Everyone heads to Le Mans!

The CIK-FIA invites all Karting fans to an exceptional Competition next weekend. This is of course the CIK-FIA World KZ Championship, accompanied by the CIK-FIA KZ2 International Super Cup and the Final round of the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and the CIK-FIA Historic Super Cup. The line-up itself is already exciting, but together with the name of Le Mans, it reaches another dimension.

The date to remember: from 10th to 13th September 2015. It’s 24 years since Le Mans has hosted an international Karting Competition of this magnitude. From the era of the Alain Prost circuit, much has changed, starting with the creation in 2013 of the new track known as “Le Mans Karting International.” The ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) has built a complex that lives up to its reputation in motorsport. Associating a World Karting Championship with the prestigious venue of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has brought nearly 200 Drivers to the Sarthe as well as hopefully a media and popular impact. Another peculiarity of this Competition, the Italians are the most numerous (41) against a strong French delegation (36), among the 42 nationalities involved.

The professionals come together in KZ
The 36 Drivers entered in the CIK-FIA World KZ Championship at Le Mans represent not only the world’s elite of the discipline, but also the strongest Karting professionals whose track record totals more than 30 European and World titles. This year’s favourites are Flavio Camponeschi and Marco Ardigo (Tony Kart-Vortex-B’stone), Ben Hanley (Croc Promotions-TM Racing-B’stone), Jordon Lennox-Lamb (BirelART-Parilla-B’stone ), Patrik Hajek (Praga-Parilla-B’stone) and Rick Dreezen (Ricciardo Kart-Parilla-B’stone). But other big names are willing to fight for victory: Paolo De Conto, Simo Puhakka, Jorrit Pex and Davide Fore (CRG-Maxter-B’stone), Jonathan Thonon (Praga-Parilla-B’stone), Bas Lammers (Sodi-TM Racing-B’stone) will follow. The Frenchmen Jérémy Iglesias, Arnaud Kozlinski and Anthony Abbasse, on all three Sodi-TM Racing-B’stone, will take the opportunity to shine at home with motivation increased tenfold. The expert KF Driver Nicklas Nielsen (Tony Kart-Vortex-B’stone) will debut at Le Mans in 125cc gearbox.

101 entered for the CIK-FIA KZ2 International Super Cup
KZ2 will be the most open category for its big global event of the year. With so many Drivers, the 15 Qualifying Heats and two Prefinals will be a formidable test to negotiate to hope to be part of the 34 Drivers qualified for the Final. Most of the Drivers from the CIK-FIA European KZ2 Championship will be participating. Joel Johansson (Energy-TM Racing LeCont), Pedro Hiltbrand (CRGSPA-Maxter-LeCont), Andreas Fasberg (Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont), Luca Corberi (Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont) and Paolo Besancenez (Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont) to name the top five, facing a real pack of determined challengers including Tom Joyner (Zanardi-TM Racing-LeCont), the 2013 World KF Champion and Martijn Van Leeuwen (CRG-TM Racing LeCont) is a confirmed KF driver. The Franco-Italian rivalry will continue, with the countries constituting more the the half of the field, but it will be arbitrated by representatives of twenty nationalities.

Marta Garcia en route to coronation in the Academy
The CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy will have its third and final Competition of the season at Le Mans with 51 drivers representing 36 countries and four continents involved in this unique one-make formula (Parolin-FIM-B’stone) for the detection of young talents worldwide. With her two previous victories, the Spanish Driver Marta Garcia can not practically be reached in the standings while the podium is likely to be between two other Spaniards, Xavier Lloveras Brunet and Alejandro Lopez Lahoz, even though six Drivers can still theoretically succeed due to the regulations. The category will nevertheless be fascinating to watch due to epic struggles between all of the young Drivers giving the maximum from start to finish on identical hardware.

CIK-FIA Historic Karting Super Cup
Grouped into four categories according to their birth date between 1956 and 1984, 34 Historic Karts will be celebrated at Le Mans for the third running of the CIK-FIA Historic Karting Super Cup. On track for multiple demonstrations, as well as in the paddock, this is an opportunity to discover, or rediscover, these wonderful machines that have shaped the history of the discipline while ensuring its popularity.

Info CIK