Heated battle at the German Kart Championship in Kerpen
At the weekend, 181 drivers travelled to Kerpen for the start of the second half of the DKM season. Mülsen, Ampfing and Wackersdorf were the first three stops of the German Kart Championship. Now the second half of the season started in Kerpen. There were numerous thrilling duels and a few surprises on the track in temperatures close to the 35-degree mark. Christiaan de Kleijn (DKM), Moritz Groneck (DJKM), Milan Rossi (DMKM), Simon Rechenmacher (DSKC), Marius Bonconseil (X30 Junior) and Elia Weiss (X30 Senior) prevailed in the finals on Sunday afternoon. The first championship decisions could be made as early as the upcoming race in Mülsen.
DKM: First win of the season for Christiaan de Kleijn
Wackersdorf winner Markus Kajak (Maranello SRP Factory Team) made a perfect start to the fourth race weekend. The Estonian took pole position in qualifying and also led the classification after the heats. He was joined on the front row by reigning DSKM champion Stan Pex (SP Motorsport) in the final. Pex won the start and led the field until the middle of the race. Kajak stayed in the slipstream and took his chance. While the two were duelling, Christiaan de Kleijn (CRG Holland) closed in. In the end, he was the laughing third.
The leaders collided: Kajak dropped back to tenth place, Pex crossed the finish line as the winner, but received a five-second penalty and finished seventh. De Kleijn thus celebrated his first victory in the DKM and was in high spirits after the podium ceremony: ‘After a difficult start, I dropped back to fifth place and had to fight my way back up. I then saw that the leaders were in a duel and knew that I had to take my chance. It's a good feeling to stand on the podium as the winner.’ In addition to De Kleijn, Jens Treur (CRG Holland) in second place ensured a Dutch double victory. Lukas Schächer (TB Racing Team) finished a strong third ahead of Jorrit Pex (SP Motorsport) and Guust Specken (CRG Holland).
Championship standings DKM class after 4 of 6 races:
1 Stan Pex (318 points)
2 Markus Kajak (266 points)
3 Christiaan de Kleijn (255 points)
4 Jorrit Pex (222 points)
5 David Trefilov (214 points)
DJKM: Moritz Groneck takes third place
In the juniors, a new face was at the front after qualifying. Lukas Übleis (Lanari Racing Team) from Austria beat reigning champion Luke Kornder (Forza Racing) by a wafer-thin margin. Moritz Groneck (CRG Holland) fought his way to the front in each of the heats, laying the foundation for his subsequent victory in the final. In the 18-lap race, Groneck pulled out a lead of almost three seconds over his rival Kornder. ‘It was a great weekend. The heat challenged us all, our setup was right in the end and I'm happy about my third win of the season,’ said the driver from Lower Saxony at the finish. Oliver Städtler (CV Performance Group) finished third on the podium. Übleis and Constantin Papst (Nees Racing) completed the top five.
Championship standings in the DJKM class after 4 of 6 races:
1 Moritz Groneck (351 points)
2 Amin Kara Osman (295 points)
3 Luke Kornder (287 points)
4 Oliver Städtler (259 points)
5 Marc Alexander Reistrup (210 points)
DMKM: Milan Rossi also unstoppable in Kerpen
Milan Rossi (Lanari Racing Team) is making great strides on his way to the premiere title in the first season of the German Mini Kart Championship. He already showed his ambitions in qualifying with a lead of more than half a second and did not let himself be displaced from the top in the rest of the race. He won both heats, the super heat and ultimately the final. As a result, he extended his lead in the overall standings and could make a preliminary decision at the upcoming event in Mülsen. ‘The weekend was really great. I'm delighted with another victory and my goal is to win the championship,’ he said confidently in the winner's interview.
Behind the Saarland winner, there was a four-way battle for second place. Gustav Christensen (CRG Holland) was ahead at the start, but as the race progressed, Carlos Nees (Nees Racing) and Henri Möhring (TB Racing Team) fought their way past him to finish on the podium. Alex Huizer (CRG Holland) was also part of the leading group in fifth place.
