Gabriel Gomez becomes European OK Vice-Champion
The FIA Karting European Championship OK & Junior ended on the Kristianstad track last weekend, a 5-month journey that touched four different countries: Spain, France, Slovakia and Sweden. This 4-round Championship format limits the impact of good and bad luck and brings out the values of the drivers and teams more clearly. Based on this premise, Gabriel Gomez's 2nd place in the Championship has great value, considering that the Brazilian driver was fast in every round, taking a clear victory in Spain and then a series of podiums, including the last one this weekend in Sweden where he secured P2.
A hand injury that occurred on the eve of the race in Slovakia and some technical episodes have had an impact on his journey, but his consistency highlights how the CRG-Iame technical package has always been competitive on different circuits, different temperatures and grip on the track. The effectiveness of CRG technical material in OK is also well highlighted by the results of Louis Iglesias, P4 in the Championship after a podium and many placings in the points. Even in the last race in Sweden the Frenchman brought home a solid P6. But there were many CRG drivers capable of doing well in this Championship, from Davide Bottaro to Mark Dubnitski.
The last race of the Championship highlighted CRG's great potential also in the Junior category with Manu Miguez's good weekend, P3 overall in Qualifying Practice and then P6 on the starting grid of the Final after the qualifying phases. Unfortunately, a contact delayed him in the Final, but we must be aware of the fact that we are able to fight for the podium also in the Junior category, where Asher Ochstein has also always demonstrated speed and an excellent race pace.
After the European Championship, we will now begin to prepare for the most important event of the season for the direct-drive classes: the FIAKarting World Championship scheduled on the English PFI track on September 15. All the results of the Euro OK and OK-Junior are available at www.fiakarting.com
CRG drivers’ post-race reactions:
Gabriel Gomez (OK): “On Sunday, the final day here in Kristianstad the rain came to complicate the situation a bit, but despite everything we had an excellent race pace and closed this Championship in the best way, confirming 2ndplace. Unfortunately, we left important points on the way in the 2nd and 3rd Rounds due to some unlucky episodes, but we still have to be very satisfied with our performances. The team did an excellent job and the confirmation also comes from the results and the speed that Iglesias, Bottaro and my other teammates also had on each track. Today is also time to thank Iame for the great support it has provided us on the engine front with Nicola Boscaini's BM Motors. Finally, I obviously would like to congratulate Joe on the victory”.
Manu Miguez (OKJ): “We had a solid weekend right from Free Practice, then confirmed in Qualifying Practice and the Heats. The Final wasn't lucky, but in any case, I'm very happy with the weekend. We brought some technical innovations that will be part of the KT2 chassis updates for the World Championship and for 2025 and everything worked very well. Even with regards to the engine we are at the best levels, and I think that today I also have more experience and feeling with the team. Now a bit of a break and then we will have the FIA Karting World Championship”.