Vroom international december 2017 avxhm se by Dinh Tien Dung

S P E C I A L E PA L M A R E S PA O L O D E C O N T O D R I V E R O F T H E Y E A R

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INTERNATIONAL

KARTING

NEW HOMOLOGATIONS

Time for Cik-Fia homologations for the next three years: it’s the chassis and accessory’s turn 2018. Here we are giving you a preview of next year’s innovation (part 1)

Grand Finals

Exciting races decided on the last lap were seen at the 18th edition of the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimao. To be continued... TRACK TEST DR1 AND DR7 AXLES

N. 198 DECEMBER 2017 € 5.00 (ITALY ONLY)

2017

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CRG ROAD REBEL 2017 KZ WORLD CHAMPION WITH PAOLO DE CONTO

14/09/17 16:00

ZOOM DIRECT DRIVE E NG INE E VOLUTION/PART II

N. 196 OCTOBER 2017 € 5.00 (ITALY ONLY)

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WORLD CHAMPS

€ 62 € 93 € 104

CIK-FIA World Champions are: Paolo De Conto KZ (CRG-Tm), Danny Keirle OK (Zanardi-Parilla), Dexter Patterson OKJ (Esprit-Tm) and Alex Irlando (Sodikart-Tm) wins the International KZ2 Super Cup

Ikart DANIEL RICCIARDO / CLAUDIO FLENGHI / RONNIE QUINTARELLI / JAMES GEIDEL

N. 185 NOVEMBER 2016 € 5.00

KARTING

CLOSE UP

20th ANNIVERSARY FOR XERAMIC KART LUBRICANTS

INTERNATIONAL

KARTING

USA AND CANADA

VINTAGE THE BIG ONE 2016 / TERRY FULLERTON CLOSE UP TONY KART & FERRARI DRIVER ACADEMY

INTERNATIONAL

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EUROPE

VINTAGE THE BIG ONE 2017

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TALKING TO KAROL BASZ HELMADE THE NEW VROOM’S HELMET DESIGN PARTNER

TALKING TO

BRP-ROTAX MANAGEMENT THOMAS UHR, PETER OELSINGER AND MR. HELMUT VOGLSAM

REST OF THE WORLD

KART SHOW

CLOSE UP MODENA ENGINES BY DANILO ROSSI

The IKA Offenbach Kart Show at its 25th edition is a great success for karting fans and all those involved in karting throughout the world. Once again it satisfied the public even more than satisfying the manufacturers’ needs. ELECTRIC KARTING NEITHER CYLINDERS NOR PISTONS

PHOTO MEDIA4U

X-RAY TM ENGINES "SERIE 10"

TR ACK TEST CRG/BRIGGS & STR AT TON

SPECIAL RACING IN NORTH AMERICA / TONY KART NEWCOMERS

ZOOM PFI INTERNATIONAL KARTING AUSTRALIA RACE FLORIDA WINTER TOUR DUBAI O PLATE ROTAX ASIA INVITATIONAL RACE

SPECIAL MAX VERSTAPPEN THE YOUNGEST DRIVER TO WIN F1

BRIGHT SPOTLIGHT FOR MAVLANOV For the first time in 17 years a Russian takes home the Senior Max title at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals held in Italy. The Rotax format has once again underlined its success in having a preparatory function.

N. 180

NOVEMBER 2017 € 5.00 (ITALY ONLY)

ROK CUP INTERNATIONAL FINAL RECORD ENTRIES

INTERNATIONAL

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HOW THINGS STAND FOR THE NEW DIRECT DRIVE CLASS

WICKED

TELEME...TRICKS DATA ANALYSIS SOFTWARE

N. 177 KARTING

WWW.VROOMKART.COM

INTERNATIONAL

TRACK TEST VORTEX DDS AND RKZ

RECLAMING DRIVE

ELECTRIC KART PART 4

HERE COMES THE CHAMPIONSHIP

CLOSE UP

WINTER LEISURE FOR F1 DRIVERS VETTEL, GUTIERREZ AND PEREZ STILL HAVE FUN ON KARTS

ANNUALVINTAGE KART SHOW

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KARTING

WHAT A SUCCESS! MORE THAN 400 DRIVERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR THE ROK CUP INTERNATIONAL FINAL

MARCH 2016 € 5.00

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KARTING

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PREVIEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN BAHRAIN SPECIAL KZ LOVERS

JUNE 2016 € 5.00

N. 197

TA L K IN G T O PA O L O D E C O N T O / D I E G O L A RO Q U E

Fantastic!

TRACK TEST TELEMETRY 60 MINI

TELEME... TRICKS

DRIVER PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS PT.2

TECHNICAL SIDE

THE CIK FIA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IS CONFIRMING TO BE ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING IN THE HISTORY OF KARTING. After Hajek’s win (Kosmic/Vortex) in Zuera

OFF THE CUFF

VINTAGE

the KZ final is expected to be breathtaking thanks to Ardigò, Hajek and Iglesias being very close. Also the European championship of the new born OK class is more surprising than ever. In Zuera, the final won by Karol Basz (Kosmic/Vortex) has lived memorable moments. The potential on the track at the moment is really fantastic. We’re going to see some incredible things are in store!

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LEON RIPPY

LEGENDARY KARTS MASSIMILIANO ORSINI’S 1995 SWISS HUTLESS

MARTA GARCIA / BREANNA MORRIS

THE SUCCESS OF VIDEOGAMES

MOMENTS OF GLORY

N. 190 APRIL 2017 € 5.00 (ITALY ONLY)

SPECIAL MECHANIC FOR A DAY

Girl Power: Madeline Steward & Rianna O’Meara-Hunt

RUBENS BARRICHELLO EMERSON FITTIPALDI RICCARDO & LORENZO PATRESE

Gallery: Historic Passion / Close Up: Germany - Portugal

Vintage: iconic karts / On the technical side: the exhaust - part II

TELEMETRICKS: Thermocouple and values part II Gift card

SPECIAL LOOKING TO THE FUTURE #2

MARCH 2017 € 5.00

R AT H M A N N X T E R M I N AT O R / W O R L D C H A M P I O N 19 6 0

ADVICE FOR KART DRIVERS Changing tyre tools

LEGENDARY KARTS 2001 Kosmic T4

KARTING PHOTO: LORENZO MORO

INTERNATIONAL

KARTING

Ikart

N. 189

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THE WINTER CUP IS A GODSEND. THE NEW ENGINES DRAW ALL THE ATTENTION AT RENOVATED TRACK IN LONATO. IT'S VORTEX DOMAIN AS THEY CONQUER KZ2, OK AND OK JUNIOR PODIUMS. MARCO ARDIGÒ LEAVES HIS MARK WITH A FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE. KZ WHAT A SHOW!

TALKING TO Nyck De Vries

TM KZ10C

ON THE TECHNICAL SIDE Muffler - Part I RACE Florida Winter Tour Australian Karting Championship Rotax MAX NZ

X-RAY

We tested the last evolution of the 125 TM shifter engine, the KZ10c, on the track

ZOOM Kristianstad

22 nd WINTER CUP

Travisanutto OK!

ROTAX FR 125 MAX EVO

X-RAY

GARAGE Talking about chassis

PHOTO: D. LORENZINI LORETI STUDIO BONAGA

PHOTO: D. PASTANELLA

The anti-collision bumper as ruled by CIK-FIA is a problem and not a solution

After the duration test, we took it a part to check if there was any wear inside

Rotax MAX Festival Japan Tickets awarded

CLOSE UP GEORGE RUSSEL XVI EASYKART & KGP INTERNATIONAL GRAND FINALS A CASTELLETTO

Soft evolution

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Lorenzo Travisanutto assisted by Dino Chiesa takes home the Winter Cup as the best OK driver of the moment. After what we saw in KZ and in OK Junior, the fight for CIK-FIA titles is going to be a great success with lots of excitement

VINTAGE VINTAGE KARTING ASSOCIATION REUNION

VROOMKART.COM

WE TESTED THE TYRES FOR THE ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE, THE ONES USED IN 2016 AND THE NEW 2017 MODEL: THE MOJO D2 AND D3

Contents DECEMBER 2017 / N. 198 COLUMNS

8 MONDOKART

72 VINTAGE 76 LEGENDARY KARTS 89 GALLERY 97 2018 INTERNATIONAL RACING CALENDAR

CLOSE UP 16 CHINA 20 USA

28 42

TALKING TO

24 AMNA AL QUBAISI 38 PETER ÖLSINGER

SPECIAL

52 NEW HOMOLOGATED CHASSIS 78 PALMARES 2017

RACE REPORTS

28 ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE GRAND FINALS – KARTODROMO INT. DO ALGARVE 42 SKUSA! SUPERNATIONALS 21 – LAS VEGAS 48 BNL GOLDEN TROPHY - GENK

TRACK TEST

64 WINTER TEST - DR1 AND DR7 AXLES

4 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

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Change YOUR way of perceiving THE RENTAL KART Offer your customers a higher driving experience and the opportunity of taking part to the Rental Kart World Contest

CRG CENTURION has the CE safety and quality certification

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21/06/17 18:35

OKKART Srl Registered office: Via Mozart, 50 - 04011 Aprilia (Italy) info@vroom.it - www.vroom.it Giuliano Ciucci Giuliani (Editor in chief) cggiuliano@vroom.it FABINA GAVILLUCCI (Executive editor) fgavillucci@vroom.it WALTER GUCCI wgucci@vroom.it ALESSANDRO ROCA aroca@vroom.it MARIA VERRENGIA mverrengia@vroom.it SPECIAL COLUMNS Maurizio Voltini CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE BRP-Rotax Press Office, G. Davidson, C. McCarthy, M. Gonzalez, M. Melis, L. Moro, Officineinprogress, OTK&MC, D. Parravano, RGMMC Press Office, F. Weir. SUBSCRIPTIONS info@vroom.it ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION Europe 62 Euro USA, Canada 93 Euro Rest of the world 104 Euro BACKDATED ISSUES: 5 Euro per copy PRINTERS: GMG GRAFICA srl via Anagnina, 361 - 00188 Roma - Italy on behalf of Grafiche Professionali via Sequals, 4 - 00188 Roma - Italy Registered at Law-court in Latina N°714 date: 19.10.2000 © Copyright 2000 – all rights reserved. RESPONSIBILITY: Unauthorized repro-

duction wholly or in part of texts and graphic material and translations of the same is forbidden unless prior authorisation has been given by publisher. All reports and illustrations received as contributions by the publisher will not be returned even if these are not published, and the magazine assumes no responsibility for their safety, even in case of rare examples. Neither dvoes the magazine assume any responsibility for articles published therein or any errors contained. All articles published are without patent right; furthermore articles bearing a registered trade mark will be used at contributors risk.

6 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

Cik-Fia OKJ WORLD CHAMPION 2017

Exprit Noesis S

expritkart.com EXPRIT KART by OTK kart Group

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Mondokart NEWS & PREVIEWS

X30 LANDS IN SRI LANKA Sri Lanka to host X30 Asia Cup on new game-changing circuit

OFFICIAL: RGMMC NEW CIK-FIA PROMOTER FROM 2018-2020 THE FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT LINKING WSK PROMOTION TO CIK-FIA AS PROMOTER OF ITS COMPETITIONS EXPIRED AT THE END OF 2017.

The FIA has worked extensively with the candidates who responded to its invitation to tender before selecting RGMMC Group for the three seasons to come. This choice has been validated by the Senate and the Members of the FIA World Motor Sport Council. RGMMC Group therefore becomes the Official Promoter of the CIK-FIA European and World Championships from 2018 to 2020 (with the exception of Superkart). Based in Switzerland, RGMMC Group is renowned for the extensive experience of its owner Roland Geidel, its President James Geidel and the team which has been around for many years. In addition, CIK-FIA would like to warmly thank Luca De Donno and the entire WSK Promotion team for their excellent work over the past five years. This effective collaboration has allowed the CIK-FIA Competitions to achieve a very high standard of organisation.

Long straights. High speed sweepers. Insane cambers and extreme elevation changes. Nürburgring’s Nordschleife? No, but it might as well be. Welcome to Sri Lanka Karting Circuit (SLKC), a track built for one purpose – to offer drivers a karting experience on a whole new level. No expense has been spared in the construction of this world class facility – the circuit comes complete with a restaurant, swimming pool, and air rifle range. But the star of the show will always be the circuit. At 1,216 metres long, the circuit boasts downhill straights leading into sharply banked corners, designed to devour you on entry and spit you out at the other end.

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SLKC is a challenge every karter should dream to conquer. When it is complete, it will be a monument to passion and a contribution to the global karting community. In the meantime, construction crews scramble round the clock to meet their completion deadline of 5th December 2017. Just a month after completion, the circuit will make history for Sri Lanka – SLKC will play host to X30 Asia Cup on 13th and 14th January 2018, the country’s first ever internationally inscribed race. The race will run a gamut of categories: Cadet, Junior, Senior, Master, and Veteran. To guarantee a great show, organisers and promoters have bundled

together a trove of benefits: Entry to IAME International Final 2018 for winners in every category US$500 cash allowance per driver 5D4N sponsored accommodation at the 4-star Avani Kalutara beach resort Complimentary airport transfers Complimentary shuttle bus service Heavily subsidised shipping arrangements X30 Asia Cup will be held on 13-14 January 2018 at Sri Lanka Karting Circuit and it will be the first appointment of IAME events in SouthEast Asia. You can find the overall calendar at the end of the issue. More information available on the official website www.x30sea.com.

The

Birel ART S9 series.

L I N E

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08/11/17 10:33

Mondokart NEWS & PREVIEWS HIGH TECHNOLOGY, FAIR RACES ADVANCED CYLINDER MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY FOR ROTAX 125 MAX AND ROTAX 125 MAX DD2 ENGINES SETS NEW STANDARDS IN ENGINE PARITY.

