Heading West for GPO Resumption

After a long summer break, the GPOs will resume in Normandy this weekend, on the circuit of Grand Ouest, in the city of the Rallycross. Though not decisive, the 4th of the five 2012 meetings will be one of the major events of the French season, thanks to the technical layout of the Essay circuit and to the quality label associated to the organisation by K61 Club managed by Claude Gripon. And, icing on the cake, the French Championship of the “Nationale” category will crown its winner at the end of the Orne competition.

The previous round of the French karting championships, held at Ostricourt in mid-July, had revealed the growing effectiveness of new talents vs. the top names of the three categories competing. The Essay GPO; with the reactions of experienced drivers and the confirmation of emerging talents, could reserve some nice surprises this start of fall, hopefully with the help of good weather.

The young Paul Boutonnet (Tony Kart/Parilla) – who is new leader of KF2 provisional classification – has staked all on the French Championship and will come to the Essay GPO very well trained, with the ambition of substantially improving his lead before the final meeting. Pascal Belmaaziz (DR/Vortex), who is highly motivated after a season shortened by an injury, is hungry for races and results to mark his return among the leaders. But the battle for leadership will also involve Valentin Moineault (Tony Kart/Vortex), who showed some impressive performances during the World Cup in Spain, as well as the Belgian driver Sébastien Bailly (Swiss Hutless/TM), who has not forgotten that in 2007 he started his winning season in KF3 right there. Rémy Deguffroy (Tony Kart/Vortex), Victor Compère (Kosmic/Vortex), Kenny Marquès (Kosmic/Vortex), and Nicolas Gonzalès (DR/Vortex) are other protagonists of the category.

In KF3, 13-15 year old drivers are used to offering an exciting show, full of twists and turns. Paolo Besancenez (Sodi/Parilla), who entered the World top 10 at Zuera last week, is the favourite and has a comfortable lead in the Championship which he wishes to improve further. There is a very tight battle for second place between the Belgian Romain De Leval (Kosmic/Vortex), Arthur Lehouck (Sodi/Parilla), and Gabriel Aubry (Birel/TM), one of the new talents of the World Cup. But there is no shortage of outsiders either, with Bryan Elpitiya (Zanardi/Parilla) who is close to the international elite, an increasingly effective Julien Darras (Tony Kart/Parilla), and Valentin Naud (Kosmic/Parilla) in the best of shape. The presence of top drivers such as the Briton Callum Ilott (Zanardi/Parilla) will definitely contribute to enhance the value of the competition.

Though this year KZ2 drivers are fewer than their younger counterparts, some of them will take the opportunity of the Essay meeting to score as many Championship points as possible and look to the end of the season from a position of confidence. It is virtually impossible to make predictions before seeing what these drivers can do on the track.

Nationale drivers will compete for the title in Normandy, during the last of the three meetings in the federal calendar. A close battle is expected between Lucas Brion (Kosmic) and Antoine Nectoux (FA Kart), who are currently separated by only 4 points at the top of the classification. But thanks to the generous number of points available, chances are still there for many contenders, in particular Pierre Frédéric Herpin (Kosmic), Joffrey Bourhis (Intrepid), Mathias Vaison (Tony Kart), Anthony Fiota (Intrepid), Thomas Laurent (Tony Kart), and Enzo Felicioni (Tony Kart), just to mention the first 10 of them.