A private team and two factories on the podium of the 2017 CIK-FIA Endurance Championship

The 32nd edition of the 24 Hours Karting at Le Mans confirmed the performance potential of the OK engines as well as their excellent reliability. The victory by a private team, Rouen GSK 1, in front of the factories CRG and Sodikart also proved the accessibility of these new engines. The magic of the 24 Hours worked perfectly in a superb sporting confrontation. The CIK-FIA Endurance Championship is the only high-level Competition to offer amateur drivers with very reasonable budgets the chance to challenge and beat the stars of today’s karting.

Organized by the ACO, the 2017 24-hour Karting showcased a set of 33 teams, one third of whom were in GP1 with an OK engine in the 2nd CIK-FIA Endurance Championship. The start was in the sun and given by CIK-FIA Vice President Kees Van De Grint along with Nicolas Deschaux, President of the FFSA and Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. The first half of the race took place on the dry track of the Le Mans Karting International Circuit. Rain made its appearance in the middle of the night and the Competition required the use of the rain tyres until the finish. The tyres from the Italian manufacturer LeCont fulfilled their mission perfectly as they did in 2016.

Rouen GSK 1: a great winner at the finish
An extending Competition, the 24 Hours Karting saw several leaders and the confrontation between the factory teams took place as expected. No. 6 CRG Spa (CRG / Parilla / LeCont) achieved pole position in Qualifying Practice which was decided in four consecutive sessions, eliminating teams from Q4 to Q1. The No. 1 Sodikart (Sodi / TM Racing / LeCont) attacked its rival straight away. The two factory teams competed for the lead during the first five hours of the race. Teams specialising in the discipline, especially those competing in the FFSA French Endurance Championship, then took advantage of their great experience to return to the front of the Competition. This was the case for No. 16 CMCR Charente MMA ( Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont), the leader after six hours of racing and then of No. 55 Rouen GSK 1 (Sodi / Vortex / LeCont) who took the lead from the seventh hour. The team of young Drivers between the ages of 14 and 16, No. 50 La Manche Kartmag (Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont), No. 91 Gamatt 91 (Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont) and the official team No. 40 Energy Corse (Energy / Parilla / LeCont) composed the top five while some favourites dropped out after several technical problems.

As at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for cars, the night was unforgiving for the competitors. In the early morning, the final duel was between No. 55 Rouen GSK 1 and No. 6 CRG Spa. For more than eight hours, the gap varied from two laps to a few seconds depending on the ups and downs that affected the two contenders. Faster, CRG Spa was back with Rouen GSK 1, but the Italians encountered more issues than the French. While the battle was not yet settled, CRG Spa gambled on switching to slick tyres a bit more than an hour before the finish. This bold bet sealed the fate of the 24 Hours as rain again wet the track and forced the CRG team into an additional pitstop. Rouen GSK 1 ensured its victory with the utmost caution, while CRG Spa posted successive fastest laps to finish only 48” from the winner after 1374 laps, or 1901 km. Delayed in the night, the drivers of the No. 1 Sodikart pushed to climb from 10th to 3rd place to join their opponents on the podium.

Crowned 2017 CIK-FIA Endurance Champion, the No. 55 Rouen GSK1 team was a private team in front of two official factory teams. Tuning by Cédric Sport led to the success of a Vortex engine capable of running for nine hours in a row without a single breakage. An IAME Parilla engine finished 2nd and a TM Racing 3rd. Four chassis brands, Sodi, CRG, Tony Kart and Energy, were in the top five.

The Vice President of the CIK-FIA, very satisfied with the progress of the Competition, which he attended from start to finish, was eager to see more factories facing the great challenge of endurance racing in the future.

What is certain is that CRG and Sodikart will prepare to take their revenge in 2018 and that the engine manufacturers IAME and TM Racing have not finished fighting during the double rotation of the clock.

Final podium of the 2017 CIK-FIA Endurance Championship:
1- No. 55 Rouen GSK1 – Sodi/Vortex/LeCont – Jean-Philippe Guignet (FRA) – Maxime Bidard (FRA) – William Godefroid (BEL) – Gautier Becq (FRA) 

2- No. 6  CRG Spa – CRG/Parilla/LeCont – Dennis Hauger (NOR) – Paolo De Conto (ITA) – Lorenzo Travisanutto (ITA) – Callum Bradshaw (GBR) by 48”878.

3- No. 1  Sodikart –  Sodi/TM Racing/LeCont – Anthony Abbasse (FRA) – Bas Lammers (NLD) – Alex Irlando (ITA) – Jake French (USA) by 5 tours.

Info CIK-FIA / © Photo KSP