The victories keep coming!

For Sodi it was fiesta time in Varennes sur Allier, with a 1-2-3 win in the ICA class and near victory in Formula A. Already running well on the technically difficult Angerville circuit back in March, the SR5 chassis came into its own on the spacious Varennes sur Allier track on which the second round of the FFSA karting Grand Prix was held.

Clean sweep!
2005 is still fresh in the memory, when the French manufacturer took all three places on the podium of the 4th round of the French ICA championship in Lyon. The same three drivers – Abbasse, Miskiewicz and Berthon – then went on to take the top three places in the final championship standings. At the Varennes meeting Sodi repeated the exploit, albeit in a different setting, but with an equally competitive field, thanks to Mike Courquin, Anthony Abbasse and Loïc Reguillon.
“It all seems so easy when you’re driving such a great kart, was winner Courquin’s modest comment. I won pole position on the grid on the Saturday and everything went to plan. I am so grateful to the Sodikart team for enabling me to win my first race at this level. What’s more, my result in the pre-final puts me at the top of the championships !” Courquin and Abbasse were vying for the lead throughout the race, well ahead of the pack. “One of us had to win, said Anthony. This time the honour went to Mike but the main thing was this great result for Sodi, which enables the team to open up a lead over our main rivals in the championship”.
“The great thing for us, added Gildas Mérian, Sodikart’s MD, is seeing that our chassis performs just as well whatever the team and the type of engine fitted. Loïc Reguillon completed our clean sweep on the podium on a Braun Racing Parilla, and Belgian driver Kevin Demaerschalk came 5th and 7th in the final round driving a Eurokarting Maxter. It is not surprising that more and more teams are using our chassis ! Courquin and Abbasse won with TM engines that were factory-prepared by Sodikart”.

In good shape for Europe
“When I caught up with Christodoulou, who had just won in the pre-finals, I thought I could win because my kart was so competitive. We had put in a lot of hard work over the weekend and the chassis set-up was perfect”. These were the words of Jean-Eric Vergne, expressing his disappointment at having to abandon the race in the end after a skirmish with his English rival. Nevertheless, Jean-Eric put in a very good performance overall during the weekend. He was 3rd fastest overall in the time trials and was lying 4th after the Formula A heats. “Just two month’s ahead of the second round of the European Formula A championship to be held at Varennes, there was a really strong field for this race, with many competitors from other countries, went on Gildas Mérian. The positive I take from this race is that we got ourselves in a position to win it with a young driver like Jean-Eric Vergne who only last year was still racing in the ICA class”.
Another contender in the leading group, Laurent Miskiewicz, also impressed and progressed to 4th place in the French Formula A standings. “Our decision to fit new tyres at the pre-final stage paid off, it helped me to keep up with the best in the field and to chalk up some important points. There’s still a long way to go in the championship”, was Laurent’s verdict. At Varennes, the Sodi colours were flown on the podium in the top category thanks to Arnaud Sarrazin. Driving for the Pole Karting Services team, Arnaud reminded everyone of his talent by crossing the line in 2nd place in his semi-final race, before going on to steal 3rd spot on the final podium, thanks to some nifty work on the front breaks two bends from the finishing line.

Present on all fronts
Sodi is the team which won the most top ten places in Varennes, all categories taken into account. Statistics which are borne out by the performance of Eric Maillard, who continued to move up the rankings in 125/ICC, and Jim Pla’s blistering pace in the Junior class. But for Jim the race was frustrating. “After moving up seven places in the pre-final, I got caught up in the melee at the start of the final and let the pack get away. I’m sorry I missed the boat because looking at the times I see I was lapping faster that all three leaders”. Lying 6th in the championships, Pla is still in serious contention for the final podium, and he will be doubly motivated for the Lavelanet meeting at the end of May.