Champions win at DKM kick-off 60th anniversary season starts in Kerpen

Kerpen. The start into the German Kart Championship's anniversary year couldn't have been more diversified. 102 participants travelled to the Erftland and experienced hard fights for the first championship points of the year in mixed weather. In the end, there were seven different winners.

The DKM ended its season in Ampfing in October last year. Almost six months later, the four DMSB grade series started into a special year. The DKM is celebrating its 60^th birthday and therefore belongs to the oldest kart championships in the world. Considering so much tradition, the location couldn't have been more venerable. The DKM took place on the 1.107m long Erftlandring once more before the track is going to undergoes construction at the end of the year. The weather caused a special thrill. On Saturday morning, snow caused a small delay. In the end, the program took place as planned and the sun shone on Sunday.

The fields of the four-grade series DKM, DJKM, DSKM and DSKC were brilliantly manned. Several former champions started. Kris Haanen (SP Motorsport), DJKM-champion of 2020 was the only driver to achieve a double victory. In the DSKM, the Dutchman was unstoppable in both finals. The other successes were shared by Lenny Ried, Niels Tröger (both DKM), Douwe Dedecker, Tobias Bille Clausen (both DJKM) as well as Karl Lukaschewsky and Ben Dörr in the DSKC.

After two years, an audience was on location again

The audience was also able to celebrate 60 years of DKM. After two years without spectators, kart racing fans were allowed to travel to Kerpen again this time and filled up the ranks during the finals on Sunday. For everyone at home, there was an extensive live stream again. The races can still be viewed on the YouTube-channel of the DKM. Series coordinator Stefan Wagner summed things up positively on Sunday evening: „We're happy to have had such great fields of participants despite the challenging weather. The team worked hard during the winter months to bring forward a strong DKM in its 60^th year too. Today's races showed that we succeeded in this.“

DKM: Spoiler penalties shook up racing results

Reigning rookie-champion Kiano Blum (TB Racing Team) achieved the best start into the weekend. During qualifying, he drove the fastest lap time and therefore led both heats. Maxim Rehm (Rehm Racing) took the overall lead though. Rehm won both heats and led the interim rankings.

From the first starting row, Rehm didn't catch a good start into the racing Sunday though. He fell back to fourth place during the first few laps. The race was led by Tröger, but his team mate Kiano Blum (TB Racing Team) stayed close and used his chance. At the finish line, the winner was considerably ahead of his team mates Niels Tröger and Lars van Vark. Polesetter Rehm came in fourth followed by Lenny Ried (Lanari Racing Team). The latter had every reason to rejoice after the race though. Due to spoiler penalties for the first four drivers, he advanced to the front of the field and won. „This was a good race. I had hoped to win, but I also had a bit of luck this time. It's rare that all four first drivers receive spoiler penalties“, he rejoiced after his surprise victory.

Juliano Holzem (KSM Official Racing Team) caused a surprise in the second final. Tröger took the lead after the first few laps, but Holzem raced through the field and crossed the finish line as the winner after 23 laps. But time penalties caused changes again this time. Holzem ended up on fifth place – reigning champion Tröger was the joyful winner: „I have a great feeling regarding this season. We're working very well as a team. This helped me to increase my performance after a difficult Saturday and win today.“ Second place went to Luca Griggs (Falcon Racing Team) followed by Akshay Bohra (TB Racing Team) and van Vark.

Championship ranking DKM after 2 of 10 races:
1. Niels Tröger (50 points)
2. Kiano Blum (46 points)
3. Lenny Ried (42 points)
4. Maxim Rehm (35 points)
5. Lars van Vark (33 points)

DJKM: Dedecker and Clausen win in the Erftland

A Falcon Racing Team duo led the field of the juniors on Saturday. Danish Tobias Bille Clausen was fastest driver of qualifying, but fell behind his team mate Jens Treur from the Netherlands after the heats. The first final race caused a lot of excitement: Douwe Dedecker (Rehm Racing) was seen as the clear winner until the middle of the race – then, a group of five fought for victory and there were numerous changes of the lead. The decision only came during the last lap – Kalender drove past Dedecker and crossed the finish line first. A subsequent spoiler penalty pushed him back to fifth place though. The winning trophy went to Dedecker followed by Clausen, Simon Rechenmacher (TB Racing Team) and Treur. „I'm very happy. This was my first race with the LN-chassis and I feel very comfortable. The DKM is a great championship and a fantastic training for the European Championship next week“, the winner from Belgium summed up.

