Compétition

Jorrit Pex wins the KZ world title on the last lap at Le Mans

Contrary to expectations, the Le Mans circuit was completely dry for the start of the final of the KZ World Championship. Two CRGs were on the front row, Jorrit Pex (CRG / TM) on the outside and Paolo De Conto (CRG / Maxter) inside. Arnaud Kozlinski (Sodi / TM) seamlessly jumped from the second row and took the lead at the first corner ahead of De Conto and Pex, then Ben Hanley (Croc Promotions / TM), Flavio Camponeschi (Tony Kart / Vortex) in 4th before and Marco Ardigo ( Tony Kart / Vortex) in 5th also after a great start.

De Conto didn’t take long to recover the lead, soon followed by Pex and Hanley. Camponeschi was losing ground in the fight, while Anthony Abbasse retired permanently.

The two CRGs were in control at the front 1” in front of Hanley, but Ardigo increased the pace and the fastest time. Lundberg controlled Kozlinski and Lammers, and Iglesias was not far off in 8th place. Before the halfway point, Ardigo joined Hanley and then passed into the banking. He found himself in 3rd by 1.7s at 10 laps. But the gap remained stable in the following laps. Kozlinski took the opportunity to get up close and attack Hanley to gain 4th place. Iglesias was following suit and went 5th.

Ardigo was off again chasing the top two from the 16th lap. Iglesias returned to Kozlinski. Ardigo began the last lap in the wheelstracks of Pex who suddenly attacked De Conto who defended against the threat. Ardigo was only waiting for this to try his luck. He took the lead for a few metres before a muddled reaction from CRGs, including a contact from De Conto who dropped to 3rd position.

Jorrit Pex finally won the race and the KZ World Championship ahead of De Conto and Ardigo who lost his 3rd position because of a dislodged front spoiler. Kozlinski ensured 3th position ahead of Iglesias and Lammers, the three Sodis well placed in the top rank, which was not a foregone conclusion.