Superkart is on a roll !

For a number of years there has been an unfailing craze of Superkart drivers for the CIK-FIA European Championship. As it happened several times since 2002 – when the European Championship was revived – the first event of the 2007 tour will bring together the maximum number of participants authorised by the regulations, to such an extent that a few big names of the discipline got caught by time and did not submit their entry applications before the quota of 60 drivers was reached !

In 2007, the CIK-FIA European Superkart Championship will comprise three events of two races each. The first round will be held at Magny-Cours on 4, 5 and 6 May. Two months later and on the same circuit a tremendous opportunity will even be offered to Superkarts as a selection of the best 250cc kart drivers will be invited to give a public performance (which will not count towards the championship) within the framework of the French Formula One Grand Prix! The second stage is scheduled for 10-12 August at Assen in the Netherlands. The third and final event will be organised on 15 and 16 September at the Sachsenring, on a circuit all Superkart drivers will discover, which will therefore place every competitor on an equal footing.

In the absence of Britain’s Graham Barker (the reigning Champion) and John Riley (who applied too late), the logical favourites are the Frenchman Damien Payart and the Swede Stefan Malm. Their main opponents should be the Brits Gavin Bennett, Mark Owens, Malcolm Crowe, Lee Harpham, Robert Chilcott, Phil Featherstone and Carl Hulme, or even Sweden’s Michael Warn and the seasoned campaigner of the championship, Bobo Westman (64 years old!). The French drivers Alexandre Sébastia, Mané Vignjévic, Benjamin Mahé and Antoine Lacoste are experienced and have good knowledge of the Nièvre circuit, and so they will be additional candidates for first rate results.

Friday 4 May will be dedicated to free practice and to the first qualifying practice. The second session of timed practice and Race 1 will take place on Saturday 5 May, and Race 2 is scheduled for Sunday 6 May in the morning.

The classifications of this first round of the CIK-FIA European Superkart Championship in Magny-Cours will be published during the event on the CIK-FIA’s website: www.cikfia.com.