Junior Prefinals: Martins and Taoufik win

As usual, the weather was the main subject of discussions on Sunday morning at Genk. The sky had been overcast since dawn, but looked bright after the drivers presentation. There was a definite risk of rain. Prefinal 1 of the Junior European Championship started on a completely dry track.

Theo Pourchaire (Kosmic / Vortex) tried to attack the leader Victor Martins (Kosmic / Parilla) on the first lap, but Dennis Hauger (CRG / Parilla) took the lead ahead of Pourchaire and Martins on the following lap. Meyer Prat (CRG / Parilla) was 4th, Noah Watt (Tony Kart / Vortex) already 5th, thenTeddy Wilson (CRG / Parilla) and Alessandro Giardelli (Tony Kart / Vortex). Watt, the fastest on the track, took 4th and joined the leading group, while Martins took over 2nd place. Martins took control on lap 9, ahead of Hauger, Meyer Prat, Watt and Pourchaire. Martins won again, Hauger finished 2nd, Meyer Prat (non-championship) 3rd, in 4th Watt has a good chance for the title, and Pourchaire narrowly protected his 5th place against Wilson. Ulysses De Pauw (ART Birel / Parilla) gained five positions to finish 8th behind David Vidales (Tony Kart / Vortex). Milane Petelet (Praga / TM) qualified 11th after a rise of 13 places and Oscar Piastri (FA Kart / Vortex) 16th with a gain of 12 places.

Charles Milesi (Tony Kart / Vortex) retained the 2nd position behind Fin Kenneally (FA Kart / Vortex), while Ugo De Wilde was ahead of Sami Taoufik (FA Kart / Vortex). Isac Blomqvist (Tony Kart / Vortex) went wide and cut the track, which earned him a black flag and prevents him from continuing to fight for the title. De Wilde grabbed 2nd place, Kiern Jewiss (Exprit / Vortex) challenged Taoufik for 3rd which he defended successfully, Milesi dropped to 8th. Gillian Henrion (Kosmic / Vortex) was back in the top 10. Taoufik was back to 2nd, Morozov 4th and Ivan Shvetsov (Tony Kart / Vortex) 5th in the leading group. The struggle intensified and Kenneally dropped to 5th when Taoufik took command on lap 7. The new leader increased his lead to the finish, ahead of De Wilde, Shetsov, Kenneally and Morozov in 5th. Behind Justas Jonusis (DR / TM), Henrion finished 7th after a rise of 10 places, Jewiss was demoted to 10th, Milesi 11th, Caio Collet (Birel ART / Parilla) returned to 14th, Adam Eteki (Tony Kart / Vortex) qualified 16th and Theo Nouet (Energy / TM) 17th, after some adventures.

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