MAX drivers with a time of 1:01.658, pipping Team Canada’s Ty Fisher (#240) by .031. Team Denmark’s Casper Nissen was third on the charts at 1:01.731, just ahead of Chinese Taipei driver Eason Tseng #268), who clocked a time of 1:01.738. Fifth on the charts was Japanese driver Shun Sekiguchi.
Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the Odd-numbered Junior MAX driver was topped by #219 Mathias Kjellerup with a lap of 1:01.627, nearly two tenths faster than the second-quickest driver, Conor Patrick Clancy. Bran Vanderveken (#265) appeared in the top five in third, .015 behind Clancy, as the Great Britain duo of Scott Marsh and Lewis Goff rounded out the top five.
The Even-numbered Junior MAX drivers had a baseline of Kjellerup’s lap of 1:01.627 before they hit the track, and they immediately went to work to be quicker than the benchmark. The top five drivers bettered the times from the Odd-numbered group led by Team Canada’s Antoine Lemieux (#228) and Team Japan’s Shun Sekiguchi were separated by .006. Great Britain’s Jacob Ashcroft (#246) was third when the checkered flag flew with #264 of Max Sadurski pipping Boaz Maximov (#214) for fourth, as both drivers hail from The Netherlands.
Junior MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 6 for the Odd-numbered drivers as a slight drizzle fell after the session started, hampering some drivers' times. Heavy rain began to fall before the session concluded, but not before Great Britain’s Scott Marsh found his way to the top of the charts with a 1:01.621. Alois Girardet (#245) put Team France second while his country mate, Jules Avril (#225) was third quick. Another British driver was fourth in Lewis Goff, as the #269 entry of Michal Soltys from Slovakia rounded out the top five.
Senior MAX Non-Qualifying Practice
Odd-numbered drivers in Non-Qualifying Practice 4 for Senior MAX was led by Italian Elia Pappacena (#345) and a lap time of 1:00.520 with Team Japan’s Youde Lu (#303) just ahead of the Brit Matthew Higgins (#341) in third. French driver Nolan Lemeray was able to push his #325 entry to a fourth-place result on the time sheets ahead of #359, Team Finland’s Miska Kaskinen.
The Even-numbered drivers were next to hit the circuit, and Jayden Thien (#360) from The Netherlands ripped out a fast lap of 1:00.855 to lead the field in the first practice session of the day. Team Belgium was second at the hands of #358 Vic Stevens (#358) courtesy of his 1:01.138, while Great Britain and Harry Bartle (#330) were third with a 1:00.983 lap time. A new name appeared in the top five in Practice 4, with Pietro Valdo Pons (#344) putting Team Italy fourth, with Team France and Simon Perigny (#326) rounding out the top five
Elia Pappacena was back on top in Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the Odd-numbered Senior MAX drivers with a lap of 1:00.428, with Japanese driver Youde Lu second as the top two from Practice 4 were the same in Practice 5. Macauley Bishop (#317) from Great Britain was ahead of Team USA’s Oliver Hodgson (#307) in taking the third position, while Nolan Lemeray was back in the top five, finishing the session in the fifth position.
Jayden Thien led the Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the Even-numbered Senior MAX competitors, as his time was good enough to be on top but slower than the Odd-numbered group. Non-Qualifying Practice 4 pace setter Vic Stevens was second at a 1:00.923, a scant .038 behind Thien. Team Great Britain’s Callum Bradshaw (#336) was third, just .001 ahead of the fourth-place finisher and fellow Brit Lewis Gilbert (#302). Switzerland’s Tino Sidler (#340) rounded out the top five, edging Brazilian driver Diego Ramos.
MAX DD2 Non-Qualifying Practice
With the postponed Non-Qualifying Practice 3 from Monday taking place Tuesday morning, the #417 entry of Nikolas Szabo and Team Slovakia topped the charts in the odd-numbered group with a 1:00.071. Just .007 behind him, #463 of Team Netherland’s Enzo Bol was at a 1:00.078, while Team Denmark’s Leon Mandl (#419) clocked a 1:00.150. Team Germany’s Nikita Gense tripped the timing line with a quick lap of 1:00.182 with Latvian Emils Akmens (#439) at 1:00.194, with the top five separated by only .123.
The even-numbered drivers were next to hit the track, and it was the #444 of Britain Joshua Graham, who clocked the fastest lap of the day so far with a 59.938. Slovakia’s Xen De Ruwe (#414) was a familiar name near the top of the charts in second, while Kyrgyzstan’s Konstantin Krapin (#412) was third. In a session that saw lap times slower than the odd-numbered drivers, Christos Oikonomou (#408) from Greece and Team Denmark’s Rasmus Vendelbo (#466) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Non-Qualifying Practice 4 for the Odd-numbered MAX DD2 drivers was led by the #463 entry of Enzo Bol for The Netherlands and his lap time of 59.910. Just .040 behind him was Nikolas Szabo (#417), and just .006 back from Szabo was the third-place driver, followed by Latvian Emils Akmens (#439). With the top ten separated by just .238, fourth was another Latvian in Edgars Vilcans (#433) with P5 going to #445 and Team Italy’s Leonardo Baccaglini.
With the benchmark of 59.910 set by the Odd-numbered drivers, it was time for the Even-numbered drivers to hit the track to see what they could do. When the checkered flag flew, it was #468 of Finnish competitor Axel Saarniala, who was quickest overall with a 59.754 lap to lead. Great Britain’s Joshua Graham (#444) pipped Xen Du Ruwe for third by .014 with Team Denmark’s Rasmus Vendelbo (#466) in fourth ahead of the fifth-place competitor Christos Oikonomou (#408) of Greece.
Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the Odd-numbered DD2 MAX drivers was topped by Nikolas Szabo with a time of 59.866 as Antoine Barbaroux (#447) put his Team France machine second at a lap of 59.980. Emils Akmens was third, .138 away from Szabo, and slightly ahead of the #407 entry of German Nikita Gense. Quickest only one session ago, Enzo Bol found himself fifth on the time charts after Practice 5.
With practice sessions winding down, drivers were searching for that last-minute speed as Non-Qualifying Practice 5 for the Even-numbered MAX DD2. Ludovic Sabourin (#432) for Team Canada found some speed jumping to the top of the charts late in the session with a 59.974 lap, the only driver under the sixty-second barrier this session. Behind him, Great Britain’s Joshua Graham edged Axel Saarniala for second, with Rasmus Vendelbo going fourth quick for the second session in a row. Christos Oikonomou matched his Practice 4 result, finishing fifth in back-to-back sessions.
On to tomorrow
With grids now set for Micro MAX, Mini MAX, and MAX DD2 Masters, the remaining classes of E20 Senior, E20 Master, Junior MAX, Senior MAX, and MAX DD2 will qualify tomorrow morning before wheel-to-wheel racing begins in the afternoon.