Alex Irlando is the new FIA Central European Zone 2017 “Talent of the Year”

After the International KZ2 Super Cup title win the driver from Locorotondo takes home the 2017 FIA Central European Zone “Talent of the Year” award. The 2017 season seems to be endless for the Italian driver: after the great performance in Las Vegas it comes the 2017 FIA Central European Zone “Talent of the Year” award and he is the first Italian driver to win this title. “It was an amazing season, surely the best of my career. After the KZ2 world title, the podium in Le Mans and the great race in Las Vegas it comes the 2017 “Talent of the Year” title! I knew that I was up for it, but having the official statement is simply fantastic!” commented the 17-year old Alex Irlando. Sodikart’s driver will attend the prize giving ceremony that will be held in Vienna at the Hilton hotel on Saturday December 16th where he will receive the prize directly from FIA President Jean Todt. The “Talent of the year” award is given by the Board of the CEZ countries that every year decide to award extraordinary performance of two young drivers from the CEZ countries. The eligible drivers must be maximum 25-year old during the year in question and they are awarded for the results gained in FIA competitions. The ASNs send the applications for their candidates to the office of CEZ-President and following the proposal for the awards, these will be circulated to all ASNs for approval. The “Central European Zone” is recognized by the article 23-B-4 of the CIKFIA Statutes the World Council. The Zone is be made up of the following countries: Albania, Austria, BosniaHerzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and Slovakia. For more information on anything related to Alex Irlando, please visit www.alexirlando.com.

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The same cylinder manufacturing technology successfully applied to the Rotax 125 Junior MAX engine during the 2017 racing season also proved positive for the engine parity during the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals 2017 in the Rotax 125 MAX and 125 MAX DD2 classes. Since the introduction of the advanced technology for the Rotax Micro MAX, Mini MAX and Junior MAX cylinders, the market has demanded more equality on all Rotax karting engines. In order to meet customer requirements, this advanced cylinder technology is now used for the entire Rotax MAX engine series. The Grand Finals were the perfect venue to prove the new setup. More than 50 drivers qualified in each class within a second, making the races closer than ever. The technical specifications of the cylinders remain unchanged but the digitally printed, single piece sand cores in combination with an additional Computer Numeric Control (CNC) of specific ports brings parity to the next level. BRP-Rotax is convinced that the introduction of this new manufacturing technology is another important step towards equal opportunities and customer satisfaction. Limited Time Introductory Offer – 50% off the regular 2018 retail price – please contact your Rotax service center/dealer for details and availability. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION VISIT: WWW.ROTAX-KART.COM

Mondokart NEWS & PREVIEWS

YOUNG MOTORSPORT TALENTS RACING INTO THE FUTURE World’s first all-electric kart championship to be launched in Germany in 2018

Within the framework of the German Kart-Championship (DKM) an important step into the future will be made in the racing season 2018: the first German E-Kart-Championship (DEKM) marks a milestone in the development of racing sport when it comes to more sustainability and innovation. Five racing events between May and September 2018 will offer European junior racing talents the possibility to show their potential participating in a technically advanced and progressive championship, which so far is unique, as being the first of its kind worldwide. Under the flag of the German Motor Sports Association (DMSB), the German E-Kart-Championship for young racing talents from age 15 will be held on the most modern race tracks in 2018. Dr. Gerd Ennser, member of the DMSB’s Executive Committee for Automobile Sport: “Electric powertrains are becoming increasingly important in national as well as international motorsports. It was thus a logical consequence for the DMSB to create a series with e-karts for the youngest racing talents in order to prepare the next generation of racers for this future-oriented technology.” “Within the FIA we aim to continue expanding alternative powertrains in motorsports. It is now in Germany, where the worldwide green light has been given for an electric future also in international young talent racing”, states Prof. Dr.-Ing. Burkhard Göschel, President of the Electric and New Energies Championships Commission. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND PERFORMANCE IN FOCUS Tyres, weight of the E-Karts and test days will be fixed before the races to ensure equal conditions for every driver and to establish a sustainable racing series. The high performance racing e-kart Rotax THUNDeR has a maximum acceleration from 0-100 km/h in 3.5. sec and reaches a top speed of 130 km/h. The Rotax THUNDeR consists of a Rotax ePowerpack, Sodi Sigma DD2 chassis and Vega tyres. “BRP-Rotax is powering the best possible experience for drivers, particularly with our ingenious e-karts. Nothing dissuades you from your racing 12 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

line – you can fully focus on the braking and steering point for the ultimate acceleration. This is real racing - modern and completely emissions-free. We are looking forward to cooperating with prestigious partners like FIA, Porsche and DMSB,” said Thomas Uhr, General Manager BRP-Rotax and Vice President Powertrain BRP and R&D /Operations Lynx. The central fielding of all vehicles will create identical starting conditions for all young racing talents and will cushion any economic disadvantages in the cost intensive motorsports, thus putting the focus on the racing skills. SUPPORT THROUGH PORSCHE MOTORSPORT “We are pioneers in the field of electrified racing. The Porsche 911 GT3R hybrid and the 919 hybrid are very successful witnesses to this work”, says Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, head of motor sports at Porsche. “Thus it is only consequent to support young talent at the grass-roots level too. DEKM is a contemporary and future-oriented opportunity for us to do so.” Porsche Motorsport is going to support the best driver of the German E-Kart- Championship throughout the following year with a number of training programs. “Supporting young talents has a long tradition at Porsche- Motorsport and has already produced a lot of professional race drivers and even several world champions. We therefore are very glad to also be able to pass our know-how onto the next generation of aspiring race talents”, adds Dr. Walliser. DEKRA EXPERIENCE ALSO DEMANDED FOR NEW DRIVE CONCEPTS The testing and certification organization DEKRA meets the technological challenges in all areas of mobility, which we will be facing to a vast extent in the future. These obviously include alternative drive concepts and their safe application both on the roads as well as on the racetracks. The project DEKM provides an excellent, innovative platform to on the one hand demonstrate and contribute the DEKRA-expertise when it comes to electromobile safety and on

the other hand to make a contribution to supporting young talents in motorsports. DEUTSCHE POST SUPPORTS DEKMTALENTS In addition to their engagement in the DTM as well as in the Formula E, the Deutsche Post, by having created the Speed Academy, is an institution when it comes to promoting young racing talents. The Deutsche Post is going to invite the winners of the DEKM to an interview to present themselves to the jury of the Speed Academy. Drivers, like for example Pascal Wehrlein, Marco Wittmann, Daniel Abt and René Rast have gone through the versatile training program under the eyes of coaches and jurors like Timo Glock, Jens Marquardt, Norbert Haug und Kai Ebel. EXPERIENCED PROMOTER The DEKM will be promoted by the experienced marketing and communications agency IKmedia from Schwaig near Nuremberg, who already have many years of experience in motorsports. CEO Oliver Schielein, being a former race driver himself, is very familiar with the requirements concerning karting: “Back to the roots”, said the marketing expert. “I drove my first races over 35 years ago in a kart myself- back then with a combustion engine, of course- and now I have the opportunity to take part in bringing the karting sport on its path in direction future with the first all-electric championship worldwide.”

y p p ! Ha s y a d i l Ho

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Mondokart NEWS & PREVIEWS 26th Internationale Kart-Ausstellung January 27th-28th 2018 Offenbach Am Main

WE ARE THE KARTING

AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT WITH AN INTERNATIONAL MEDIA PARTNER: VROOM MAGAZINE IS THE NEW MEDIA PARTNER OF THE FAIR AND IT SETS THE SCENE FOR AN INCREDIBLE 26TH EDITION! WORDS: A. ROCA

nce a year, Offenbach-Am-Main becomes the center of karting world thanks to the biggest karting exhibition. Since year 2000, Vroom is the center of karting world thanks to our printed edition and our international network. But what does it happen when two of the main players of karting environment join forces? We’ll discover it next month, but here is a small preview!

ences: Andrea Saccucci, our partner from Officine In Progress, will speak about sensors and telemetry in a speech titled “How to use sensors and data analysis to improve drivers, chassis and engines performance”, while our young tester Ayrton Becherini will talk about videogames during a special conference titled “From games to simulators to real tracks: real and virtual experience in comparison”.

AN EVER-EXPANDING EXHIBITION

EVENTS

It all started in 1993, when the 1st edition of the Internationale Kart-Ausstellung was limited to just a couple of stands for an overall exhibition area of 900 sqm. Since that first edition the most famous karting fair grew up and now it counts an area of 10,000 sqm circa! More than one hundred companies will attend the 2018 edition and some of them will have special discounted prices for the fair, so if you’re looking to spare parts or new chassis/engines for the following season don’t lose the chance to come and grab them!

NOT ONLY PRODUCTS

The karting environment is changing and the importance of knowledge is always catching more attention. For this reason in Offenbach there will not be only stands full of karting related products, but also speeches and conferences. Vroom, as official media partner, will have two confer-

COME AND SAY “HELLO” TO US! Vroom will have its stand in the A2 zone, the one directly collegated to the main entrance. See the map below to be sure to find us!

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10 am 1 pm 7 pm 12 am 1 pm 2 pm 2 pm 6 pm 6 pm 9 am 11 am

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

26.01.2018 DMSB specialized committee Kart DMSB Committee Kart KCD90 general meeting 27.01.2018 Strategie marketingowa z SMS-Timing Marketing strategy with SMS-Timing Fragen und Antworten mit SMS-Timing Information Kart-Historik KKCD/KCD90 Ceremony Kart2000 Ceremony ADAC Kart Masters 2017 28.01.2018 ADAC Kart Masters Team Manager Meeting DKM-organizer Conference DMSB

Conference area 2 (not public) Conference area 2 (not public) Obertshausen Sporteck (public) Conference area 1 (public) Conference area 1 (public) Conference area 1 (public) Conference area 2 (public) Event center/Restaurant Event center/Restaurant Conference area 1 (not public) Conference area 1 (not public)

In addition further companies and federation can schedule meetings. Temporal shift and change in volume are possible, see notice.

CLOSE UP China

DRAGONS FROM CHINA Karting in Asia is growing fast, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s take a look and see how thing stand in the biggest Asian country, the Republic of China Words: A. Roca

CHINESE GUAN YU ZHOU ENTERED IN THE FERRARI DRIVER ACADEMY IN 2014, WHILE HE WAS IN KARTING AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR HE MOVED UP TO F4.

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ccording to the Oriental culture, a dragon represents the yang, a positive part of the soul. Differently to the Western culture where a dragon represents fire, in China and in the East in general, it represents water, rain, something that feeds and doesn’t destroy. Different cultures, different people, different economies… but karting doesn’t change!

IMPORTANT MARKET

Thanks to the size of the country and the number of population, the Chinese market is one of the most important, if not the most important one! How do things stand for karting? Even if Macau is not part of the Chinese republic (in fact it’s a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China), it is the centre of the Chinese motorsport environment: F.3s, GT3s and motorcycles race the fantastic Macau GP on street circuits

in November. At this time of the year, also an important karting event is usually held there: the CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific championship, which unfortunately hasn’t been held this year, so the Republic of China lost its most important karting event. Most racing events held in China are single brand series: Rok, Rotax and X30. Drivers start from these national events and move to the international field through international finals at the end of the year. Five drivers took part in the 2017 Rok International Finals, 2 raced in the 2017 RMCGF and 3 were at Le Mans for the 2017 IAME X30 International Finals. If you consider the size of the country, there aren’t many circuits, but the level of the facilities and the number of drivers who get into the sport is improving year after year, so it looks as though there’s going to be a huge growth within the next few years! Here are some

of the existing circuits: Zhuhai International Karting Circuit Guangdong; Sanshui Forest Kart Track Guangdong Province; Shanghai F.1 Kart World Jiading District; Kartodromo de Macau Macau; Xian Kart Track Shaanxi; Indy Go-Karting Center Xiamen; Zhunmen Kart Track Zhunmen.

The Chinese federation is quite a recent set up compared to federations in other countries, they support the sport, so more and more people are being drawn to karting. How is the Chinese governing body structured? The Administrative Centre of Automobile and Motorcycle Sports (ACAMS) is directly subordinated to the State Sports General Administration of China, and it serves as a permanent administrative body for the Federation of Automobile Sports (FASC) and the Chinese Motor Sports Association (CMSA). It was

F.1 SHOWS THE WAY Mr. Ecclestone got the point and introduced the China GP. It’s held at the fantastic Shanghai International Circuit, which also hosts the FIA World Endurance Championship and other important international events.

BELOW, THE AMAZING SECOND TURN AT THE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, IT’S THE MOST ICONIC TURN OF THE TRACK. RIGHT, FIRST CHINESE DRIVER TO TAKE PART IN AN F1 EVENT

The first, and only, Chinese driver who has taken part in an F1 event is Ma Qing Hua: on September 7th 2012 during the Italian GP in Monza, the Asian driver replaced India’s Narain Karthikeyan in WRT team and he was the first Chinese driver to take part in an F1 event.

