CRG wins the KZ2 FIA European Championship with Giacomo Pollini
In the final weekend of the FIA European Championship, which took place on the Adria track from August 12th to 15th, the CRG colours were protagonists in both racing categories: KZ2 and KZ. Giacomo Pollini of the NGM Motorsport team won the title in the KZ2 category in the most beautiful and authoritative way, also winning the race. Also in KZ Paolo Ippolito lived a perfect weekend, obtaining a clear victory, while Alex Irlando had some difficulties and was unable to fight for the title.
On the eve of this important international meeting, CRG was running for both titles after the podiums achieved by Irlando (KZ) and Pollini (KZ2) in Wackersdorf, and the goal of taking a historic double-win was really possible. Unfortunately in the KZ top class Alex Irlando, after being among the fastest in all the free practice sessions, had a problem in qualifying, getting only the 17th place and from that moment on his weekend was all uphill. The reasons for this performance below expectations are being studied by CRG technicians, but they certainly do not correspond to the potential of the team that obtained the 4th place with Ippolito and 6th with Iglesias in the qualifying practice. CRG's potential in KZ was then confirmed in the heats, where Paolo Ippolito conquered the 1st row for the final and Iglesias the 8th position, while Alex Irlando was unable to do better than the 15th position on grid. In the Final Paolo Ippolito immediately took the lead of the race and imposed a very high pace on his opponents he won with a good margin over Pedro Hiltbrand. Jeremy Iglesias' race was also excellent and he finished 5th, while Irlando recovered up to the 12th place. With the success of Adria, Paolo Ippolito also achieved the 3rd place in the Championship, won by Longhi thanks also to Denner's retirement a few laps from the end. Regarding the KZ category, it must be said that after the first free practice sessions Jaime Alguersuari had to quit due to the returning pain in his ribs. The Spaniard's season continues to be very unfortunate and in the next few days he will also consider whether taking part in the World Championship.
If in KZ the day in Adria was very positive, with the return to victory after two unfortunate seasons, in KZ2 the weekend was even exceptional. Giacomo Pollini of the NGM Motorsport team, in fact, conquered the European title by winning the race after having been among the absolute protagonists of the weekend since the qualifying practice. His direct opponent for the title, Senna Van Walstijn, was only 5th and finished the championship behind the Italian by 9 points. For CRG and for the Italian NGM team this is an important success that crowns a process of intense work and preparation. The CRG party could have been even better if Paawo Tonteri hadn't lost the 2nd place one lap from the end. However, the Finnish driver finished the race in 6th place and achieved the 4th place in the Championship. Jorge Pescador also had a good race, recovering 12 positions in the Final, ending close to the top ten.
Now for the drivers and technicians of the KZ classes there will be 10 days of break and then they will be back on track in Sweden for the most important event of the season: the FIA World Championship.
The comment of the drivers
Paolo Ippolito (KZ): "This result is the outcome of the great work done by the technicians on track and in the factory. Today we have a range of frames for KZ that are truly competitive in all track conditions and this is a great strong point for us and obviously also for CRG customers. Today's success also confirms the strength of TM engines in this category and the excellent work done by Cedric, who manages the engines for me. I am very happy with this result for all the team and I'm sure this success will be a starting point and not an arrival point."
Giacomo Pollini (KZ2): "Today a dream came true by winning the European title and I want to share this joy with all the guys in the NGM team and with the CRG technicians with whom we started working together this year, who did an excelellet job. The feeling with the frame was exceptional all weekend and obviously I have to say a big thank you also to Galiffa who supplied us with the top TM engines. Now we enjoy this success for a few days and then it will be time to leave for the World Cup."