The Kosmic goes into orbit

Founded in the Nineties by Italian factory Tony Kart, Kosmic has become a star name on the international karting scene, with a presence all over the world. Race support is managed by the Maréchal Motorsport team, known for the quality of their technicians and careful preparation. Maréchal possesses an impressive record including several world championship titles and numerous victories in international, national and regional races.

After notching up excellent results over the last two seasons, notably with Marco Ardigo in 2004 and Jérémy Iglesias in 2005, the team led by Olivier Maréchal was quickly off the mark for a heavy schedule of racing in 2006 : Winter Cup, Andrea Margutti Trophy, Belgian, Italian and French championships !
“We have worked with Tony Kart for many years, says Olivier Maréchal, but our partnership has ramped up to a new level since Roberto Robazzi decided to allow us to represent Kosmic. Today we benefit from the full might of the ultramodern Italian factory’s technology and technical support. The Kosmic and the Tony are like cousins. From the moment we started using the new chassis T11, which has recently obtained its CIK/FIA certification, I knew we would be well-equipped for this season The factory has made all the right choices in terms of tubes, frame design and spare parts. With excellent engines from Vortex, we now have a truly competitive machine”.

Out on the track, the drivers were soon able to confirm these first impressions. Frenchman Jérémy Iglesias was in the lead in the Winter Cup in Lonato and in the Andrea Margutti Trophy in Parma. Few days later, Benjamin Bailly offered a splendid victory to the Kosmic team. In the opening race of the French Championship season which took place in Angerville, Bailly drove a very intelligent race with his Kosmic-Vortex to hold off the pack in ICA. Remaining faithful to the team that had helped him win the ‘best rookie’ crown and overall 4th position in 2005, the young Belgian has also taken charge of matters in this year’s championships. “I’ve been looking forward to this victory ! My thanks go to the team for preparing such a great mount”, said the winner of the day.

Lapping in much the same time as his team-mate, Antony Tardieu was also in the leading pack that crossed the line within two seconds of the winner. After winning 5th place in this race, Antony will be itching to do better in the next race.
Kosmic Team has taken on Darren Bressaglia from Luxembourg to drive in Formula A in 2006. “I started the weekend well by finishing 3rd in my first heat, rued Darren, but at Angerville the Vega’s tyres were really flying and I had a tough job keeping up with them on my Bridgestones”.

Olivier Maréchal’s policy has always been to make sure its drivers develop in a highly professional environment. The team manager and his technicians have a close-knit team that is always on hand to coach young drivers so that they progress quickly. Inexperienced youngsters like Sébastien Bailly (Junior) and Ronnie Latinne (ICA) will benefit from this support and are expected to move quickly up through the ranks. Besides, Latinne came 6th and 4th in the first two heats of the Belgian Championship which took place in Mariembourg and Genk.

Just one week after his success in Angerville, Benjamin Bailly got off to a flying start in the highly competitive “Open Masters” Italian Championship, taking 2nd place on the podium in the first ICA race in La Conca. After only recently joining the Kosmic team, Englishman James Calado made a brilliant Formula A debut. The young reigning European ICA 2005 champion led home a top-class field for the category in his Kosmic-Vortex, a promising result just one month ahead of the European Championships which is due to take place on the same circuit in the south of Italy.