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 17

CLOSE UP China

Above, the Zhuhai International Karting Circuit layout. Top, Guan Yu Zhou in 2016 Motopark Team

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founded on February 1st 2002 and is made up of a General Office, the Automobile Sports Department, the Motorcycle Sports Department, Marketing, and the Base & Training Department. ACAMS is mainly involved in organizing, directing and promoting automobile and motorcycling sports in China under the leadership of the State Sports General Administration of China in accordance to the rules and policies of the state. It works to boost the growth and enhancement

of automobile and motorcycle sports, and improve the people’s health organizing races and carrying out a variety of business activities, thus contributing to the development of sports in the country as a whole. The FASC was established in 1994 as a national social organization under the State Sports General Administration of China, it is an affiliate member of the “Federation Internationale de L’Automobile” (FIA). As an independent legal body, it is responsible for managing, supervising, directing and promoting automobile sports in China under the leadership of the State Sports General

sports events staged in the country, so far include the China Rally Championship, the China Touring Car Championship, the China Karting Championship/China Youth Karting Championship, the China Off-Road Championship, the National Rally Sprint Championship and the China Cross-country Rally. What’s missing are opportunities and support for Chinese drivers stepping up to international CIK-FIA championship. Next year, a Chinese driver will step up to OKJ from 60 Mini: Han Ceryu, known as Lightning McQueen. We had a chat with him let’s see what he had to say…

CHINESE DRIVERS ARE STILL MISSING OPPORTUNITIES TO STEP UP TO INTERNATIONAL CIK-FIA CHAMPIONSHIPS Administration of China. The FASC is also the only legal organization in China, which has an exclusive right to supervise the enforcement and popularization of FIA rules and regulations in the country. Automobile

CHINESE NEWCOMERS

Who will be the next Chinese F1 driver? The most accredited is Guan Yu Zhou, Ferrari Driver Academy standard bearer. The apex of his karting career was in 2013 when he won the Rotax MAX Euro Challenge and the Super 1 National Rotax MAX in Junior. In 2015 he moved to F4 with Prema Powerteam and he became vice-champion. In 2015 he stepped to F3 European Championship and this last year, in 2017, he grabbed 8th. We don’t know what Guan Yu is going to do next season, but we know that the Chinese hopes for the future are entrusted to young karter Han Cenyu. European Championship, CIK-FIA World Championship and more If Dino asks me to …” How do you feel about being one of the few Chinese drivers? “I am very proud of being the only Chinese currently involved in international karting. Many people have great expectations and passion for Chinese racing drivers, I’d like to become the second Chinese F1 driver.”

After a good season with Energy Corse in the Mini class, this young driver is going to join Dino Chiesa and his new team Kart Republic in OK Junior class next year. Let’s go over your career: when and how did you start racing in karts? “My father used to race formulas, and the first time I went to the Shanghai International F.1 Circuit I was 2 years old. When I turned 6, my father bought me a Yamaha powered baby karting chassis. I enjoyed the speed, I find it exciting it’s great fun. I loved it and told my father that I wanted to start racing. So, we started looking for a coach driver and Italian SuperGT driver Andrea Caldarelli was the first one: he taught me a lot, and in 2014

after three races in Asia, we came to Italy.” Why did you move to Rome? “Because I know that the best karting drivers in the world are here in Italy. If I want to get to the top, I have to join them, training and racing with them. I’m going to move from Rome to Desenzano in a few months’ time .” What’s your daily routine? How do you train for races? “From Monday to Thursday I go to the school, and I train every afternoon for 2 hours, then I spend all my weekends on track.” How often do you go to Formula Medicine? “Generally 3 or 4 days per month. The first time I went to Formula Medicine I was nine,

I was one of the youngest drivers who was training there. Maybe it’s a record, I don’t know!” Have you already tried the OKJ? If you have, what do you think about it? “Only once for the moment. It is very fast and I find it exciting. I was one of the fastest drivers in the Mini class, I am confident that I’ll be fast in OKJ too.” What do you expect from the next season in OKJ with Kart Republic? “I want to learn and win. Dino is one of the best, if not the best team manager. I’ll have all it takes to win next year.” What races are you going to do? “The WSK, DKM, CIK-FIA

What’s it like to have such a champion like Davide Forè as coach? What aspevcts do you have to improve most? “After I came to Italy, I had two coaches: Davide Forè and Felice Tiene. They are both amazing. Felice taught me lots of things and how to have a fighting spirit, while Davide has taught me how to combine karting and myself to get a further understanding of this motorsport. I was like a sponge and I’ve learnt a lot from them!” What do you hope for your national motorsport? “I hope that karting in China will develop into one of the best like in Italy. I left home very early to learn how to race in Europe, it wasn’t easy for me at that age. I’d like to do for this sport and for my country.”

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 19

CLOSE UP USA

ROK CUP PROMOTION: A NEW BEGINNING

Karting in the United States is about to start the new season without the MAX Speed Group, so Rok Cup Promotion gained series and supporters, while Rotax is looking for the best strategy to regain its full strength. WORDS: A. ROCA

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n March it was announced that Rotax and MAXSpeed Entertainment, the North American distributor and race series promoter for the brand, terminated their business relationship and subsequently, the MAXSpeed organization was dissolved completely. This left many people wondering what the next big engine brand to rise in karting would be, and that answer was quickly given. Vortex and the Rok Cup USA

program swiftly picked up the pieces and began shaping a plan to capitalize on this gap left behind in the industry.

A STEP BACK

To be able to talk about any changing process, one should know where it all started from. So, what was the situation before this “heart-quake”? As you can see from the table below the MAXSpeed Group was the official promoter of

Florida Winter Tour

the Florida Winter Tour, US Open and US Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Nationals. Despite the fact that the Florida Winter Tour was a format for both Rok and Rotax engines, the US Open and the US Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Nationals are only dedicated to Rotax platforms. Full Throttle Karting, in the person of Andy Seesemann, is the event promoter for the Challenge Of the Americas.

For those who don’t know where the FWT comes from, here is a brief history. The Formula Kart Productions Florida Winter Tour, promoted by Bill Wright, was purchased by MAXSpeed Entertainment, led by Richard Boisclair, in August of 2014. The aim being to boost the program giving it more energy, with a new focus and efforts put in to boost the popular winter series. In 2015 the Florida Winter Tour began to take shape, working with tracks throughout the state, it didn’t take long before a schedule was announced along with an new class structure. Forgoing the Formula Kart TaG weekend and striking a deal with OTK/Vortex, the double race weekend format was established, so there was a new format that involved a first weekend dedicated to Rok platforms and a second one dedicated to Rotax engines.

MAXSpeed Group

Florida Winter Tour (Rotax & Rok); US Open (Rotax); US Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Nationals (Rotax)

FULL THROTTLE KARTING: Challenge of The Americas (Rotax) The USA Rok Cup season is made up of three events of the Rok Cup Florida Championship out of four raced within the Florida Winter Tour and another regional championship, the Rok Cup Midwest Championship that is run from June to August. Drivers from both regional championships race at the final national event, which is the USA National Rok Cup Final. Here the National champions will receive a ticket and travel package to the Rok Cup International Final held in Lonato in October. For the Micro, Mini, Junior and Shifter Junior drivers there’s a special stand-alone event called Epcot Challenge, which is held at the Orlando Kart Center at the end of July. That was the structure of these American competitions before the shake, now, let’s see how they have changed…

AMERICAN KARTING IS A CHANGING SCENARIO, LET’S SEE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN 2018

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CLOSE UP USA

NEW STRUCTURE

THE EVENT: MAXSPEED GROUP AND ROTAX GO SEPARATE WAYS

he “Big Bang” of the whole situation was on March 31st when “BRP-Rotax announced the mutually agreed end of the business relationship between BRP-Rotax and MAXSpeed Group, the authorized Rotax distributor in the United States of America and Caribbean, and the interim takeover by SRA Karting, Canada, being effective as from April 12th, 2017”. As rumors circulated and speculations grew, many in the industry saw this coming as an inevitable possibility, especially given the timeline of events leading up to the partnership termination between MAXSpeed and Rotax. Just a week prior to the official statement from Rotax, it was announced that Garrett Potter, former Director of Operations for MAXSpeed, would be transitioning into that same position for Rok Cup Promotions. And just one day before the split was made public, Rok Cup Promotions released an engine trade-in program geared almost exclusively towards Rotax engines. Both of these

moves were a clear indication that there was trouble in the water for Rotax, and that the tide was already beginning to turn to Rok Cup Promotions and the Vortex engine program as the next wave of spec racing for the sport. MAXSpeed has been sole Rotax line distributor in the United States and the Caribbean since 2011. When presented on the American market, Rotax was probably the most popular platform in the country and this led MAXSpeed to win the Distributor of the Year award from BRP-Rotax in their first two years. Richard Boisclair started in 2011 as Distribution and Sales Manager before becoming President the following year. “If the current engine had been the Evo, we wouldn’t be having this situation!”. This statement is really clear and describes the real reason behind this choice perfectly: “It was all a matter of economics. We were lucky to stand alone as only a Rotax importer and weren’t involved in chassis import or race track operation, or any other activi-

Who might be smiling in this situation? OTK Group and Vortex. As the landscape for the North American karting community continues to change, Rok Cup Promotions purchased the rights to the Florida Winter Tour (FWT) series and brand. After the closure of MAXSpeed Group, Rok Cup Promotions officials made the move to purchase the name and existing track agreements to be able to continue the Winter series. "The Rok Cup portion of the Florida Winter Tour has grown leaps and bounds over the past three seasons," explained Garett Potter, Rok Cup Promotions Director of Operations. "We want to keep the momentum going and bring an unparalleled program to the table for the upcoming season. With major plans in the works, the worldwide unified Rok Cup program will have a major presence in the United States in 2018 and beyond." Under the new Rok Cup Promotions ownership, the Florida Winter Tour Rok week will remain unchanged as there are no changes in the 2018 calendar. Florida Winter Tour in the hands of Rok Cup Promotions is a natural transition for the series, given that the Vortex engine package was introduced into the Florida Winter Tour three years ago. With Potter, a seasoned karting veteran and experienced race organizer, now at the helm of the Rok Cup program in the United States, it will be interesting to see how the brand’s growth fares. While they have seen a slow and steady increase in the five years they have been present in US Karting, Potter seems to be taking an aggressive approach to expand their dealer distribution network and secure partnerships with key race series, in particular on the West Coast. They’ve already announced a partnership with West Coast series Challenge of the Americas, previously a Rotax series, for the 2018 season, as well as adding Rok classes to the Sanazaru Games Karting Championship. However, the question of entries looms as Vortex does not currently have any presence in these new territories. Both of the series partnerships piggyback on new distributors being established and engine trade-in programs offered, with the hopes that drivers will have no choice but to trade-in their Rotax engines for Vortex if they want to compete. Rok Cup has also committed to providing dedicated on-track support at all race events to help smooth the transition to the Vortex engine.

ties that could be a conflict with our existing customers, for example PSL or J3; just to name a few. So our cost for operations aren’t affected by other activities. Unfortunately, this business model was not sustainable for MAXSpeed anymore. We had to look for an alternative for the future and, we came up with what I think is the best solution for the time being, and decided that it was the way to continue. My brother Michel Boisclair has been in this industry for the past 23 years, and he has been a Rotax importer for the past 20 years. They already had the infrastructure and experienced team to assist the

US market. I am sure that they will do a good job. To be clear, I am not a partner in the Canadian side of the business” commented Boisclair in an interview with Kart360. At the moment, after the 2017 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals, the Rotax management (interviewed in this issue) has not yet found a solution. They understood that they have to handle this huge market with care because another mistake could have terrible effects on their sales. Anyway the new Rotax engine is great and they, technically speaking, seem to be ready to re-launch their brand in the US market.

WHO SAID SUPERKART USA? Within this contest, there’s another wrench that may possibly be

thrown in: SKUSA and its IAME engine platform. SKUSA is by far the biggest race series on the West Coast, with a huge influence and presence from the club level events to its National SKUSA Pro Tour. And SKUSA is not shying away from its expansion across the United States, either. They made the move to the Midwest two years ago, and established an additional WinterNationals event that is held on two rounds in January and February. Well, what seemed to be a simple business choice for Rotax, one partner instead of another, created a side effect on the whole scene of American karting and not only in the USA…

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The pearl of the Arabian Gulf Amna Al Qubaisi

She started racing pretty late compared to her colleagues, but good results soon arrived: “I really surprised myself! It really came from my passion and I really wanted to do well.” WORDS: A. ROCA

mna’s talent and motivation pushed her out of boundaries: from national trophies in the UAE in Junior MAX to Europe and in particular Italy to compete to the IAME X30 series in Adria, where she was in the top ten. She also raced one of the X30 Euro Series in Wackersdorf in Senior class with Chiesa Corse showing the pace to compete against more experienced drivers at her first participation on these tracks. Where does your passion for racing come from? “My passion for racing came from my dad. He started racing in 2009 in the Porsche Carrera Cup and I’ve been there supporting him alongside my mum and my siblings and we really never thought about racing until he talked about racing on the table and he was telling us about different tracks he has been and meeting different drivers around the world and from then me and my sister started take on this sport. I started when I was thirteen years old in the UAE in Rotax Junior MAX category with Daman Speed Academy. I didn’t have a lot of experience, so from then I started to progress.” You were selected by the Automobile & Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) to represent the UAE at the 2017 GCC Young Driver Academy Programme. What’s that? How did it go? “The GCC Young Driver Academy Programme is an academy where they not just test the drivers’ skills, but they also give them lessons about other topics such as PR, communication and media.

What’s more we drove on a very beautiful track which is the Bahrain International Circuit, they gave us a few tips on how to be calm around the circuit and then they took us to the desert where we tried a rally car. In few words it is an

AMNA WITH HER FATHER AND TEAM overall programme on motorsport. We were 12 drivers around the Middle East and I was the only one female.” You tested the F.4 with Prema: where are you going to race next year? “I’ll be doing the Formula 4 sponsored by Kaspersky Lab in Europe next year. I’m very excited, we tested in Yas

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TALKING TO Amna Al Qubaisi

“To tell the truth, they sponsor the karting academy in the UAE and they’ve seen my talent and gave me the opportunity to step up to F.4 thanks to their support. I’m the first Arab and female Emirati to be sponsored by Kaspersky. That’s how things stand for the moment, I’d go on step by step.”

Marina Circuit. I had a good test, my pace was encouraging thanks to Prema who helped me very much to understand the car and to improve my laps gradually. The Formula 4 compared to the go-kart is a huge step! Everything changes: the braking, the handling of the car, you’ve to be very cautious

THE FLYING GIRL After a few

years of karting, Amna is now ready to step up to formula racing. 26 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

in the cockpit. I did 63 laps and it was definitely a really nice experience.” Tell us something more about the partnership with Kaspersky: they are sponsoring Ferrari and Prema is the main team of the Ferrari Driver Academy… are these only coincidences?

