2018 FIA Karting Best-Of: FIA Karting European Championship – Superkart Elkmann does the double

Peter Elkmann (Anderson / VM) dominated the Superkart season, but suspense remained until the last Competition. Due to a mechanical breakdown at Assen, the outgoing Champion could have been deprived of his crown by his usual opponent, the Czech Adam Kout (MS Kart / DEA) who won the title in 2015 and 2016. Although consistent, he only took one victory. With a score to be dropped, Elkmann kept the advantage, but could not afford to not suffer another retirement. Three Drivers at times pressured them: the Belgian Yannick De Brabander (MSKart / VM) was the winner of a race, the German Andreas Jost (Anderson / VM) took four consecutive podiums before missing out on the last, and the Frenchman Emmanuel Vinuales (Ms Kart / VM) came back to Competition with a double podium at Le Mans.

Elkmann kicked off the Championship in early June, doubly victorious at the first Donington Competition (GBR). At each race, he took the lead at the start then widened the gap little by little to finally win. Kout and Jost completed the podium two times in a row in that order. They were the only ones to maintain a pace close to that of Elkmann. Outsiders like De Brabander only managed to get there once or twice. It was for the highest rated British driver, Daniel Clark (Anderson / VM) who had the nightmare of a double retirement. Except for Carl Hulme (Anderson / VM) in the first race, the British were out of the picture at home due to various mechanical failures.

Assen (NLD) in August remains a very popular event with 80,000 spectators. This year, Elkmann seemed unreachable and dominated the first race, leaving De Brabander, Jost and Kout to fight. In 5th, Marcel Maasmman (Anderson / VM), however consistent, conceded considerable ground. The second race revived the game. Elkmann had a problem and gave up at halfway. De Brabander grabbed the lead before Kout made his experience count. But the Belgian won at the very end in front of the Czech and Jost took 3rd position.

Elkmann arrived at Le Mans (FRA) with the advantage of three wins. Kout put a little pressure on the favourite by taking pole position. Elkmann waited for the last third of Race 1 to attack Kout. Vinuales followed them and the podium was fixed. In 4th, Alexandre Sebastia (Anderson / DEA) was ahead of De Brabander. The same trio dominated the second race, with only the order different. Elkmann was extremely cautious. Kout seized the win in front of Vinuales. An intense fight animated the rest of the ranking until Sebastia retired and Clark received a penalty. De Brabander finished the race in 4th position in front of Jost.

Info FIA Karting / © Photo KSP