Revelatory Qualifying at Kristianstad

The final 2024 round of the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship – OK & Junior and the FIA Karting Academy Trophy got underway on Friday afternoon, 2nd August, with Qualifying giving an initial indication of the talent at work. Two drivers from private teams shone, with Jimmy Hélias (FRA) taking pole position in OK and Dries Van Langendonck (BEL) putting in a remarkable performance in OK-Junior. Dan Allemann (CHE) dominated for the second time in the Academy class.

238 drivers took part in Qualifying, a high number in line with expectations, with 56 Wild Cards entered for this event only. 56 nations were represented from all five continents. The weather was perfect on the Åsum Ring, with a dry track, sunshine and pleasant temperatures of around 25°. The Maxxis tyres performed as well as usual in the initial phase. The Kristianstad lap records were broken in all three categories.

OK: Hélias makes his mark

Jimmy Hélias (FRA) made the difference by taking pole position more than 1.5 tenths ahead of his direct rival in the second session. In the rankings for the three sessions combined, the top three were separated by less than three hundredths of a second. Hélias, from the VictoryLane team, was credited with the fastest time of 48”729. Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL) was second by 21 thousandths and Jindrich Pesl (CZE) third by 24 thousandths. The provisional Championship leader Joe Turney (GBR) was ninth in an exercise he doesn’t really enjoy. Second in the Championship, Gabriel Gomez (ITA) secured fourth place in Qualifying, while third-placed Matheus Morgatto (BRA) was a little further back in 26th place. The return to OK for the two factory KZ drivers was not easy, with Pedro Hiltbrand Aguilar (ESP) in 40th place and Tom Leuillet (FRA) in 43rd.

Top six OK Qualifying
1- Jimmy Hélias (FRA – KR / IAME / Maxxis)
2- Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL – KR / IAME / Maxxis)
3- Jindrich Pesl (CZE – CRG / TM Kart / Maxxis)
4- Gabriel Gomez (ITA – CRG / IAME / Maxxis)
5- Fionn Mclaughlin (IRL – KR / IAME / Maxxis)
6- Dmitry Matveev ( KR / IAME / Maxxis)

Superb Junior pole position for Van Langendonck

Firmly established at the top of the provisional Championship standings, Dries Van Langendonck (BEL) couldn’t have hoped for a better start. He achieved a brilliant pole position with 49”910 and a lead of more than two tenths of a second, his advantage even rising to more than three tenths over his direct rival in the first session. Noah Baglin (GBR) took an interesting 2nd place at the front of the third session, while Manuel Miguez (ESP) appeared at the top of the results for the first time with his fastest time in the second session. With his 45th position, Iacopo Martinese (ITA) will no doubt find it difficult to defend his second position in the Championship against Roman Kamyab (GBR) 20th in Qualifying and above all Christian Costoya (ESP) 13th in these tests.

Top six Junior Qualifying
1- Dries van Langendonck (BEL – Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis)
2- Noah Baglin (GBR – KR / IAME / Maxxis)
3- Manuel Miguez (ESP – CRG / IAME / Maxxis)
4- Archie Lovatt (GBR – Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis)
5- Dean Hoogendoorn (NLD – KR / IAME / Maxxis)
6- Niklas Schaufler (AUT – KR / IAME / Maxxis)

Academy Trophy: promising start for Allemann
In a faster second session, Dan Allemann (CHE) played his cards perfectly to take pole position with a time of 51”017, 82 thousandths behind his closest rival. Gilles Herman (BEL), the provisional leader of the Trophy and also of the second timed session, lost over three tenths of a second. Jakub Gasparovic (SVK), second in the title race, was only 31st in Qualifying, with third-placed Wian Boshoff (ZAF) 26th.

Top six Academy Qualifying
1- Dan Allemann (CHE)
2- Gilles Herman (BEL)
3- Nojus Stasionis (LTU)
4- Ivonn Simeonova (AUT)
5- Fedrick Flood-Engebretsen (NOR)
6- Turner Brown (USA)

Provisional programme for the Kristianstad event

Saturday 3rd August
08:00 – 09:39: Warm-up
09:50 – 18:450: Qualifying Heats

Sunday 4th August
08:30 – 09:55: Warm-up
10:05 – 10:40: Academy Qualifying Heats
10:45 – 12:20pm: OK and OK-Junior Super Heats
13:35 – 16:35: Finals

The Kristianstad event can be followed on the official FIA Karting Championship app for mobile devices and on the www.fiakarting.com website.

FIA Karting – Press Release / Photo © KSP