What’s the current situation of motorsport in the Arabian Gulf? “Its growing more and more, a part from Formula one and the Desert Rallies that are stages of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, grassroot sport is progressing very well. We have a lot of drivers now competing, we have the Rotax MAX Challenge and the X30 championships and recenty they introduced the F.4 UAE, so motorsport is growing a lot.” In your opinion, what should be done to improve the current situation? “We have the support of the government through Abu Dhabi Racing which is great. But I believe we need more local companies that invest in motorsport, directly or through sponsorships. I mean, Kaspersky Lab comes from Russia, there will be another sponsors from Italy that are interested to support my career, so what

we need is to see more local companies involved in motorsport!.” What is it like to be a female driver in the UAE? “There’s no many girls taking part in motorsport events at the moment, it’s just me and my sister. The great news is that we’re inspiring a lot of girls: many girls ask me where they can start, which races they should doing and I will be more than happy to give free lessons not just to local girls in the UAE, but to Arabian girls in general who want to start racing. My personal “Hashtag” it’s also a way to push girls into this sport: #DriveLikeAGirl!” What’s your biggest dream? “My biggest dream is the pinnacle of motorsport, the F.1, but to get there you need to be very committed and very passioned on what you’re doing, not just participating in racing, but also fitnesswise, being healthy and focused on your studies, which is an important part of the life. Personally I’m really focused and passioned and I’m really looking forward my F.4 season next year.” Who’s your idol? “No doubts: my dad!”

VROOMKART.COM

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ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE GRAND FINALS KARTODROMO INTERNATIONAL DO ALGARVE, PORTIMAO (P), 11th NOVEMBER 2017

ROTAX ALL-IN!

The 18th edition of the Rotax World Championship finals was held at the “Kartodromo Internacional do Algarve” in Portimao, Portugal. Expectations were high, but they were successfully maintained! TESTO A. ROCA – FOTO CITYFOTO & L. JOSÉ

2017 WINNER

consolidated format for this event that the drivers of the single brand series from Austria were waiting for since last year and has culminated in grand gala with 59 national representatives who got together in the name of sport. This is just a summary of the Rotax MAX

Challenge Grand Finals, now at its 18th edition and still continues to grow. The winners this time were French drivers Iglesias (Micro) and Armand (Mini), Holland’s Van der Helm (Junior) and Britain’s Ward (Senior), Australians Gillis (DD2) and Woolston (DD2 Masters).

Rotax 125 Micro MAX

Rotax 125 Junior MAX

1. Louis Iglesias - France 2. Leon Zelenko - Croatia 3. Ryote Horachi - Japan

1. Tijmen Van Der Helm - Netherlands 1. Cody Gillis - Australia 2. Sami Meguetounif - France 2. Mads Thomsen - Denmark 3. Luca Leistra - Belgium 3. Christian Sorensen - Denmark

Rotax 125 Mini MAX 1. Marcus Amand - France 2. Jamie Day - UAE 3. James Wharton - Australia

Rotax 125 MAX DD2

Rotax 125 MAX

Rotax 125 MAX DD2 Masters

1. Brett Ward - Great Britain 2. Felix Warge - Belgium 3. Jean Nomblat - France

1. Troy Woolston - Australia 2. Antti Ollikainen - Finland 3. Charly Hipp - France

Nations Cup 1. Australia 2. United Kingdom 3. Finland

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ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE GRAND FINALS MICRO MAX

125 MICRO MAX FINAL P N Driver 1 13 Iglesias, Louis 2 9 Zelenko, Leon 3 20 Horachi, Ryota 4 1 Obst, Maksymilian 5 3 Crews, Brent 6 24 Bondarev, Oleksandr 7 22 Koros, Zoltan 8 5 Bassani, Antonella 9 31 Janovskis, Martins 10 33 Bernasconi, Felipe 11 35 Al Azhari, Keanu 12 30 Schmeiss, Moritz 13 15 Oliveira, Joao 14 23 Ambiado, Nicolas 15 4 Madden, Jonathan 16 25 Fujii, Shota 17 10 Van Ruiten, Dani 18 17 Wally, Muhammad 19 2 Krozser, Menyhert 20 16 Paniccia, Marcello 21 19 Malheiro, Adrian 22 34 Borgert, Manuel 23 11 Jeffers, Jack 24 7 Jalava, Aleksi 25 36 Dedecker, Douwe 26 27 Khavalkin, Anatoly 27 18 Pedersen, Mikkel Gaarde 28 21 Kostyna, Rostyslav 29 28 Nazrul Haizal, Adam M. 30 6 Gladysz, Maciej 31 8 Khneisser, Edwin 32 12 Lykos, Nikolaos 33 29 Arnett, Harry

Nat. FRA CRO JPN POL USA UKR SVK BRA LAT ARG UAE GER POR CHI POL JPN NET RSA HUN CAN POR ARG USA FIN BEL RUS DEN UKR MAS POL LIB GRE AUS

Gap 9 Laps + 1.789 + 2.190 + 2.543 + 2.654 + 4.000 + 4.044 + 4.069 + 5.294 + 8.834 + 9.924 + 10.507 + 10.570 + 11.662 + 12.931 + 13.352 + 13.478 + 13.931 + 13.986 + 15.494 + 16.622 + 17.697 + 18.338 + 19.107 + 19.997 + 22.828 + 23.185 + 25.516 + 27.762 + 33.420 + 33.482 + 37.406 -6 R

Al Azhari penalised, Iglesias rejoices After Keanu Al Azhari from the United Arab Emirates let off steam in the free practice, in the official qualifiers it’s Dani Van Ruiten from Holland and Croatian Leon Zelenko who stand out, both of them stopping 1:08.759. Adrian Malheiro from Portugal is third in qualifying, since the first heat it was evident that he knows his home track well when he beats his American rival Brent Crews and Van Ruiten. During heat two, Al Azhari gets his own back and leads on Crews and Malheiro. During the prefinal, on Friday, it’s still Al Azhari who sets the pace with Mahleiro following behind. The two pull away from the group led by Brent that was following behind pulling a 6 second gap. As the race draws to an end, Mahleiro overtakes Al Azhari and gets final pole grid. During a very heat-

ed start the inexperience of these young drivers is evident. Al Azhari is off to an early start and ends up with a 10” penalty, Malheiro is off to a bad start and gets tied up with the group and also Japan’s Horachi is involved in a crash. Despite being among the favourites, the Portuguese driver’s race for final victory is compromised. While Al Azhari makes the most of his “fake” lead, French driver Luis Iglesias, Jeremy’s nephew, first comes through winning a duel against Leon Zelenko and Maksymilian Obst and then manages to grab second. A second place that changes into a win due to penalty given to Al Azhari. A worthy note goes to Horachi’s race, involved in a contact at the start with Malheiro but comes up to get podium place chased by Obst in fourth.

Iglesias with his expert mechanic and Praga official driver, Jeremy. Top, Al Azhari, not aware of his penalty for jumping the start, rejoices as he crosses the line. French driver, Luis Iglesias breathing down his neck.

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MINI MAX

French success Amand doubles

Also in the Mini free practices it was clear to see who the protagonists of this event would be. In heat one, Jamie Day beats Wharton and Amand, with Pierson following in fourth. In heat two, Day overtakes to lead and tries to pull away, but James Wharton catches him and overtakes and goes on to grab win with Russia’s Iakov Sokolov and Josh Pierson following behind. There’s a crash at prefinal start involving the middle group, while Leyton Daniel Fourie from South African Republic leads on Marcus Amand who gets the lead back after a few laps and heads for the chequered flag. Jamie Day catches up with Fourie and overtakes getting front row grid for final start. A grid that Day is unable to make the most of at the lights as he drops back to fourth, while Amand leads ahead of Fourie and Theo Kekati. Day manages to gain places and overtakes Kekati on lap eight and Fourie two laps later. Amand leads on the pack and leaves little chance for his rivals to catch him. So he grabs an unchallenged win and with it the title. Day and a determined James Wharton join him on podium places

ABOVE, A MOMENT OF JOY FOR ANY DRIVER IS AN INSTANT OF GREAT PRIDE FOR THOSE WHO HELP HIM ON THE TRACK. BELOW, TRANSALPINE MARCUS AMAND STORMS OFF TO LEAD LEAVING HIS RIVALS WAY BACK.

125 MINI MAX FINAL P N Driver 1 111 Amand, Marcus 2 132 Day, Jamie 3 107 Wharton, James 4 133 Kekati, Theo 5 103 De Haan, Robert 6 128 Fourie, Leyton Daniel 7 130 Tessaro, Vinicius 8 102 Valint, Bence 9 104 Kret, Karol 10 126 Stolcermanis, Tomass 11 109 Fox, Aidan 12 118 Vendelbo, Rasmus 13 134 Rillaerts, Kai 14 120 Tkachev, Ivan 15 116 Ardila Romero, Juan E. 16 115 Arseneau, Justin 17 125 Lu, Hebiete Nathan 18 136 Aguilera Lopez, Marco 19 101 Tarillion, Maximilian 20 114 Sokolov, Iakov 21 117 Yamashita, Daisuke 22 121 Bertocco, Gregorio 23 122 Ramirez Pino, Ramon 24 108 Pierson, Josh 25 113 Clavadetscher, Sacha 26 123 Kim, Hwarang 27 105 Valint, Balazs 28 112 Blomqvist, Joona 29 129 Brion, Andres 30 131 Bohdanowicz, Lucas 31 135 Alanis, Eric 32 119 Kukuruzov, Daniil 33 110 Tanic, Craig 34 106 Abi Nakhle, Sami-Joe 35 127 Hensen, Linus

Nat. FRA UAE AUS UAE NED RSA BRA HUN POL LAT USA DEN BEL LTU COL CAN CHI ESP AUT RUS JPN ITA CHI USA SUI KOR HUN FIN ARG ARG ESP UKR FRA LIB GER

Gap 9 Laps + 0.449 + 0.508 + 0.939 + 2.901 + 3.073 + 4.810 + 6.938 + 6.982 + 10.382 + 11.519 + 11.695 + 11.802 + 11.874 + 12.073 + 12.333 + 12.686 + 17.619 + 17.704 + 18.206 + 19.850 + 20.010 + 20.378 + 24.906 + 25.409 + 25.741 + 26.379 + 26.726 + 26.992 + 27.897 + 28.298 + 30.194 + 37.931 + 38.385 -2 L

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ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE GRAND FINALS JUNIOR MAX

125 JUNIOR MAX FINAL P N Driver 1 202 Van Der Helm, Tijmen 2 221 Meguetounif, Sami 3 272 Leistra, Luca 4 256 Otto, Fritzler 5 201 Nagy, Sandor 6 218 Crawford, Jak 7 233 Prouteau, Camille 8 239 Van Vugt, Mike 9 222 Wood, Ryan 10 269 Bataller Camare, Ivan 11 238 Hamada, Toranosuke 12 231 Bernier, Victor 13 267 Handsaeme, Xavier 14 236 Moriyama, Tosei 15 240 Van Walstijn, Senna 16 232 Saarniala, Axel 17 203 Foster, Tommy 18 249 Leon, Noel 19 206 Preston, Jac 20 250 Turiev, Maksim 21 216 Deukmedjian, Arias 22 245 Leroux, Romain 23 234 Riis, Mads 24 213 Hannus, Jimi 25 217 Gonzalez, Tyler 26 228 Woods-Toth, Patrick 27 214 Coertze, Joshua 28 262 Sei, Karl-Markus 29 208 Pope, Jaiden 30 219 Vair, Hugo 31 237 Morin, Hannes 32 210 Feeney, Broc 33 263 Duerksen, Joshua 34 207 Penov, Hristo 35 211 Pokos, Jan

Nat. NED FRA BEL ARG HUN USA FRA NED NZL ESP JPN FRA BEL JPN NED FIN GBR MEX AUS RUS USA SIN DEN FIN USA CAN RSA EST AUS FRA SWE AUS PAR BUL CRO

Gap 17 Laps + 1.931 + 2.292 + 2.619 + 2.832 + 3.056 + 3.172 + 4.760 + 5.178 + 6.458 + 7.297 + 8.401 + 9.718 + 10.855 + 11.648 + 12.758 + 16.114 + 17.630 + 18.758 + 18.912 + 19.606 + 20.524 + 22.315 + 22.574 + 24.554 + 25.950 + 32.747 + 33.318 -1 R -2 R -3 R -8 R -8 R -11 R -16 R

Van der Helm: noses and penalties Finland’s Axel Saarniala and British driver Clayton Ravenscroft, swapped the lead during the various Junior Max free practice sessions until Holland’s Tijmen Van der Helm beats his rivals stopping less than one minute in the official qualifiers. His fellow countryman, Senna Van Walstijn and Tommy Foster followed. During the heats and prefinal it’s always the Dutch duo who sets the pace, leading both in prefinal A with Van Walstijn and prefinal B with Van der Helm. During the final though, it’s the British driver, Foster who tries to attack the “orange” drivers. The trio puts up an exciting show that helps Australians Jac Preston and Jaiden Pope get closer and soon step in with the fight for the lead. On lap 12 Foster and Preston duel hard and there’s a contact leav32 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

ing Pope alone to deal with the two Dutchmen. In the meanwhile, Pope has to keep a close eye on American Tyler Gonzalez, on lap fifteen, the two crash. Tosei Moriyama takes advantage of the situation and climbs up into second place, he was the only one who could gain from the situation. Van der Helm leads on Moriyama and Van Walstijn over the finishing line, but this exciting final has more in store, penalties for front bumpers being out of place after so many contacts that occurred. Van der Helm is the winner and Sami Meguetonif

and Belgian Luca Leistra followed in second and third. Above, Van der Helm 1st, Meguetonif 2nd and Leistra 3rd Top, At the start, Senna Van Walstijn leads on Tommy Foster and his fellow countryman Tijmen Van der Helm at the start.

