Competition

Suzuka: Hectic prefinal in KF1

The start was super slow, with poleman Marco Ardigo sticking to 36kph, but it didn’t prevent Gary Catt from tackling Davide Fore at the second corner. The first lap saw Ardigo in the lead ahead of Jason Parrott, Catt, Bressan, and Cesetti. Ardigo and Bressan had contact a few metres later, then Will Stevens passed […]

International Event FIA Karting

A group of four drivers stood out. Catt was in the lead, then Parrott, Cesetti and Stevens. Richard Bradley was on his own in fifth position. Then came Antonio Piccioni, Matias Laine and LIbor Toman. Fore had the bit between his teeth and soon joined the pack. Ardigo and Bressan couldn’t do much more. It was very tight in the leading quartet and there were many attacks.

Fore successively passed Toman, Piccioni and Laine, and closed on Bradley. Cesetti seemed faster than Parrott and Stevens lost ground. Fore overtook Bradley and gained fifth place but the gap to Stevens was too long for the time remaining. Cesetti passed Parrott just before the finish.

On the line it was Catt first, Cesetti second, Parrott third and Stevens fourth. Fore was fifth, ahead of Toman, Piccioni and Laine. Fore was very angry with Catt and the classification remained pending for a while.

The strategy will play a major role in the finals on a track as abrasive as Suzuka and it may be tempting not to push too hard in the Prefinal in order to leave the tyres in a good condition for the Final. The low number of entries means it isn’t too disadvantageous to start from nearer the back of the grid.

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