Spectacle and excitement at Kristianstad
After two events in south-western Europe, the drivers and teams involved in the highly regarded Champions of Future Euro Series headed in the opposite direction where the Asum Ring in Kristianstad was the venue for the third round of the 2022 season. In Sweden, the hierarchy changed frequently during the meeting, giving rise to some exciting races, especially as the weather conditions spiced up the show in the heats and Finals. British driver Nathan Tye consolidated his position as series leader by winning the OK-Junior class after a crazy Final. In the rain, Brazilian Matheus Morgatto made the difference in OK, a category now led by Italian Luigi Coluccio.
The Euro Series organised by the RGMMC team continues to earn its stripes. The event welcomed a magnificent field of 141 drivers divided into two categories: 74 in OK-Junior and 67 in OK. The teams were able to work both in the dry and in the rain, which allowed them to gather valuable technical information for the penultimate round of the European Championship scheduled for June 2nd-5th. Barring an exceptional event, Tye should be crowned in OK-Junior in this Champions of the Future Euro Series, but everything will be decided from June 23rd to 26th in Italy at the Franciacorta circuit in OK.
OK-Junior: Nathan Tye masters all conditions
Dmitry Matveev (Koski Motorsport), one of the best Juniors since the beginning of the season, confirmed his talent by taking pole position ahead of Dutchman René Lammers (Parolin Motorsport) and Spaniard Lucas Fluxa Cross (KR Motorsport), all three leaders of their respective groups in Timed Practice. No less than 10 different drivers won at least one Qualifying Heat: Matveev, who kept his leader's number, Lammers, Fluxa Cross, Nathan Tye (Sodikart), Anatholy Khavalkin (Parolin Motorsport), Jan Przyrowski (Tony Kart Racing Team), Tobias Clausen (Falcon Racing Team), Taym Saleh (KR Motorsport) and Max Garcia (DPK Racing). It must be said that the intermittent rain on Saturday often changed the hierarchy from Qualifying.
The track dried again for the Super Heats, won successively by Khavalkin and Maciej Gladysz (RFM), while Tye took advantage of it to secure the pole position for the Final. The Final started with a constant battle between Tye, Fluxa Cross, Khavalkin, Matveev, Enzo Tarnvanichkul (Tony Kart Racing Team) and Gladysz. But a few raindrops started to fall, causing countless passes, as well as incredible spectacle and suspense! The rain intensified while the drivers were running on slick tyres. The frequent more or less controlled slides became more pronounced.
Already leader before the rain, Tye mastered these conditions perfectly and won brilliantly, increasing his lead in the general classification. Khavalkin was 2nd for a long time, but fell to 5th place, while Fluxa Cross came back to 2nd. Frenchman Maxens Verbrugge (KR Motorsport) was able to pull out all the stops in the last part of the race to complete the podium. Ludwig Fransson (Fransson Motorsport) and Jules Caranta (Energy Corse), respectively 8th behind Miguel Costa (Sauber Academy) and 10th behind Lewis Wherrell (Forza Racing), gained no less than 19 places during the Final. Jimmy Helias (Tony Kart Racing Team, +18) also made good progress, but Lammers and Tarnvanichkul were less successful.
OK: A saturated samba for Matheus Morgatto
For three days, the drivers put on a show in Kristianstad, both in the dry and in the rain. Frenchman Arthur Rogeon (VDK Racing) created a sensation in Qualifying by taking pole position. Jamaican Alex Powell (KR Motorsport) and Evan Giltaire (VDK Racing), another Frenchman, secured the next two places by being the fastest in their group. The Italian Luigi Coluccio (Tony Kart Racing Team), who won two heats and was also very consistent in the other three, took the lead in the Qualifying Heats despite Rogeon's four wins and Giltaire's three. 3rd overall, China's Yuanpu Cui (KR Motorsport) won once, as did Britain's Freddie Slater (RFM), Japan's Rintaro Sato (KR Motorsport), Brazil's Matheus Morgatto (DPK Racing), Ean Eyckmans (EGP Racing Team) and Powell.
Giltaire gained his place on pole position for the Final thanks to his victory in the Super Heat. Morgatto moved up to 3rd place behind Coluccio by winning the other Super Heat. Following the rain shower during the OK-Junior Final, the OK drivers all put on rain tyres for the Final. In these conditions, the Brazilian Morgatto was unbeatable. In the lead from the first lap, he was the first to cross the chequered flag with a big lead of about four seconds. Behind him, the Frenchman Giltaire distanced himself from the chasing pack to take a superb 2nd place ahead of the Italian Coluccio.
Coluccio did best out of the day by stealing the lead of the series from his team-mate Joe Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team), who made a spectacular comeback in the Final. Finnish drivers Juho Valtanen (Tony Kart Racing Team) and Luka Sammalisto (KR Motorsport) were the best in the rain, finishing 4th and 5th ahead of Powell and Turney. China's Cui retained his 8th place starting position, leaving Matheus Ferreira (KR Motorsport) and Kean Nakamura Berta (KR Motorsport) to complete the top ten.
