2017 CIK-FIA Best-Of: 2017: CIK-FIA World KZ Championship Another crown for De Conto

Organized from 6th to 10th September in Germany at the Wackersdorf circuit, the CIK-FIA World KZ Championship brought together the most impressive field of the year in the advanced category of gearbox karts. The great return of the World Competition to Germany after 40 years of absence perfectly met the expectations of all. The 2016 World KZ Champion, and the winner of the CIK-FIA European KZ Championship this year, the Italian Paolo De Conto won his second world title.

After a rainy period from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, the Final was held on a dry track at the Prokart Raceland in Wackersdorf, which was recently updated with a new layout. Anthony Abbasse (Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone), who had just returned from his Oviedo crash, started with pole position in Qualifying Practice and held 1st place in the Qualifying Heats. Jérémy Iglesias (Formula K / TM Racing / B’stone) in 2nd and Patrik Hajek (Kosmic / Vortex / B’stone) 3rd, were among the protagonists along with Marijn Kreners (Birel ART / TM Racing / B’stone) in 5th, but Paolo De Conto (CRG / TM Racing / B’stone) had already impressed by returning from 14th to 4th position.

De Conto remains unbeatable in KZ

Iglesias and Hajek took the lead when the lights went out for the Final, but were neutralised after a collision. Abbasse took 1st place until the 7th of the 26 1190m laps. De Conto took advantage of a small error from the Frenchman to settle in at the controls and yet the outcome remained uncertain until the finish, as the two men were close in terms of performance. The suspense continued until the finish when De Conto won by three tenths of a second in front of his brave opponent. Britain’s Benjamin Hanley (Croc Promotions / TM Racing / B’stone), now a driver in the FIA’s WEC LMP2 category, completed an achievement as he climbed onto the third step of the KZ podium after gaining 10 places. Jorrit Pex (CRG / TM Racing / B’stone) and Simo Puhakka (Kosmic / Vortex / B’stone) completed the top five.

Info CIK-FIA / © Photo KSP