High Stakes at Laval

The positions in the lead of the French Championship are so tight that there is still great uncertainty in the three categories before the GPO of Laval – the closing meeting of the 2012 season – that will be decisive for the championship titles, all the more so because points will be worth double for the drivers’ standings in Mayenne during the two racing days. Moreover, the hierarchy established at the beginning of the year has appeared less solid over the last few meetings, with the emergence of serious outsiders. KZ 125 & KZ 125 Gentleman drivers will join the party at Beausoleil to compete at their French Cup event on this highly technical circuit.

In theory, a driver in particularly good form, winning everything in his class, could score up to 560 points at Laval, instead of the usual 280 points. Although such a result is not within everyone’s grasp, it is evident that the gains possible during this meeting could completely change the race to the titles by expanding the list of candidates beyond the top 10, and even more in KF3. With such a high stake, races could turn out to be tougher than ever during this final event of the French Championship.

Paolo Besancenez (Sodi/Parilla) – whose leadership position in KF3 was taken over by Gabriel Aubry (Birel/TM) – is determined to take advantage of this opportunity to straighten things out, despite young Aubry’s impressive form. The Briton Callum Ilott (Zanardi/Parilla) seems to have quickly learned the rules of the game of the French competition and is confident enough to join the battle with solid arguments. François Bécamel (Kosmic/Parilla), who is third in the provisional standings, is progressing steadily after a very successful meeting in Normandy. Arthur Lehouck (Sodi/Parilla) is one of the emerging talents, which include a group of drivers who would like to conclude their season on a high note with a victory or a podium: Elpitiya, Raspatelli, De Leval, Darras, Demarque, Bollier, Lessennes, Bonduel, among others.

A priori, the KF2 title will be most likely a thing among the first four drivers of the provisional standings who have battled hard since the first GPO at Varennes. The youngest among them, Paul Boutonnet (Tony Kart/Parilla), could be crowned on his first year in this class, just as Valentin Moineault (Tony Kart/Vortex) who, though not always very lucky, has never lost contact with his rivals. Victor Compère (Kosmic/Vortex) has been sitting in the lead pack since the Angerville meeting, while Sébastien Bailly (Swiss Hutless/TM) is back in the race behind the wheel of an increasingly competitive kart. Outgoing champion Pascal Belmaaziz (DR/Vortex) could take this chance to move up the standings, while his team mate Nicolas Gonzalès will try to stir things up at the front. Anthoine Hubert (Tony Kart/Vortex) will be back in the GPO to reinforce his former team when there are less than two weeks to go to his important U18 World Championship meeting in Bahrain.

There will be fewer drivers fighting for the title in KZ2. Maxime Roy (Tony KartTM) is still the leader, but the young driver Nolan Mantione (Birel/TM) has been doing pretty well in the last few races. However, Charles Fiault (Sodi/Maxter) might have the best cards to win at Laval.

The French Cup for KZ 125 is back in the federal calendar with over 60 entrants, more than half of whom in the “Gentlemen” class of 32 and over years of age.
The two 2012 French champions, Vincent Fontenille (CRG/TM) with the Juniors and Yannick Savard (Birel/Maxter) with the Seniors, will be the pacesetters of the event, looking for a prestigious double success against a bunch of excellent drivers such as Emilien Grosso (Tony Kart/TM), Nicolas Roi-Sans-Sac (PCR/TM), and Thierry Lolmède (Birel/TM) on the one hand, and Erwan Boisnard (Tony Kart/TM), Thomas Bailly (Tony Kart/Maxter), Laurent Dziadus (Alpha/TM), and Enzo Brucoli (Tony Kart/TM), on the other, just to mention a few names.