Vainio, Parrott & Renaudie : Three drivers for one European Title

The “Grand Ouest” circuit of Essay (France) will host the finals of the CIK-FIA European Championships of the Super KF/KF1 and KF2 categories on 1st and 2nd August 2009.

Three drivers will land in Normandy separated by a mere three points in the provisional classification of the European Championship of the top category of direct-drive karts, i.e. Super KF. European Junior Champion in 2008, the young (15 years old) Finn Aaro Vainio (Maranello-Maxter) has quickly made a name for himself among the elite without ever letting himself be intimidated by his experienced elders. Having won a race in Spain, he calls the tune in the Championship ahead of the Briton Jason Parrott (Birel-Parilla), with equal points, and the Frenchman Manuel Renaudie (Gillard-Parilla), who only has three points less than the cadet of the competition. It would come as a major surprise if the 2009 European Champion title did not go to one of these three drivers, even if the Finn Simo Puhakka (PCR-TM), the Brit Oliver Rowland (LH-Maxter) and Belgium’s Yannick De Brabander (Intrepid-TM) still mathematically have a chance of being crowned.

Only representative of the fair sex in the first two rounds of the Championship, held in Italy and in Spain, the Czech Tereza Gromanova (Maranello-Parilla) will be joined at Essay by another lady, Britain’s Laura Tillett (Gillard-Parilla).

As well as carrying out the organisation of the final round of the European Super KF Championship, Essay will also be the framework of the European Championship of the KF2 category, the title of which will be awarded after a straight final. KF2, which can be assimilated to the category of “Hopes”, will gather 80 drivers, who were selected on the basis of their results in the regional pre-qualifications organised at the first weekend of May in three different locations. Dominating the so-called “Central” region qualification event (Italy, Germany and Eastern European countries), the Italian Felipe Tiene is tipped as the favourite, more especially as he also gave a further demonstration of his great form a few weeks ago when he won in Japan the CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific Championship. The list of favourites is however very large and includes the Dane Kevin Munkholm, the Portuguese David Da Luz, the Swede Joel Johansson, Britain’s Ben Cooper and Chris Lock, Belgium’s Kenny Vermeylen and Sébastien Bailly, the Russian from Siberia Maxim Zimin, the Finns Joni Wiman and Juha Mäki-Jouppi, not forgetting Frenchmen, with whom – historically – the “Hopes” category has always agreed. The locals will be six, with Clément Bluy, Vincent Fraisse, Paul Loup Chatin, Guillaume Barbarin, Wilfried Martins and the region’s driver Loïc Reguillon.

The first practice session is scheduled for Thursday 30 July, and the event will get to the heart of the matter in the afternoon of Friday 31st July with qualifying practice. The day of Saturday 1st August will be dedicated to the (ten) qualifying heats. Three extra heats will be held in the morning of Sunday 2nd August, to be followed in the afternoon from 13h30 by the four final phase races. The entry lists are available on the CIK-FIA website, where as usual the results of practice and the races will also be published live  : CIK-FIA

Info CIK / © Photo KSP