The Winter Cup started in dry conditions and ended in heavy rain. In all conditions, Senna Van Walstijn and Adrien Renaudin set a particularly strong pace in the KZ2 race at the wheel of their Sodi-TM Racing packages from the CPB Sport team. Van Walstijn's performance was rewarded with a podium finish, while Renaudin came close to the same reward!
South Garda Karting was in the spotlight for a fortnight with the successive organisation of two great Italian classics: the 49th edition of the Industrial Trophy and the 26th Winter Cup. In both cases, the Sodi chassis maintained a very high level of performance, as Paul Bizalion, the CPB Sport team manager, who represents the French manufacturer in the major international KZ and KZ2 events, acknowledges.
"Throughout this 2021 season, the podium was a constant at each of our outings. This was the case with Arthur Carbonnel at the Industrial Trophy and then we enabled Senna Van Walstijn to do the same at the Winter Cup. The technical choices made with Sodikart have once again paid off. It's never easy to finish in the top three at Lonato and we couldn't have achieved such excellent results without a high quality chassis and the Sigma KZ is one of the great references of the last few years. With a new homologation to be unveiled soon, we can be reasonably optimistic about the future."
Dry or wet: Sodikart at the forefront
Competing at the Industrial Trophy with its KZ2 drivers, CPB Sport was delighted with Arthur Carbonnel's rise to 3rd place and Thomas Imbourg's 5th place. The following week at the Winter Cup, it was the turn of the official driver Adrien Renaudin to return to the main stage, as well as the driver who will be his teammate in KZ in 2022, Senna Van Walstijn. The first part of the event benefited from dry track conditions. Renaudin and Van Walstijn never left the top five in the Qualifying Heats. Then the rain came, but that didn't stop them from confirming their great competitiveness, first in the Super Heat and then in the Final.
"The track was really slippery in the Final, but I managed to keep a steady pace and lead for a while and set the fastest lap in the race," commented Senna. "Finally, for safety reasons, the Race Director stopped the race with a red flag a little before the end and I finished 2nd. Victory was very close!" As for Adrien, the podium just escaped him. A five-second penalty for incorrect front fairing position forced him to settle for 6th place.
"The CPB Sport team will also participate in the WSK Final Cup in Adria on November 19th, 20th and 21st in KZ2, but we can already draw an extremely positive conclusion to this 2021 season," added Paul Bizalion. "We are still giving ourselves some time to announce the final composition of the team for next year, but I can already guarantee that our squad will look great thanks to the quality of our partnership with Sodikart, our reference engine manufacturers and our valuable technical staff."
Finally, hats off to Britain's Nathaniel Tye for his performance in OK-Junior with Sodikart. Already noticed in the dry at the beginning of the meeting, he joined the top 10 in the Final, with a 9th place in the rain.