Championship standings in the DMKM class after 4 of 6 races:
1 Milan Rossi (385 points)
2 Carlos Nees (299 points)
3 Gustav Christensen (262 points)
4 Damian Luca Zeller (206 points)
5 Henri Möhring (183 points)
DSKC: Simon Rechenmacher celebrates his first victory in a shifter kart
The races in the DMSB Shifter Kart Cup were highly exciting. Even during the heats, it became clear that there were several drivers with a chance of winning. Claudia Henning had a perfect Saturday: with pole position, she had the best starting position and converted this into two wins in the heats. There was a slight turnaround on Sunday: Enzo Bol (SP Motorsport) and Maximilian Schleimer (Maranello SRP Factory Team) won the Super Heats.
Henning secured grid position one for the final. However, Simon Rechenmacher (TB Racing Team) got off to the better start and immediately took first place. He did not relinquish this position until the finish. In the final third of the race, Schleimer came dangerously close to the leading Rechenmacher again, but he was unable to find a way past. Claudia Henning was also still within striking distance in third place. Maximilian Schreyer (Maranello SRP Factory Team) and Dominik Reuters (Dörr Motorsport) led the chasing pack. For winner Rechenmacher, it was his first success in the geared kart, and he was correspondingly euphoric in the winner's interview: ‘Now we've finally managed to take our first victory in the geared karts. I'm very proud of the whole team. We've been at the front all weekend and now we've won.’
Championship standings DSKC class after 4 of 6 races:
1 Maximilian Schleimer (348 points)
2 Claudia Henning (275 points)
3 Dion van Werven (252 points)
4 Simon Rechenmacher (213 points)
5 Emma Felbermayr (195 points)
X30 Junior: Marius Bonconseil replaces perennial winner Ramaer
With 31 youngsters, the X30 Junior field was also strong in Kerpen. Rookie Emilio Bernd (EB-Sportpromotion) set the fastest time in qualifying. In the heats, Marius Bonconseil (Ebert Motorsport), one of the championship favourites, made his presence felt and remained in winning mode on Sunday. He won the Super Heat and the final, breaking Lars Ramaer's (SIM-ON) winning streak in the process.
The Kerpen-based driver finished third on his home track. Meanwhile, Jan Stutz (Stern Motorsport) took second place, hanging on to the winner's bumper for the entire race but unable to find a gap to pass him. Fourth and fifth place went to pole-sitters Bernd and Elias Tittus (Dut Motorsport by Fenster.com). ‘I had a good start to the final and was able to keep Jan behind me thanks to good tyre management. We had a great and fair duel. I'm happy to have won,’ beamed the winner at the finish. A thrilling duel lies ahead in the championship - Bonconseil and Ramaer are separated by just 15 points.
Championship standings in the X30 Junior class after 4 of 6 races:
1 Marius Bonconseil (346 points)
2 Lars Ramaer (331 points)
3 Elias Titus (227 points)
4 Lukas Roos (190 points)
5 Adrian Lorenz (183 points)
X30 Senior: Next success for Elia Weiss
Elia Weiss (SIM-ON) set the first mark in qualifying and continued his strong results from previous races with a best time. He was also undeterred in the heats and defended his lead. Even though the victories in the Super Heats went to Phil Colin Strenge (Ebert Motorsport) and Jason Bralic (SIM-ON), Weiss was on pole position in the final. He pulled out a small gap over the course of the race and won his third race in a row. ‘I got the maximum out of the final today. The whole team works very hard, and the third win in a row is a well-deserved reward. I hope it continues like this in Mülsen,’ said the Munich-based driver, summarising his weekend.
Behind him, things got exciting towards the end: Bralic was in Strenge's slipstream for the entire race and took his chance shortly before the chequered flag fell. In second place, he secured a double victory for SIM-ON. Fourth-placed Rocco Curcio (AT-Motorsport) showed great fighting spirit, making up seven places on his way to the trophy places. Torben Gröhndahl (CV Performance Group) finished fifth. While Weiss already has a considerable lead in the overall standings, the chasing trio is very close together and promises some intense duels right up to the final.
Championship standings in the X30 Senior class after 4 of 6 races:
1 Elia Weiss (313 points)
2 Phil Colin Strenge (235 points)
3 Torben Gröndahl (233 points)
4 Jason Bralic (228 points)
5 Rocco Curcio (189 points)
The drivers do not have long to rest. The action continues at the Arena E in Mülsen from 09 to 11 August. After the start of the season, the DKM will return to the 1,315 metre-long race track in Saxony for the second time. 4th race weekend