SENIOR MAX

Ward photo-finish final Britain’s Brett Ward is outstanding from the free practice, even if his fellow countryman Jordan Brown-Nutley ends up getting pole start leading on Canadian Ryan Macdermid and Germany’s Tamino Bergmeier. The heats help the skill of Belgian driver, Felix Warge, to emerge and confirm the two Brits Brown-Nutley’s and Ward’s leadership. There are five drivers in prefinal A fighting for win, and on the last lap, Warge gets the better of BrownNutley and grabs first. Third place goes to Spaniard Filip Vava. In the second group, it’s Frenchman Jean Nomblot who wins with three tenths margin over Japan’s Koki Mizuno who leads on Ward. After the title he won with Evo-

lution team in the X30 Euro Series, England’s Brett Ward hasn’t had enough yet and wants to end his season in the best of ways with the most important win in his career. At the final lights Jordan BrownNutley leads the pack with Warge and Ward tailing him. The trio fight and this gives French driver, Nomblot a chance to come up and overtake Brown-Nutley, the slower one out of the three. On lap 19 Warge overtakes Nomblot from the outside slowing down the transalpine driver and giving Ward a hand, the latter takes advantage of the situation. The Belgian tried to attack and get the lead back before reaching the chequered flag, but to no avail.

125 MAX FINAL P N Driver 1 323 Ward, Brett 2 365 Warge, Felix 3 324 Nomblot, Jean 4 315 Brown-Nutley, Jordan 5 336 Bezel, Petr 6 305 Leppa, Lauri 7 346 Mizuno, Koki 8 333 Macdermid, Ryan 9 359 Nistri, Lorenzo 10 325 Barrett, Bradley 11 352 Hunter, Rhys 12 370 Bordas Cotes, Enric 13 317 Ioannou, Nikolaos 14 362 Turner, Charlie 15 318 Kverkild, Ruben 16 357 Bergmeier, Tamino 17 332 Selliken, Lucas 18 307 Kaprzyk, Mateusz 19 347 Zviedris, Valters 20 316 Sarrazin, Arnaud 21 303 Johnson, James 22 340 Novak, Mario 23 372 Andersen, Charlie 24 313 Cranston, Jacob 25 334 Ritter, Kellen 26 314 Jenner, Bradley 27 304 Peixoto, Guilherme 28 360 Vava, Filip 29 338 Signoretti, Marco 30 312 Brewczynski, Cody 31 349 Portell, Diego 32 356 Lee, Chanjoon 33 353 Coutinho, Goncalo 34 355 Rehme, David 35 309 Gregula, Jakub

Nat. GBR BEL FRA GBR CZE FIN JPN CAN ITA GBR GBR ESP GRE GBR NOR GER USA POL LTV FRA GBR AUT SWE NZL CAN AUS BRA ESP CAN AUS CHI KOR POR SWE POL

Gap 13 Laps + 0.121 + 0.241 + 0.787 + 1.090 + 1.401 + 1.788 + 3.179 + 3.321 + 3.426 + 3.598 + 3.765 + 4.109 + 5.218 + 5.415 + 5.661 + 6.574 + 7.754 + 7.972 + 8.168 + 8.898 + 9.235 + 9.427 + 10.167 + 10.297 + 11.254 + 11.669 + 14.173 + 14.411 + 15.222 + 15.592 + 15.871 + 18.760 + 19.069 -14 R

Above, Warge’s desperation opposed to Ward’s happiness. Hardly any distance separating the three drivers. Top, Before and after Warge’s great overtaking manoeuvre that worked against Nomblot. In the second picture you can see how Ward takes advantage to pull a small gap that takes him to the chequered flag.

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 33

ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE GRAND FINALS DD2 MASTERS

Woolston wins in the field Official qualifiers overturns odds proposed in free practice that looked to Gabriel Zughella and the Finn Antti Ollikainen. Derek Wang from USA is the fastest followed by Japanese driver Tomokazu Kawase. In heats Ollikainen and Woolston get two wins each. In prefinal A, Frenchman Charly Hipp leads the race followed by Ollikainen, who doesn’t stand for it and after overtaking his French rival, he pulls away finishing with about 6 seconds of advantage. In prefinal B Argentinian Zughella says

goodbye to his rivals and heads for win with 1.4” advantage on his Australian rival Woolston. At final start it’s the South American who storms off to lead with Ollikainen tailing him, while Woolston is further back. Woolston presses hard and and draws closer to the leading duo and an exciting battle starts between the leading trio. Woolston gets the better of his rivals, Zughella and Ollikainen and manages to grab flag first, but the Argentinian gets a penalty for advanced start, so tird podium step goes to Charly Hipp.

Below, Woolston overtaking Zughella. Bottom, Winner Troy Woolston is thrilled after the win that gives him the second consecutive title in DD2 Masters for Australia.

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125 MAX DD2 MASTERS FINAL P N Driver Nat. AUS 1 506 Woolston, Troy FIN 2 517 Ollikainen, Antti FRA 3 521 Hipp, Charly GER 4 565 Helfinger, Tommy RSA 5 535 Stephen, Michael AUS 6 510 Howard, Scott USA 7 525 Wang, Derek FRA 8 537 Dauphin, Mickael BEL 9 502 Adams, Christophe SUI 10 519 Glauser, Alessandro SLO 11 533 Matelic, Primoz POL 12 538 Muranski, Slawomir ARG 13 530 Zughella, Gabriel USA 14 518 Castro, Ariel CHI 15 553 Eckholt, Rodrigo GER 16 531 Weinstock, Patrick NZL 17 501 Chittenden, Tiffany DEN 18 548 Baerensen, Michael BRA 19 508 Aboissa, Michel AUS 20 512 Walton, Kris MEX 21 554 Medina, Carlos RSA 22 542 Pieterse, Jonathan POR 23 567 Mendes, Vitor Manuel GBR 24 534 Thomas, Chris JPN 25 559 Kawase, Tomokazu BRA 26 504 Guzzi, Fernando CHI 27 551 Torres, Horacio JPN 28 545 Sato, Yuji 29 571 Perez Santander, Jesus ESP RUS 30 536 Mukhin, Igor POL 31 540 Ferdin, Tomasz GRE 32 515 Zervos, Dimitris UAE 33 570 Blockley, Kyle AUT 34 514 Pesevski, Robert BRA 35 505 Trita, Alexandre

Gap 10 Laps + 0.236 + 5.072 + 5.220 + 5.379 + 7.242 + 7.409 + 8.139 + 8.880 + 9.300 + 9.862 + 10.032 + 10.131 + 12.795 + 13.507 + 13.777 + 14.432 + 14.867 + 15.608 + 16.013 + 16.323 + 18.255 + 18.308 + 18.339 + 19.351 + 19.472 + 22.536 + 22.853 + 23.096 + 31.332 + 33.460 + 33.720 + 35.308 -12 R -14 R

DD2

Gillis lone ranger Despite Finland’s Ville Viiliaenen good start in the free practice, it’s Nikolai Stien who grabs pole leading on Mads Thomsen and Cody Gillis. The latter gained three heat wins and dominated prefinal A with De Ruwe and Cosimo Durante, he’s the man to beat in the final… In group B Christian Sorensen and Mads Thomsen, both from Denmark, lead on Italy’s Cosimo Durante. As expected, during the final Gillis pulls away, while De Ruwe has to duel with the Danish duo. Further back comes Thomsen who gets the better of his fellow countryman Sorensen, while De Ruwe just misses podium. Left, Gillis thumps the air as finishes in triumph (and alone). Bottom, between De Ruwe the two Danish drivers Sorensen and Thomsen it was a cruel duel!

125 MAX DD2 FINAL P N Driver 1 402 Gillis, Cody 2 455 Thomsen, Mads 3 465 Sorensen, Christian 4 404 De Ruwe, Xen 5 456 Fleischmann, Max 6 405 Alders, Joey 7 425 Viiliaeinen, Ville 8 443 Pagliarani, Claudio 9 441 Steinerts, Martins 10 406 Birizdo, Imre 11 458 Stien, Nikolai 12 440 Durante, Cosimo F. 13 446 Bielecki, Kacper 14 414 Njeim, Matthias 15 416 Kennedy, Ryan 16 457 Pires, Mariano 17 466 Pullinger, Barrie 18 453 Szabo, Nikolas 19 418 Schoell, Constantin 20 447 Hardja, Prassetyo 21 408 Belizario, Ruan 22 434 Kashak, Tyler 23 424 Jurmanowicz, Karol 24 468 Cebrian Ariza, Gerard 25 471 Van Parijs, Glenn 26 469 Borlido, Bruno 27 464 Kancsar, Ferenc 28 448 Dueholm, Marc 29 460 De Bonis, Ramiro 30 467 Henckel Mortens, Martin 31 403 Slosar, Jan 32 423 Bruegger, Nico 33 419 Kalesis, Filippos

Nat. AUS DEN DEN SLO GER NED FIN ITA LAT HUN NOR ITA POL LIB AUS POR GBR SVK AUT INA BRA CAN POL ESP BEL POR HUN DEN ARG GER SLO SUI GRE

Gap 13 Laps + 3.982 + 4.412 + 4.496 + 4.816 + 6.615 + 6.745 + 6.912 + 7.123 + 9.057 + 9.100 + 9.712 + 12.505 + 13.276 + 15.677 + 15.909 + 17.432 + 17.824 + 19.219 + 19.645 + 26.512 + 27.265 + 31.325 + 38.277 -5 R -8 R -9 R -12 R -15 R -15 R -17 R -17 R -18 R

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 35

ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE GRAND FINALS

ABOUT GRAND FINALS

Third edition in the Algarve region in the south of Portugal, this time the weather conditions were more or less ideal for a motor racing event that is held from October to November. A beautiful site that looks onto the Atlantic and draws lots of surfers and drivers from all over the world. Arnaldo Frias’ staff, together with Rotax’, worked hard to welcome the 360 drivers coming from all over the world and their helpers: thanks to a new App developed by Rotax that connects to the management system of the event (EVA – Event Management System), all the drivers and managers of the various teams were constantly updated on the situation concerning the event with information on cell phones and a protected Wi-Fi system specifically for them. Besides a VIP area that has been improved having all the necessary comforts for business meetings between the various importers and employees, this experience for non-drivers has been further improved with screens in the technical awning, which gave them a chance to follow the races without necessarily being at the stand. And all this in full respect of two of Rotax main principles: equality and reliability. Exciting racing to the last turn with hardly any technical inconveniences gave the best drivers in the world a chance to match skill on an equal basis and duel on the track to see who is the best. 36 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

Brazil: booms and crashes

Wilton Santos, not only has a top role in the Brazilian Rotax panorama, he also represents the DD2 Masters colours on the track. The importer crashed at the start in a heat, ending up against the barriers and broke his leg. Luckily he managed to get back home before having an operation on his leg. Apart from this sad news, Rotax is a great success in Brazil: next year the South American Rotax MAX Challenge will be hosted on the renovated circuit in Granja Viana, near San Paolo. The Rotax classes were presented in 2011 in Brazil and have been a great success, turnover has been limited and there’s been an increase of the entire Rotax movement. Last year, the Brazilian federation, la Confederação Brasileira de Automobilismo, did a survey sending some representatives at the world championship finals, and this year the same has happened. The reason for this interest in that this direct drive Austrian series that can draw several drivers to circuits. Who know, there may be some important news for the future of this country…

MOJO Tyres Competition, a competition that rewards the best and fastest mechanic in changing tyres. This year the prize went to Japan thanks to Gouki Hashimoto who ended the final with time stopped 33.1”. The evening ended with a “good retirement” video dedicated to Ken Walker, the voice of the Rotax world championship finals of the last 15 years. The next meeting is the 2018 edition that will be hosted at an even more exciting location, but not in Europe.

AUSTRALIA AT THE TOP WITH THE GEAR CLASS

In the gear class, the Australians were unbeatable in Portimao. After Troy Woolston’s affirmation in DD2 Master, that follows the title won by Lee Mitchener, his fellow countryman, last year, this time it’s Cody Gillis turn to grab an unchallenged win that left very little to his rivals. Could the secret be drinking from a boot?

TALKING TO ARNALDO FRIAS, ROTAX DEALER AND 2017 ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE GRAND FINALS CO-ORGANISER “This kind of event is quite hard to organise: during this event, Rotax must take care of its customers from all over the world, so everything has to be perfect. Drivers come here just with their racing suits and helmets, so Rotax provides them with engines, chassis and all the necessary technical support. This means that we start working for this event one year ahead. Even if this is the third event here in Portimao, every time we improve something, so every year is like a new event with something different to organize and manage. For instance, this year all communication was given through a new mobile App to avoid any confusion caused by paper and other things. On our behalf, we improved the organization under the technical tent with screens connected to the live streaming, so both mechanics and drivers were able to follow races while working on their karts. The format on the track works very well, therefore we need to improve the format off the track!” What is the present situation in Spain and Portugal like? “In Portugal the market has gone down a lot in the last few years, but it seems that the worst is over. In Spain the situation is different: the economy of the country influenced our world a bit, but the overall the situation is stable and we have full grids in each category.”

SUZUKA AND FUJI IN THE FUTURE OF THE ROTAX MAX FESTIVAL JAPAN The Rotax MAX Festival Japan is an event that gathers together all the participants of the various local challenge events to decide which Japanese drivers will represent Japan at the Grand Finals. This year it’s been held at the circuit in Mizunami, which was the setting for the series with the same name, and next year the event will be held in Suzuka. The location for 2019 has been decided too: it’s the karting circuit situated at the foot of Mount Fuji.

