After the 30 Qualifying Heats of the Rotax MAX Challenge International Trophy, most of the polemen confirmed the competitiveness revealed during the Qualifying Practice in race conditions. Although this long Qualifying phase was intense, the races came one after another without a hitch and the weather did not disturb their progress. After the sun on Thursday afternoon, it was more cloudy on Friday while the temperature often exceeded 20°. The day ended with the official presentation of the 216 drivers from 29 nationalities and the draw for some exceptional prizes. Aron Krepcsik no. 240 won the Can-Am Ryker worth more than €10,000 offered by BRP-Rotax while Tony Hoog no. 711, Vida Benedek no. 490 and Rhys Hunter no. 402 went away with a helmet offered by Bell Racing.
Micro: Paul Schön asserts his domination in the heats
Paul Schön (CHE - KR - MH Racing), who took pole position, clearly outdistanced his rivals by taking three heat wins with a strong lead. Uros Bogdanic (SRB - Kosmic - Sport Sill) did well by reaching 2nd position after a gain of four places in front of Ainis Vibriantis (LTU - KR) and Jenson Chalk (GBR - Sodi). Dragos Avasilcutei (AUT - Sodi - KSCA Sodi Europe) recovered eight places to enter the top five.
Mini: Radenkovic keeps the lead
Mateja Radenkovic (BEL - Tony Kart) maintained his lead in the Mini heats thanks to his three consecutive victories. Tom Langlois (FRA - Sodi) took 2nd place ahead of Roméo Roussel (FRA - KR), who climbed five positions. Mees Houben (NLD - Exprit - GKS Lemmens Power) regained four places in 4th position ahead of Oliwier Chlopek (POL - Parolin - Wyrykowski Motorsport), while Christopher El Feghali (LBN - KR) lost ground after a penalty at the start.
Junior: Rillaerts still in the lead
Poleman Kai Rillaerts (BEL - Exprit - JJ Racing) maintained his position in the lead by winning twice in the heats. Téo Blin (FRA - Tony Kart), who was very consistent, moved up to 2nd place by taking the lead over Farin Megger (DEU - Exprit - JJ Racing), who won one heat, but was less successful in another. Matthijs Terlouw (NLD - Tony Kart) moved up seven places to 4th ahead of Aron Krepcsik (HUN - Exprit).
Senior: The Hunter brothers don't give up
Rhys and Kai Hunter (GBR - Kosmic - Dan Holland Racing) took the first two places in the intermediate classification in spectacular fashion. The elder Rhys had five victories against four for his younger brother. Kovacs Zsombor (HUN - Exprit - KMS Europe) fought hard to keep 3rd place against the return of Enzo Caldaras (FRA - Kosmic - KPR) from 14th place in Timed Qualifying. Nolan Lemeray (FRA - EOS) finished very well in 5th place ahead of Luca Leistra (BEL - Tony Kart - Bouvin Power). Arthur Roché (FRA - Kosmic - PKS) in 7th, Paul Fourquemin (FRA - Sodi - PKS) in 8th, Alexander Abkhazava (GEO - Kosmic - Dan Holland Racing) in 9th and Andrej Petrovic (SRB - Lion Kart - Sport Still) in 10th had all made up a lot of places to reach the top 10.
DD2: Barbaroux consolidates his 1st position
Antoine Barbaroux's (FRA - Birel ART) faultless performance enabled him to retain his leadership at the end of the heats, while Kacper Bielecki (POL - Tony Kart) took 2nd place ahead of Daniel Machacek (AUT - KR - VPDR). The return of Nicolas Picot (FRA - Tony Kart - NPS) to 4th place, suggests an interesting Final phase. Dionisis Liveris (GRC - Tony Kart - Daems Racing) put in a good performance to take 5th place.
DD2 Masters: Louveau back in business
Paul Louveau (FRA - Redspeed - DSS), who had qualified 5th against the clock, made up for it by taking 1st place at the end of the heats thanks to two wins. Vivien Cussac-Picot (FRA - Tony Kart - NPS) kept his 2nd place against Carl Cleirbaut (BEL - Exprit - KMD) while poleman Denis Thum (CYP - Tony Kart), despite winning a heat, dropped to 8th place due to a DNF. Romain Mangé (FRA - Tony Kart) was 4th and Slawomir Muranski ( POL - Kosmic) 5th.
Provisional program of the 2021 RMCIT
Saturday 31st July
08:30 - 09:40: Warm-up (5')
09:40 - 12:30: Prefinals + B and C Finals
14:00 - 17:05: A Finals