Rotax Euro Challenge Zuera 2014: Qualifying

Competitors at the third round of the Rotax Max Euro Challenge were not afraid to go to the heart of Spain to face the heat of Zuera. The temperature  exceeded 35 ° C on Friday afternoon for the timed qualifying. There were 126 drivers at the overheated track, slightly higher than this time last year at the UK PFI circuit.

Dave Wooder (FA Kart – Dan Holland Racing) was well ahead with 1’05” 438 in Junior and he relegated his main rival, the Spaniard Marta Garcia Lopez (Zanardi – MGL Xtreme Racing) by more than 2 tenths. Third place went to Marcus Armstrong (FA Kart – Dan Holland Racing) ahead of Dean MacDonald (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing) and Ayrton Simmons (Tony Kart – Coles Racing). Championship leader Thomas Preining (FA Kart – Team TKP) only managed 13th position,  0.64” from pole, Richard Verschoor (FA Kart – Team TKP) finished 11th, Max Timmermans (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing) 9th and Alex Quinn (Tony Kart – Coles Racing) 8th. The French Perceval Antoine (Tony Kart – SG Drivers) took an interesting 15th place, while Adrien Renaudin (DIOS-Kart Racing Pro) was 33rd.

In Seniors, Harry Webb (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing) took pole with 1’04” 409, almost 3/10 from Zachary Claman De Melo (Intrepid – Intrepid Driver Program), Edward Brand (Intrepid – Intrepid Driver Program), Joseph Reilly (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing) and Josh Price (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing). 3rd in the championship, Victor Öberg (Gillard – PDB Racing Team) was only 25th by almost a second, and Guan Yu Zhou  (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing) finished up ninth. The top French driver Xavier Pozzoli (Kosmic – Sonic Racing Kart) set the 14th time, Joel Deptuch (FA Kart – Race Evo) 29th, Vincent Fraisse (Sodi – Sodikart) 31st, Nicolas Picot (Sodi – Kart Racing Pro) 33rd, Julien Falchero (Kosmic – Sonic Racing Kart) 34th and Maxence Laurent (Flandria – Flandria Competition) 45th.

In DD2 Ben Cooper (Birel – Birel Motorsport KMS) was a little ahead of Andreas Backman (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing) with a time of 1’03” 142. Anthony Abbasse (Sodi – Sodikart) took 3rd place ahead of Ferenc Kanscar (Birel – KMS Birel Motorsport) and Jordon Lennox-Lamb (CRG – CRG). Damien Vuillaume (Flandria – Flandria Competition) took 9th place and Julien Renaudin (Sodi – Pro Kart Racing) 24th while Sean Babington (Tony Kart – Strawberry Racing) was having trouble which didn’t allow him to complete any fast laps.

Tamsin Germain (Gillard – DG Racing) has established herself in DD2 Master, three tenths ahead of Christophe Adams (Kosmic – Sonic Racing Kart) and Martin Pierce (Praga – Praga Racing Team). Franck Rouxel (Sodi – Shop Sodi) finished fifth but a long way off.

Info Kartcom with Kartlink / © Photo KSP