Before the finals, four THUNDeR. These electric karts that the Austrian firm presented last September at the Red Bull Ring during the E-Mobility Play Days, were on track for a charity event with the association Wings For Life, which showed the full potential of this racing vehicle that looks to the (near) future. VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 37

TALKING TO Peter Oelsinger

38 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

Traditions have to be kept: therefore, here’s our interview with Rotax management represented by Peter Oelsinger who is vice-president Rotax propulsion systems and Finance. WORDS: A. ROCA - PICS: CITYPHOTO

simple statement of fairness and equal competition, a philosophy that needs to be carried out. The Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals is the most important week of the year for all the Rotax world, including top management and all national dealers and importers. During the 18th edition of the event held in Portimao, the main topics are the situation on the market in USA, how will they match their philosophy about fair and equal competition with softer tyres and the new Rotax E-MAX series, that will be set up to allow Rotax THUNDeR to fight on tracks all over the world. From a technical point, the track speaks for itself: no major technical issues were met throughout the event as proved by our 50-hour track test! What’s your balance for this event? “We’re really happy about this event. What was shown in Sarno last year has been confirmed: the new technical improvements are working really really well and none of the drivers experienced serious technical issues. So, the

new configuration is reliable. From another point of view, being at the same location for the third time gave us the opportunity to improve what already was a great event. Our target is always to do better than the previous edition. If you’re constantly striving for perfection, you’ll never step back.” What are you going to improve during this coming year? “For the location we’re still waiting for confirmation, so I can’t say anything until it is officially announced. We’re hoping to include an e-class in the Grand Finals format and also other minor improvements, but we’ve taken a big step for this edition, coordinating the EVA event management system with our App to communicate directly with teams and drivers, and have almost eliminated all papers and printed official communications. As you probably know, we also provided a Wi-Fi connection dedicated and limited to team managers and drivers that don’t allow them to surf the web freely so as to maintain a good level of VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 39

TALKING TO Peter Oelsinger nario in the United States, we have been talking to several people be able to set up a network of more importers and more distributors because it’s a huge area. We’re working hard to take care of that market: we have people who are permanently travelling back and forth to set up an efficient supply chain for customers, and at the moment our Canadian distributor is taking care of the area, so if someone needs some info or spare parts, they can ask him. We have not finalized an agreement so far, but there are several people we’re in contact with and we’re talking to them about how to set up a new structure in the USA.”

communication, otherwise we would have needed a very powerful connection! Also the VIP area is much better than it was two years ago, so have learnt from the past and are now looking to the future. As for the gala dinner and final event, the location last year, Caserta, was perfect because it allowed us to prepare dinner for all the participants in a single room, while this year we had to divide guests in two rooms. Anyway, we put some monitors in the room without the stage so that the guests could enjoy the MOJO Competition and the other activities that we will be set up on the stage.” What should we expect from Rotax with regards to the current situation throughout the world?

ROTAX’S PHILOSOPHY Fairness and equal competition: may the best win!

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“Instead of the Euro Challenge, next year we’ll have the Euro Trophy, our aim is to shorten races and make them more affordable for drivers. Our aim is always to be more user-friendly. As for the sce-

When will you have a welldefined structure there? “This is quite difficult to say, but I want to do it within this year. If you would have asked me that one year ago, I would have said that it’s already announced, but we need time to define all the details because we don’t want to rush.” Several drivers still aren’t happy with MOJO tyres. Rotax’s philosophy is to have levelled competition, equal and have lost longlasting tyres. Are you thinking about changing them or anything to be closer to your customers’ requests? “Our philosophy will not change because we had a specific request for long-lasting tyres, so drivers will not change a set of tyres every track session. This makes sense for me, but I fully respect the issue of customers to have tyres with more grip. The main problem of tyres is that, it’s really difficult to find the right balance because they’re affected by many factors such as driving style, kart setup and so on. We’re always working on our tyres, but we need to maintain the minimum of 80 laps durability for each set of tyres. Anyway, hopefully we’ll have the right compound for our customers next year. However, one thing is clear: as we make engines, we’re always trying to give our customers

the best engine possible. If we manufactured chassis, we would have given our customers the best chassis possible. The same applies for tyres, but the question is: what is a good tyre? A rubbery tyre that lasts only five laps, but gives incredible grip? A tyre that lasts 80 laps with steady wear? That’s the real problem! If you consider other racing disciplines, except for F1, of course, 80 laps are not that much! If you consider the rally or touring car series, 80 laps for a set of tyres is not that much! They have a given number of sets of tyres, and they’ve to be able to make do with them. So, our philosophy is closer to this idea of racing. We have best set up for our customers, but we have to keep a wider look over the overall problem.” Alex Irlando, a former Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals champion has now won the International KZ2 Super Cup. What does it mean for you? What should this win mean to all the drivers competing here? “For me, Alex’s win means that taking part in the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals, which means that he deserved it, it is the apex of single brand series. Here they are competing with the best drivers in the world who have earned a ticket for this event on track. Time differences are so minimal, so driving against drivers with the same material is the best training if you want to go further in motorsport. If someone who wins in Rotax also wins in CIK-FIA world events it proves that our format works very well.” As for the THUNDeR, is there any news since the press launch at the Red Bull Ring? “There isn’t any news, but simply because now we’re working hard to transform the plan into a reality. We’re at the final stage of setting up our new series, the Rotax E-MAX Challenge, and we will let you have the locations and dates as soon as possible.”

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SKUSA! SUPERNATIONALS 21

Las Vegas Convention Center - “Diamond Lot”, Nevada (USA), November 19th 2017

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DE CONTO REIGNS Paolo De Conto wins the third SuperNationals KZ coming up from grid four start. Three Sodi drivers in the first five places: Abbasse, Lammers and Irlando. The show in Las Vegas is on..! WORDS A. ROCA PICS M. GONZALEZ – KARTING COLOMBIA

ou all may be asking yourself: “where does he put all his trophies?”. Well, we don’t know either, we just know that when Paolo De Conto is racing the show is on and predictions are fairly easy. Jeremy Iglesias was unable to do anything to stop the super power of the trio De Conto-CRG-TM, to get rid of any doubts he stops 59” during the final. The driver from Valdobbiadene is the seventh driver in the history of SuperNationals to have won three titles, second in KZ after Marco Ardigò. «It’s been a very long weekend because I was racing in two classes, KZ and S1. – he said when interviewed by Simone Corradengo – In free practice I was doing well in both, then in qualifiers, my fault, I was unable to complete a free lap and go as I would have liked to. A 5th place in KZ and 11th in S1. I wanted to make up in heats so I could start from row two grid for the final. In the main event, KZ, I concentrated on getting off to a good start without dropping back. After a few laps, the kart had “warmed up”, from then on I started pressing hard and recuperate on Abbasse and Iglesias. Once in the lead, I was only worried about how many more laps were left for me to cover withour making a mistake,

only on the last lap did I see that I had a good margin’s lead and I really enjoyed every meter right up to the chequered flag. Unfortunately, in S1 I made a mistake at the start and dropped back too many places at the start, then when I was overtaking I lost some time and fell back from the first four and the went on without me. I was unable to catch up, then in ine end a got a penalty for a contact.» A fantastic season where he’s taken lots of wins, but Paolo remains with his feet firmly on the ground and thinks about the future: he says, «I’m not thinking about 2018 yet, my aim is to keep fit and always in top conditions. I am sure that my rivals will be even more determined, after a year like this, for me it has been the best year so far. Anyway I will do my best to repeat myself in all the championships especially in the European and the World Championship.» KZ Jeremy Iglesias (Formula K-TM) leads the class from Friday and seems ready to win his first SuperNationals, but Anthony Abbasse (Sodikart-TM) raises the stakes and wins heat three on Saturday. Dutch driver Bas Lammers (Sodikart-TM) and 2016 SuperNational winner Paolo De Conto (CRG-TM), complete

the top 4. After the green light, from grid 4 start reigning KZ world champion immediately gets the better of Bas Lammers. De Conto is unstoppable, on lap seven he leads the race and pulls away crossing the line first with 1.4” advantage on Iglesias and also with best lap 58.990”! Even if top the places remain the same, KZ2 world champion Alex Irlando gains places, he comes up from grid 12 to 5th and is the third Sodikart driver on podium. S1 Pro Stock Honda The weekend starts neck to neck between Gary Carlton (Formula K-Honda) and Billy Musgrave (Aluminos-Honda) who stop the same time and “share” pole position. Carlton is the man to beat winning both heats on Friday leading on Musgrave, who ruins revenge on Saturday winning the third heat. The Super Sunday seems to be a private question between Carlton and Musgrave, but Jeremy Iglesias (Formula K-Honda) finds his way to the top and challenges the leader until he suffered a mechanical failure on lap 17. Aluminos driver crosses the line first and takes home his second SuperNationals title after the one won in 2012 in S2. Jake French (Sodikart-Honda) settles for second and Gary Carlton, grid 8 start, comes up to complete podium. S2 Semi-Pro Stock Honda Jason

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 43

SKUSA! SUPERNATIONALS 21

Shifter Rok Federico Squaranti (498) Bas Lammers races with Sodikart for the last time: after three years the Dutch driver and Sodikart go separate ways.

Pettit (Aluminos-Honda) starts the SuperNationals 21 in pole position in qualifiers, 24 thousandths of second faster than Emiliano Salazar (Arrow-Honda). Pettit takes home first heat and Salazar wins the second, so the first match on Saturday is won by Pettit who finishes second, while Salazar ends seventh. On Sunday, Pettit grabs holeshot, but Salazar overtakes him on lap four. The duel is not over yet, Pettit regains the lead four laps later bringing Riley Dickinson (Sodikart-Honda) up with him. On lap 13, there’s contact between Rory van der Steur (FA Kart-Honda) and Salazar while fighting for third and Laurent Marchandise (CRG-Honda) gets a chance to pass in third. In the meanwhile, Pettit plays a defence and he’s first over the line with Marchandise second and Dickinson to follow. The winner is decided after the race because Pettit is given a three place penalty for jumping the start, so win goes to Marchandise, with Colin Daley (DR Kart-Honda) second and Dickinson third. S4 Master Stock Honda Ryan Kinnear (Intrepid-Honda) stops fastest time on Thursday beating Jordon Musser (BirelArtHonda) by just 0.026”. The duo replies the same order in the first two heats, with Italian Gian Cavaciuti (Aluminos-Honda) and Terry Lawrence (CKR-Honda) who complete podium alternatively. The latter is very fast in the third and last heat and takes home win beating pole-sitter Kinnear and Cavaciuti, while Musser is forced to retire while he was leading on lap eight due to mechanical failure. A second place in the last heat gives Kinnear pole start for the main event on Sunday and Intrepid driver doesn’t miss his chance of taking home the win with a flag-

44 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

Vice-world Champion Anthony Abbasse loses another title in favour of Paolo De Conto. Will he be able to get his revenge in 2018?

to-flag ride. Cavaciuti seemed to be the only pretender to the title, but a broken spark plug wire ended his run allowing Jason Faint (Sodikart-Honda) to garb second ahead of Terry Lawrence. S4 Super Master Stock Honda Mike Jones (Sodikart-Honda) is the fastest with Bonnier Moulton (Tony Kart-Honda) and John Crow (Aluminos-Honda) following with a gap of over 3 tenths. During heat one the order remains the same, then on Friday afternoon Moulton takes the win over Jones with Crows following in third. On Saturday the order changes once again giving Jones the win over Moulton and Crow. Jones gains top spot for the main event and leads throughout the race, he holds back three- KZ2 FINAL time SuperNatioP N Driver nals winner Bonnier 1 1a Paolo De Conto Moulton and John 2 017a Jeremy Iglesias Crow third. 3 044a Anthony Abbasse X30 Senior Italy’s 4 045a Bas Lammers Lorenzo Travisanutto 5 47a Alex Irlando (Kart Republic-IAME) 6 098a Marjin Kremers changes chassis, 7 62nz Daniel Bray and remains one of 8 41 Mathias Ramirez the fastest driver on 9 26nz Dylan Drysdale the field. Unfortu- 10 29a Troy Loeskow nately, he is also the 11 20a Yohan Sousa unluckiest! After a 12 22y Brian Keck season during which 13 03a Nikolai Stien he has always been 14 21a Macauley Jones fast, he lacked that 15 67a Ariel Levi little bit of luck that 16 8r Ethan Simioni was necessary to 17 02a Nicolo' Zin win, Lorenzo domi- 18 282nz Madeline Stewart nates the SuperNa- 19 355y John Baldasare tionals 21: second to 20 10y Jason Toft

his teammate and world champion Danny Keirle (Kart Republic-IAME) in qualifiers, the Italian gains top spot at the end of heats ahead of former F3 driver Ben Barnicoat (Fullerton-IAME) and Brazilian Olin Galli (CRG-IAME). On Sunday Travisanutto grabs the holeshot and leads the pack followed by Galli and Barnicoat. Dino Chiesa’s pupil pulls away while Joshua Carr (CompKartIAME) steps up to second ahead of Britain’s Barnicoat. After winning the the race, Travisanutto gets a three-place penalty for accelerating before the punch off point, so Carr takes home the win ahead of Barnicoat and Callum Bradshaw (CRG-IAME) third. X30 Junior Matheus Morgatto (Parolin-

Gap 20 Laps 1.408 1.631 2.397 2.624 7.718 13.121 14.997 18.510 18.823 24.590 25.213 25.433 27.086 27.122 33.604 37.316 38.560 39.440 39.641

S1 FINAL P N 1 N2 2 N1 3 50y 4 9nz 5 70a 6 37a 7 21y 8 29t 9 71y 10 89a 11 27z 12 22y 13 127y 14 317d 15 36y 16 435y 17 017a 18 N3 19 88c 20 109z

Driver Billy Musgrave Jake French Gary Carlton Matt Hamilton Joshua Fife Danny Formal Nic LeDuc Austin Wilkins Ron White Taylor Greenfield Joey Wimsett Brian Keck Mirko Mizzoni Sabre' Cook Hunter Pickett Hunter Kelly Jeremy Iglesias Mathias Ramirez Matias Podboj Kyle Wick

Gap 20 Laps 0.346 1.185 5.111 7.118 9.884 12.741 15.005 16.089 17.031 17.432 17.820 20.026 20.344 20.799 19.867 4 laps 14 laps 15 laps 18 laps

IAME) gains the top spot in qualifiers ahead of Zane Maloney (Tony KartIAME) from Barbados and Jak Crawford (FA Kart-IAME). The latter finds the way to the top at the end of the heats, grabbing pole position for the main event ahead of Broc Feeney (Kosmic-IAME) and Jeremy Fairbarn (Tony Kart-IAME) while Morgatto slips into 8th. The X30 Junior class opens the SuperSunday and those on front grids immediately pull away, but in the last part the race duel flares up and other drivers close the gap. Feeney tries to overtake the leader over the finishing line, but Crawford wins by 0.040â&#x20AC;? over the Aussie driver. From grid 8 start Jeremy Fairbairn comes through to complete podium. X30 Masters Renato David (BirelARTIAME) outperforms Leonardo Nienkotter (CompKart-IAME) and Danillo Ramalho (Kosmic-IAME) and grabs the pole position in qualifying, Kris Walton (CompKart-IAME) recovers from P8 in qualifiers to the pole at the end of the heats. Nienkotter holds the second position ahead of Kip Foster (Praga-IAME). In the main event Aussie Walton is put under pressure by his fellow countryman Foster. On lap six the pole-sitter secures the leadership of the race and holds it until the chequered flag that Jake French (Sodikart) takes second after Jeremy Iglesiasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; technical failure.