The fight for victory continued in the second final. The juniors were very closely together again. Kalender was the fastest driver this time too and seemed to be on his way to victory. But he made a small mistake during the last lap, which Clausen and Treur knew how to use and pushed the German to third place shortly before the finish line. „I had a good start and was okay with coming in second or third. I only managed to drive to the front due to a small error by Kalender. He was really fast and deserved to win“, winner Clausen summed up in his interview. Fourth and fifth places went to the Rehm Racing-duo Dedecker and Tobias Feeser.

Championship ranking DJKM after 2 of 10 races:
1. Tobias Bille Clausen (67 points)
2. Jens Treur (48 points)
3. Taym Saleh (39 points)
4. Simon Rechenmacher (38 points)
5. Tom Kalender (34 points)

DSKM: Double victory for Dutchman Kris Haanen

Kris Haanen (SP Motorsport) expierenced an almost perfect kick-off weekend. He already led the championship after qualifying but had to forfeit the position to David Trefilov (Maranello SRP Racing Team) during the heats. Haanen managed comebacks during both final races though and celebrated a double victory as the only driver this weekend. His summary was accordingly content: „I'm very grateful. These are my first victories in the DSKM. We already had a good speed during the heats and were able to tie in with this today.“

Trefilov had the role of pursuer both times. The races weren't easy for the Berlin resident though. During the first final, Guust Specken (CRG Holland) and Thomas Imbourg (CPB Sport) were very close to him at the end of the race. Both couldn’t successfully attack though. Seven-time champion Jorrit Pex (SP Motorsport) followed on fifth place. Things looked similar during the second final. This time, it was Jorrit Pex who stayed close to Trefilov until the end though, but positions weren't changed. Imbourg came in fourth again in front of Valentino Fritsch (BirelArt Racing KSW).

Championship ranking DSKM after 2 of 10 races:
1. Kris Haanen (67 points)
2. David Trefilov (55 points)
3. Jorrit Pex (39 points)
4. Guust Specken (34 points)
5. Coen Doorn (27 points)

DSKC: Winning trophies for Lukaschewsky and Dörr

Rookie Dominik Reuters (AP-Racing) experienced a perfect start into the DMSB Shifterkart-Cup. On the wet track, the youngster was a tiny bit faster than Karl Lukaschewsky (Maranello SRP Racing Team), who then turned the power balance during the heats and led the field consisting of 43 drivers on Saturday evening. From the first starting row, there was no stopping the Maranello-driver in the final race on Sunday morning and he won with a clear advance on Jannik Julius-Bernhart (NB Motorsport). Sebastian Kraft (SRP Racing Team) was temporarily on second place as well, but he fell back during the course of the race and even got under pressure from Reuters towards the end of the race. He defended his position until the finish line though. The top five were completed by Jesse Smeets from the Netherlands.

From seventh starting position, Ben Dörr (Dörr Motorsport) fought his way forward during the second final and celebrated his victory in front of Smeets and Lukaschewsky. Despite the missed double success, Lukaschewsky was still in a great mood on Sunday evening: „This was a great weekend. I won the heats and the first final from the start and am now leading the championship. Things couldn't have gone much better.“ Dörr, who had gotten better and better during the weekend, was in a great mood as well: „We didn't start well yesterday, but were able to get better during the course of the event and can now be very content.“ The duo Lukas Reiböck (KSM Birel ART Racing) and Quinn Winkel (SP Motorsport) showed great catching-up races as well – from 12^th and 13^th positions, they raced forward into the cup ranks.

Championship ranking DSKC after 2 of 10 races:
1. Karl Lukaschewsky (59 points)
2. Dominik Reuters (39 points)
3. Ben Dörr (35 points)
4. Jesse Smeets (34 points)
5. Jannik Julius-Bernhart (32 points)

The drivers and teams of the DKM are going to continue from June 10^th to 12^th. Then, the only event abroad is on the racing calendar in Belgian Genk.

DKM racing calendar 2022:
April 1^st - 3^rd 2022 – Kerpen
June 10^th - 12^th 2022 – Genk (Belgien)
July 15^th - 17^th 2022 – Ampfing
August 12^th - 14^th 2022 – Mülsen
September 23^rd - 25^th 2022 – Wackersdorf

All information can be accessed on www.kart-dm.de.