Watt, Basz and Hajek the winners on Spanish soil

Under the sun, as well as the strong wind at Zuera, the second CIK-FIA European Competition of the year was marked by several duels before the winners were revealed. In OK-Junior, the young Dane Noah Watt imposed clearly, while the OK category was eventually won by the Pole Karol Basz, and the Czech Patrik Hajek won the KZ Final allowing the Championship to be more open than ever.

At Zuera, the longest circuit of the season – 1700 m -, the CIK-FIA European Championship for the categories OK and OK-Junior was launched on a track popular with the drivers. The Spanish sky was always sunny and the strong wind did not deter the spectators who came in large numbers to attend the final phases on Sunday.

With 76 participants, the European Junior Championship confirmed the attractiveness of the new OK-Junior category. The confrontation sounded promissing between the poleman from Qualifying Practice Sami Taoufik (FA Kart / Vortex / Vega) and the leader of the Qualifying Heats Noah Watt (Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega). Unfortunately, an engine problem prevented Taoufik from finishing Prefinal 2, therefore depriving him of access to the Final. Finlay Kenneally (FA Kart / Vortex / Vega) seemed well positioned to challenge Watt, the favourite, accompanied by Isac Blomqvist (Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega). But Caio Jotta Collet (Birel ART / Parilla / Vega) made a spectacular come back from 6th position on the grid. While Watt took advantage of the battle that raged behind him to get away, Collet surprised Blomqvist at halfway and let him do battle with Kenneally and Timothy Peisselon (FA Kart / Vortex / Vega) for 3rd place. Briefly down to 5th, Blomqvist moved back up to 3rd place. In his first international race in OK-Junior, Esteban Muth (CRG / Parilla / Vega) has already finished in 9th position. Note that multiple 10-second penalties for front spoilers were applied by the Stewards. The provisional classification of the European Junior Championship is similar to the Final of Zuera: Watt 1st, Collet 2nd and Blomqvist 3rd. The second of the four European Junior Competitions will take place from 2nd to 5th June 2016 at Adria (ITA).

The OK Drivers have been fewer to fight for the CIK-FIA European Championship, but the races have not been any less hard fought. Tom Joyner (Zanardi / Parilla / Vega) looked better equipped to win, totally dominating the start of the Competition, with Qualifying Practice, Qualifying Heats and the Prefinal. Repeatedly delayed by race incidents, Karol Basz (Kosmic / Vortex / Vega) had threatened the leader in the Prefinal before taking the lead in the Final. The duel between Joyner and Basz, respectively CIK-FIA World Champions in KF in 2013 and 2015, continued until three laps from the finish. Followed like a shadow by Christian Lundgaard (Ricciardo Kart / Parilla / Vega), Marta Garcia Lopez (Evokart / Parilla / Vega) launched an attack on Joyner in the wake of Basz who then took over control. The last lap was the scene of several manoeuvres that finally gave 2nd place to Lundgaard and 3rd place to Garcia Lopez, both rookies, while Basz won by 2.4 seconds and Joyner retired a few hundred metres from the finish line during a collision. Logan Sargeant (FA Kart / Vortex / Vega) finally came back to 4th place ahead of Hannes Janker (CRG / Parilla / Vega). Alexander Gadois (Kosmic / Parilla / Vega) completed the biggest rebound of the race (21 places) and finished in the top 10. In the provisional standings, Basz leads from Garcia Lopez, Viscaal, Lundgaard and Joyner. The next Competition will be at Adria (ITA) from 2th to 5th June.

For the CIK-FIA European KZ Championship, Zuera was the second of the three Competitions of the season. The circuit, weather and hierarchy were very different from those of the first Competition. Patrik Hajek (Kosmic / Vortex / Vega) has indeed achieved the grand slam after his pole position in Qualifying Practice. The leader at the end of Qualifying Heats, he won the Prefinal while one of his main rivals, Bas Lammers (Sodi / TM Racing / Vega) dropped out in a clash. Delayed at the start of a two heats, Marco Ardigo (Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega) seemed able to win after a recovery which he is an expert at. However, things did not go as well as usual. 2nd in the Prefinal, Jérémy Iglesias (Sodi / TM Racing / Vega) retained his rank in the Final while Hajek clinched a victory and Ardigo was satisfied with 3rd place. Anthony Abbasse (Sodi / TM Racing / Vega) finished 4th and Lammers gained 11 places to complete the top five.

Ardigo (84 pts) still leads the standings, but Iglesias (82 pts) and Hajek (80 pts) are very close in the fight for the title to be decided at Genk (BEL) in late July.

Info CIK-FIA / © Photo KSP