S2 FINAL P N 1 01a 2 412a 3 N1 4 146y 5 027m 6 N3 7 86k 8 00t 9 29n 10 27t 11 76j 12 696nz 13 03z 14 3t 15 002y 16 297a 17 24t 18 28c 19 526o 20 370y

Driver Laurent Marchandise Collin Daley Riley Dickinson Jason Pettit Emiliano Salazar Sky Finley Kol Bailey Nathan Adds Rory van der Steur Blair Hosie Darin Marcus Josh Drysdale Cameron Egger Andretta Young Cabot Bigham Matt Paesch Graig Alvarez Jr. Keawn Tandon Tyler Fling Zach Pettinicchi

Gap 16 Laps 0.750 0.855 0.000 2.174 3.344 3.616 4.896 1.034 5.592 7.119 8.521 9.004 10.070 12.829 13.403 20.044 20.076 20.861 20.945

S2 SUPER MASTERS FINAL P N Driver Gap 1 N2 Mike Jones 16 Laps 2 49u Bonnier Moulton 4.186 3 31c John Crow 4.350 4 N1 Robert Marks 9.379 5 66c Nick Firestone 10.506 6 N3 Rod Clinard 12.539 7 823m Victor Jimenez 14.071 8 42u Ryan Pool 15.005 9 994y Kevin Woods 15.415 10 64y Patrick O'Neill 18.138 11 122q Mike Rivera 21.517 12 98y Jim Kidd 28.961 13 14k Jonathon Allen 29.050 14 102x Darrell Tunnell 29.752 15 999a Frederic Ferrari 33.183 16 526f Vicki Brian 41.179 17 26o Jeff Carter 41.574 18 21x Ken Schilling 44.530 19 000d Hugh Templeman 2 laps 20 155f Farshad Bagheri 3 laps

S4 FINAL P N 1 N2 2 22a 3 13z 4 N1 5 101x 6 1c 7 175t 8 9nz 9 161c 10 33x 11 777m 12 10y 13 021t 14 17c 15 05t 16 674a 17 045u 18 15a 19 250a 20 013g

Driver Ryan Kinnear Jason Faint Terry Lawrence Jordon Musser Jimmy McNeil Alan Michel Chris Jennings Tiffany Chittenden Mike Mantel Rob Logan Carlos Medina Rene Martinelli Nathan Stewart Vivek Tandon Alvaro Pelaez Diaz Enrico Doria RJ Edgington Gian Cavaciuti Renato David Peter Licciardi

Gap 16 Laps 0.142 0.309 1.504 1.634 3.558 4.198 4.428 4.633 5.242 7.175 8.628 21.510 23.930 26.953 44.650 3 laps 6 laps 6 laps 8 laps

X30 SR FINAL P N Driver 1 095a Joshua Car 2 024a Ben Barnicoat 3 02a Callum Bradshaw 4 121a Lorenzo Travisanutto 5 N1 Ryan Norberg 6 94r Samuel Lupien 7 149a Matias Fernandez 8 001a Olin Galli 9 41j Braden Eves 10 322c Billy Musgrave 11 201a Danny Keirle 12 173a Joey Van Splunteren 13 15n Ryan Raffa 14 416r Ryan MacDermid 15 120a Caio Jotta Collet 16 129f Austin Garrison 17 197a Benjamin Harders 18 313r Zachary Claman-DeMelo 19 128f AJ Myers 20 73y Sonny Cervelli

Gap 20 Laps 3.076 5.961 0.000 6.107 6.987 7.416 8.086 18.115 18.241 17.139 18.452 18.537 19.145 20.850 21.018 24.256 25.884 26.567 27.183

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 45

SKUSA! SUPERNATIONALS 21 ends the race three laps early. Behind the leading duo Paulo Lopes (Kosmic-IAME) steps on the lower step of the podium starting from sixth. Mini Swift Taylor Barnard (Benik Kart-IAME) sets the fastest lap in qualifying ahead of Carson Morgan (Benik Kart-IAME) and Diego Contecha (Tony Kart-IAME), but at the end of heats is Diego LaRoque (PDB-IAME) who leads the pack ahead of Santiago Trisini (Benik) and Contecha. The pole-sitter doesn’t finish the warm-up lap because of a mechanical failure, leaving the way to the other drivers. After the green light it starts a three driver fight that features the Rok Cup International Final winner Connor Zilisch (Energy-IAME), IAME International Final winner Brent Crews (Nitro Kart-IAME) and SKUSA Pro Tour champ Carson Morgan. On lap six Morgan takes the first position from Zilisch’s hands and crosses the line in first. After the race Morgan’s engine failed inspection with a modified piston and Carson loses the win. Zilisch becomes the SKUSA SuperNats 21 winner, allowing him to conclude the season with two important titles. Diego Contecha moves to second with Santiago Trisini third. Micro Swift Frankie Iadevaia (Nitro KartIAME) is the fastest in qualifying and tops the sheet over Vinicius Tessaro (KosmicIAME) and Parker DeLong (Benik Kart-IAME). At the end of the heats Mateo Rubio-Luengo (Benik Kart-IAME) steals the pole position from Iadevaia’s hands, who has to settle for second, while Miguel Costa (Benik KartMICRO FINAL P N Driver 1 087a Vinnie Phillips 2 5f Miguel Costa 3 722j Christian Miles 4 44s Caleb Gafrarar 5 30a Vinicius Tessaro 6 09a Sebastian Ng 7 57c Logan Toke 8 027a Matheus Ferreira 9 23t Cooper Shipman 10 19b Parker DeLong 11 3s Sofia D'Arrigo 12 13y AJ Zarcone 13 08a Kristian Janev 14 04a Lorenzo Cioni 15 67n Ben Maier 16 8s Danny Dyszelski 17 N2 Frankie Iadevaia 18 120m Ivanna Richards 19 057a Ethan Thorne 20 17c Enzo Deligny

Gap 12 Laps 0.283 1.321 1.551 1.818 2.054 2.235 2.465 2.519 2.898 2.940 3.866 5.394 5.515 5.757 8.636 9.577 10.624 10.916 11.684

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X30 Junior podium: Jak Crawford 1st, Broc Feeney 2nd, Jeremy Fairbairn 3rd, Dylan Tavella 4th and Sebastian Montoya 5th.

IAME) and Brandon Carr (Benik Kart-IAME) complete the second row. Immediately after the start Iadevaia has a contact with Ian Aguilera (Parolin-IAME) and is forced to retire. Rubio-Luengo and Costa start battling and this gives the possibility to British driver Vinnie Phillips (Benik Kart-IAME) to

MINI FINAL P N Driver 1 272s Connor Zilisch 2 020a Diego Contecha 3 123f Santiago Trisini 4 122f Jeremy Fletcher 5 818a Guilherme Figueiredo 6 111a Taylor Barnard 7 107f Nikita Johnson 8 08j Nicholas Terlecki 9 156o Jace Park 10 027a Freddie Slater 11 41z Josh Pierson 12 146a Alfio Spina 13 48f James Egozi 14 113a James Wharton 15 3m Jesse Carrasquedo Jr 16 80f Alex Powell 17 133t Chase Gardner 18 44t John Burke 19 16a Will Harper 20 015y Kai Sorensen

Gap 12 Laps 0.840 1.373 1.470 8.925 10.164 10.301 10.650 11.215 11.282 11.367 13.726 13.843 14.906 15.026 15.127 15.241 15.322 15.397 16.428

X30 JR FINAL P N Driver 1 N2 Jak Crawford 2 93a Broc Feeney 3 287f Jeremy Fairbairn 4 N1 Dylan Tavella 5 158f Sebastian Montoya 6 12y Oliver Calvo 7 46a Gabriele Mini 8 62a Matheus Morgatto 9 01a Gabriel Bortoleto 10 74s Tyler Maxson 11 044a Zane Maloney 12 88a Matias Zagazeta 13 259f Dylan Gennaro 14 82a Dick Yu 15 157f Tyler Gonzalez 16 98x Jagger Jones 17 056f Zachary Hollingshead 18 318a Pedro Lopes 19 N3 Trey Brown 20 118j Austin Schaff

join the battle for the lead. It takes only a few laps and on lap nine Phillips takes the lead. The final lap was a proper “Microstyle” lap with drivers all over the track fighting for the win, but in the end Phillips takes home the win ahead of Costa and Christian Miles (Formula K-IAME).

Gap 16 Laps 0.040 0.109 0.369 0.398 0.793 1.833 2.047 3.856 4.973 3.189 5.292 5.556 5.798 6.093 10.669 10.819 12.277 12.972 17.943

X30 MASTERS FINAL P N Driver 1 68a Kris Walton 2 20a Kip Foster 3 918a Paulo Lopes 4 17x Matt Johnson 5 021a Leonardo Nienkotter 6 18a Danillo Ramalho 7 110a Eduardo Dieter 8 255y Jess Peterson 9 250a Renato David 10 55k Jonathan Silva 11 14a Ignacio Vivian 12 101y Carlos Calderon 13 04a Fernando Janson 14 087t Adam White 15 47a Bruno Martins 16 029a Michael Patrizi 17 N1 Derek Wang 18 005a Alessandro Xavier 19 377t Miguel Mier 20 044a Markenson Marques

Gap 13 Laps 0.254 0.773 1.163 1.686 2.335 2.684 3.174 3.356 3.650 4.614 5.362 6.167 6.484 7.336 7.933 8.916 9.166 9.497 10.101

BNL GOLDEN TROPHY

October 22nd 2017 - Genk, Belgium

A look back at the BNL Rotax Golden Trophy

It’s in the title, a race for a Golden Trophy and with it a golden ticket to the World’s biggest kart race. The Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals. The last opportunity for a number of hopefuls to get themselves on the flight to Portugal to get the chance to represent their country on the biggest stage in the World. To get there you’d have to race hard, be brave, take risks, make no mistakes and drive inch perfect to beat what was a hugely competitive field. This is the story of the first ever BNL Rotax Golden trophy event which took place at the Genk circuit in Belgium: Home of Champions WORDS C. MCCHARTY PICS M. MELIS 48 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

t was great that also BRP Rotax showed up during the Golden Trophy . By talking with people, drivers and teams about the new features they will introduce very soon, they gave some good information. Most certainly! It was an event drivers had been pushing for and it gave a lot of talented drivers one last chance to qualify for the Worlds biggest kart race and one of the World biggest circuits. The racing was exciting, dramatic but out of it came four very worthy winners. Micro Max For the Micro Max given the qualification to the Grand Finals is run slightly different to many others there was

DD2 WINNER GLENN VAN PARJIS AND DAVE RITZEN, BNL KARTING SERIES CIRCUIT PROMOTOR & COMPETITION ORGANIZATOR

DOUWE DEDECKER DOMINATED THE FINAL RACE WITH A 11.5 SECONDS GAP no ticket on offer but better still there was a free entry for the 2018 BNL season up for grabs. After qualifying in a comfortable pole position BNL front runner, Douwe Dedecker, looked the clear favourite but after disaster struck early on in the Pre-Final he had to recover to finish 2nd over four seconds back from Mitchell van Dijk. However, the final would be a different story with the GKS driver cruising to a 11.5 second victory ahead of Van Dijk with Lenn Nijs, Bruno Mulders and Thomas Strauven completing the top five.

