Busy back-to-school schedule

After a quiet month of August, sporting activity returned to full swing in September. The World KZ Championship was the most eagerly awaited meeting on the Wackersdorf track. There was no shortage of action in Bavaria, even if it was regrettable that the KZ and KZ2 Finals were so tough that several of the protagonists were eliminated in the opening laps. Italian Paolo Ippolito gave Kart Republic and IAME the KZ world title they were missing. Sweden’s Viktor Gustafsson (CRG/TM) and Dutchman Stan Pex (KR/TM) completed the top three. Germany’s Niels Tröger won the KZ2 World Cup in style for the official Maranello SRP Racing team managed by Maik Siebecke. He was joined on the podium by Alex Powell (KR/Iame) and Daniel Vasile (Birel ART/TM). The duel between Italians Davide Foré and Alessandro Manetti, two big names in karting, enlivened the Final of the KZ2 Masters International Super Cup (what a barbaric name!), while Frenchman Thomas Mich (Birel ART/TM) made a remarkable return to international competition on the Final podium.

The Franciacorta track hosted a number of events in the run-up to the OK and Junior World Championships, which will be held from 6th to 8th October. Using the same tyres as the FIA Karting competitions for the first time, the WSK Euro Series first rewarded Tomass Stolcermanis (Energy/TM) in OK and Taym Saleh (KR/Iame) in Junior. Two weeks later, at the final round of the 2023 Champions of the Future Euro Series, Joe Turney (KR/Iame) won in OK and Lewis Wherrell (Exprit/TM) in OK-Junior. Finally, the Italian Championship crowned Czech driver Eliska Babickova (Exprit/TM) ahead of Frenchmen Andrea Dupé (KR/Iame) and Maxens Verbrugge (CRG/Iame) in OK, while Austrian Niklas Schaufler (KR/Iame) won the OK-Junior class ahead of Swede Elliot Kaczynski (Tony Kart/Vortex) and Brazilian Enzo Nienkotter (CRG/TM).

In France, the magnificent Varennes-sur-Allier circuit hosted the last FFSA Karting Sprint event. Jean Nomblot (Sodi/TM) won the French KZ2 Championship ahead of Nicolas Masle (Birel ART/TM) and Yohan Soguel (Oberon/TM). Pierre Bourgeois (Birel ART/TM) won the KZ2 Master 30+ category ahead of Nelson Bondier (Birel ART/TM) and Paul David (Birel ART/TM). Lastly, the KZ2 Gentleman for drivers aged 45 and over eluded Emmanuel Ducrot (Sodi/TM), who was penalised for an early start. Yan Vuillermoz (Birel ART/TM) took his second crown ahead of Sébastien Leder (Sodi/TM) and Brice de Gaye (CRG/TM).

The FFSA continued its experiment of renting engines and drawing lots at each round of the French National Championship. Thanks to the remarkable performance of Rotax France, the 90 drivers competed in extremely close races. Hugo Martiniello (CRG/Rotax) finally took the crown ahead of Thomas Pradier (CRG/Rotax) and Walter Schulz (OTK/Rotax).

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