Junior Max Junior Max provided an interesting mixture of drivers with most fighting for a ticket, but also added in were drivers like 2017 BNL Champion Clayton Ravenscroft who were purely there to prepare for the Grand Finals having already secured tickets. This mixture made the task of winning even tougher but added an extra element to the event which would require further tactics from drivers looking to win. Qualifying kicked things off on Saturday which included a Super Pole session for the top six drivers in qualifying where a one

lap shoot out would decide the final top six standings, an honour that went to Mike van Vugt. An improvement from his original qualifying position of 4th. A turn of weather conditions overnight made the heats very exciting and dealing with the challenge the best was Kobe Pauwels who was able to take a win and a 3rd place to put himself on pole for the final. The other wins went the way of Kris Haanen and Clayton Ravenscroft who would start 4th and 5th respectively with Jasin Ferati and Luka Nurmi also qualifying inside the top five. As for

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 49

BNL GOLDEN TROPHY Van Vugt a disaster in his second heat meant he could only finish 19th and that put him down in 16th for the final. One name barely mentioned so far is Luca Leistra. The Vice Champion in the BNL this year, Luca had been slowly moving his way through the order. After qualifying 13th a 7th and 3rd in the heats had put him 6th on the grid for the final and his progress in the final continued as he was able to take

HELMUT VOGLSAM UNDER ROTAX’S TENT IN GENK

Junior winner Luca Leistra spends some time with these girls before leaving for Portimao. Senior podium: Charlie Andersen 1st, Dylan Lahaye 2nd, Mathilda Olsson 3rd.

the lead just four laps in to the final! From there his pace and determination to win was evident and it was that what helped him to a victory of just under three seconds! In what was a pretty dramatic final as others tried and failed in their attempts to win, joining Luca on the podium would be Clayton Ravenscroft and Luka Nurmi with the three drivers split by almost ten seconds. Senior Max By far the most entertaining and dramatic story came in the Senior Max final, but before we get into that race itself let’s talk about what happened before that. It was yet another sell out grid which included former F1 driver and current Formula E driver Jerome Dambrosio! An experience for drivers to say they had raced against someone who had already made it to the top of the Motorsport ladder. Once again the Super Pole qualifying session provided a change in the order of the top six with Sebastian Estner qualifying on pole ahead of Mark Kimber and Jordan Brown-Nutley. As the weather provided tricky conditions in the heats it was Lars van Vark who came out on top with two wins ahead of two more drivers yet with their tickets to the Grand Finals, Mark Kimber and Max Timmermans. As for Sebastian Estner he had dropped down to 5th place. Then came the dramatic final itself which started with a first corner incident taking

50 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

out Van Vark, Kimber, Lahaye, Przybylak and Estner among others. It left in the lead the familiar face of Layahe with Jules De Bock (already in the Grand Finals|) in 2nd. However, the lead would quickly change hands after a coming together between the pair allowed Mathilda Olsson to come through. The nerves were apparent in Olsson as she was chased down by Lahaye but his move on her was far from clean and as well as delaying Olsson it would see Lahaye receive a penalty post-race. So, all attention turned to the battle behind which included Jesper Sjoberg, Mick Nolten and Andersen. A change with just a couple of laps to go would see Sjoberg come out on top ahead of Nolten, but along with Lahaye they also received penalties post-race handing the win to Charlie Andersen who from 12th place had kept his head down and driven through to 4th. DD2 The 2016 BNL Senior Max Champion, Glenn van Parijs, returned from his year of racing in cars to go after a ticket for this years Grand Finals. It was evident he had lost nothing whilst being away as he took pole position ahead of Michel Bialach and Marius Rauer. Also on the grid were Haralds Garkaklis, looking to return to the Grand Finals, and Gilles Puelings a very familiar face to the BNL family. The heats saw no real problems for Van Pairjs who was able to secure pole but only

just scoring just one point more than Marius Rauer who also took a win in the heats. Taking the third win was Gilles Puelings who could have had pole if he’d kept himself out of trouble in the third heats but instead he’d go off p5 with William van der Kaaij and Marco Goetler ahead. In the final it was Van der Kaaij who got the best starts taking the lead early on whilst Van Pairjs fought for 2nd with Goetler. It was shiortly after this point that Van der Kaaij and Van Parijs would find themselves down the road with an almighty battle for 3rd kicking off which was lead by Puelings. ?I/n that queue all drivers were struggling to work with one another and perhaps lost sight of the huge prize that lay just up the road. So instead it would be a Van Parijs, Van der Kaaij showdown and after taking the lead on lap 11 Van Parijs as he went on take a well deserved victory beating Van der Kaaij by just under one second. Credit must go to Van der Kaaij for keeping him honest and finishing 3rd Michal Bialiach who recovered from poor luck in the heats to take a podium and fastest lap. If only he had started nearer the front… Taking the win in the DD2 Masters was Christophe Adams who finished 10th place overall just ahead of Tony Hogg.

N E W

T H R E E - Y E A R

A NEW HOMOLOGATION

H O M O L O G A T I O N

PERIOD STARTS FOR CHASSIS AND ACCESS

THERE ARE SOME INNOVATIONS

ORIES IN 2018.

AND THE LIST COUNTS 28 MANUFACTURERS

REPORT: M. VOLTINI - PART I

Many of you who have been in the karting field for a long time already know that, but for those who are new to karting, this might well be a novelty. The material used is homologated every three years, interchanging the various types of components. In 2018 it's the chassis and relative accessories turn, that is brakes and fairings. 52 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

t the time when this report was being written, there have already been the verification visits and controls at the different manufacturing establishments that have homologates some of these elements: we got in touch with 28 different manufacturers and if we count the commercial brands – some manufacturers make more versions and each with its own name, besides the different models, also for third parties . we count 53 different “names” of frames and components. Unfortunately among these names there’s a well-known name missing, PCR. NUMBERS AND INITIALS CHANGE There are some innovations in this homologation concerning regulations, starting from the homologation number that identifies each CIK-FIA homologation. The alternation number/initials/number remains, however, before we had a specific number for each element homologated, followed by initials that indicate the type (subdivided into chassis, fairings and brakes) plus two numbers

for homologation expiry date. Instead now, there’s a different formula: the first three numbers refer to the manufacturer; the initials are more detailed, and as far as the brakes are concerned it specifies if they are the ones that act on all 4 wheels or just on the rear wheels, while there are specific initials on each element for the bodywork; then the last two numbers are the numbers for the element that has been homologated. HOMOLOGATION DURATION HALVED Homologation is no longer valid for six years but for three, consequently the CikFia validity for this series of components is from 2018 to 2020. It’s strange to see that thos decision will cause a small “earthquake” at the end of 2020 because that year not just tis homologation is going to expire but also the 2015-2020

homologation, and also the extension that was granted to several elements that had been homologated before (since 2009). As from this year manufacturers will no longer be granted such opportunities that were used especially where “evergreen” chassis, which never changed over the years, or perhaps just changed some details but not the sizes given on the homologation fiche. An example is the “traditional” Tony Kart models such as the Racer, in fact, also next season the factory in Prevalle will continue with this year’s production. So, let’s see which are the technical innovations that we are going to see next season, starting from those brands that managed to start their production earlier on. Not just the same chassis, but also some background material connected with them. Therefore, in next month’s issue of Vroom there’s going to be a second part for manufacturers who are momentarily “excluded”.

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NE W CHASSIS HOMOLOGAT ION 2018-2020 - PAR T I

BIREL ART

The factory in Lissone also manufactures with Ricciardo and RK brands – it has also homologated SWF and Fullerton – but mainly it has homologated in the first person as Birel ART. Its line has two new models, in particular the one with 007-CH-12 homologation offered in two versions: RY 32-S9 specifically for direct drive and the CRY 32-S9 for the gear class. Obviously, in both cases the important characteristics are the same: the design is, in fact, the traditional one with double bend at the tank side, plus added bar at fore-carriage and both are made with 32mm diameter tubes. Simultaneously they have homologated a new series of fairings and braking systems with the brand Freeline.

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BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASSES N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TIPE OF TUBS WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEM. BARS OTHER ADJUSTMENTS BRAKING SYSTEM

Birel ART RY 32-S9 007/CH/12 OK-OKJ9 6 32 molybdenum chrome 1045 50x2x1020 F front height and adjustable spindles hydraulic 1FL

DISC SIZE

180x16 mm rear.

COMPONENTS PRICE

MG/AL N.D.

Birel ART CRY 32- S9 007/CH/12 KZ 9 6 32 molybdenum chrome 1045 50x2x1040 F front height and adjustable spindles hydraulic RR 150x12 Front. / 180x16 mm Rear. MG/AL N.D.

BIRELART.COM

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 55

NE W CHASSIS HOMOLOGAT ION 2018-2020Â - PAR T I

KARTCRG.COM 21/06/17 18:25

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CRG

For the products already made and still homologated models Road Rebel and KT2, taking advantage of the new homologation, CRG has now decided to add another two models that will soon be available at distribution centres. Both models are destined to the “direct drive” classes, they are the KT4 and the Heron. The first has a traditional layout but with mixed tube diameter, that is, both 30 and 32 mm, and it’s on this that they are mainly betting; instead the second is made with only 30mm diameter tubes, but the design is rather particular and has already been used in the past (in fact, the name itself isn’t new). There are another three innovations, besides the new fairings, renewed stickers, updated brakes with new discs and pads, plus steering wheels with different rays (to lift the handgrip), the CRG range will be a new colour, opaque black for the bodywork and it is possible to personalise them adding the driver’s name. This obviously also applies for the line Road Rebel for the gear class, which has been changed slightly to make it more suitable for the tyres mounted today. BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASSES N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TIPE OF TUBS WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEM. BARS OTHER ADJUSTMENTS BRAKING SYSTEM DISC SIZE COMPONENTS PRICE

CRG CRG CRG KT4 Heron Road Rebel 002-CH-17 002-CH-45 Already homologated Direct drive Direct drive With gears 9 8 9 6 6 6 30-32 mm 30 mm 32 mm molybdenum chromium molybdenum chromium molybdenum chromium 1050 mm 1050 mm 1050 mm Ø50x2x1040 mm Ø50x2x1040 mm Ø50x2x1040 mm Front and rear Front and rear Front and rear Front and rear height, camber and caster adjustment Ven11 DD Ven11 DD Ven11 KZ Ø192x18,2 post. Ø192x18,2 post. Ø192x18,2 post. (Ø181x12,5 opz.) (Ø181x12,5 opz.) (Ø181x12,5 opz.) Ø154x12,8 ant. Magnesium Gold line Magnesium Gold line Magnesium Gold line 3170,00 € +VAT 3447,00 € +VAT 4253,00 € +VAT

CRG KT2 Already homologated (70-CH-20) 9 6 30 mm molybdenum chromium 1042 Ø50x2x1040 mm Front and rear LIKE KT4 Ven11 DD Ø192x18,2 post. (Ø181x12,5 opz.) Magnesium Gold line 3447,00 € +VAT

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NE W CHASSIS HOMOLOGAT ION 2018-2020 - PAR T I

art. KM890

art. K692S

art. K547-NL-RS

RIGHETTIRIDOLFI.COM

7060 Sona (VR) - ITALY - T. +39 045.6080950 - F. +39 045.6080633

RIGHETTI RIDOLFI

With the brand Mac Minarelli the factory near Verona once again presents and re-homologates the GTR30, a traditional design made with 32mm diameter tubes. With it comes the Prime that besides 30mm tubes also has some 32mm sections (to be precise, front and central cross members. Both models can mount a supplementary bar on fore-carriage and they are both for gear class karting and direct drive. There’s a new homologation also for the braking system “Speed" and a new assembly kit for nose cones made conform to Cik norms.

BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASS N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TIPE OF TUBE WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEM. BARS OTHER ADJUSTMENTS BRAKING SYSTEM DISC SIZE COMPONENTS PRICE

RIGHETTI RIDOLFI SPA GTR30 005-CH-49 OK-OKJ-KZ 9 6 30mm Molybdenum chromium 1048mm Ø50mm L.1040mm Sp.2mm front // MA20 or Speed E2 195/150mm aluminium N.D.

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RIGHETTI RIDOLFI SPA PRIME 005-CH-12 OK-OKJ-KZ 9 6 30/32mm Molybdenum chromium 1048mm Ø50mm L.1040mm Sp.2mm front // MA20 or Speed E2 195/150mm aluminium N.D.

SODI KART The French manufacturer takes advantage of this

last homologation and adds another model to its range, the Sigma. It is for all the classes – the difference between direct drive and gear class is mainly the braking system, always Tekneex – in this case too, traditional layout with double curve and 30mm diameter tubes, supplementary bars can be mounted at the front. Among the peculiarities you have a slightly bigger wheelbase, an average of 1050 mm. A very similar chassis will be made and has been homologated also with the brand name Alpha Karting: it’s the SP40 that maintains the same basic characteristics.

BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION CATEGORIES N. BENDS N. TUBES TUBES DIAMETER TUBES TYPE INTERAXLE AXLE SUPPLEM. BARS SET-UP BRAKE SYSTEM DISCS DIAMETER ACCESSORIES PRICE

SODI SIGMA RS3 022-CH-97 ALL 9 6 30 chrom-molibden 1050 Ø50 LG1040 FRONT

SODI SIGMA 022-CH-97 ALL 9 6 30 chrom-molibden 1050 Ø50 LG1040 FRONT

ALPHA KARTING SP40 022-CH-39 ALL 9 6 30 chrom-molibden 1050 Ø50 LG1040 FRONT

ALPHA KARTING SP40 KZ 022-CH-39 ALL 9 6 30 chrom-molibden 1050 Ø50 LG1040 FRONT

"TEKNEEX F11 NO GEARBOX 022 B2 11" Ø192 -N.D.

"TEKNEEX F13 GEARBOX 022 B4 45" REAR Ø192 / FRONT Ø 142 -N.D.

"TEKNEEX F11 NO GEARBOX 022 B2 11" Ø192 -N.D.

"TEKNEEX F13 GEARBOX 022 B4 45" REAR Ø192 / FRONT Ø 142 -N.D.

sodikart.com

Vroom international magazine 59

NE W CHASSIS HOMOLOGAT ION 2018-2020 - PAR T I

IPK/PRAGA Having homologations that are still valid for their present

production, the IPK has asked for new homologations only for their new braking system with radial joint for callipers and for the Praga Tacho Evo chassis. As the name suggests, it’s an evolution of its predecessor Tacho, however, beside it being made with “mixed” tubes, 30 and 32 mm in diameter, this one is characterized by a curve that is more to the front of the longitudinal members at the height of the central cross member. Another parameter, which is slightly different than the average is the wheelbase, 1050 mm (longer) and it is available for all the classes, including the Rotax DD2.

CKR CKR presents two models BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASS N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TYPE OF TUBE WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEMENTARY BARS OTHER ADJUSTMENTS BRAKING SYSTEM DISC SIZE COMPONENTS PRICE

Praga Tacho Evo 006-CH-33 all classes 9 6 Ø30 / Ø32 Molybdenum-chromium 1050 Ø50x1030mm model M Front and rear RBS.V2 rear / STR.V2 front rear Ø187x16 standard Ø195x16 optional / front Ø149x11 Aluminium and Titan gold components, and 132mm /212mm magnesium rims 4,254 €

homologated for the coming season in all the classes: the Barracuda and the Blue Shark, the design is similar but tube diameter makes them different. In particular the 32mm diameter tubes for the Barracuda and the 30 mm for the Blue Shark. They both have supplementary bars on fore-carriage, with a solution that connects the spindle C directly from one side to the other and another possibility of mounting it further back to get a more precise adjustment for front stiffness.

CKRGOKART.IT

IPKARTING.COM

60 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASS N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TYPE OF TUBE WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEMENTARY BARS OTHER ADJUSTMENTS BRAKING SYSTEM DISC SIZE COMPONENTS PRICE

CKR Barracuda 021-ch-71 OK and KZ 9 6 32 Molybdenum chromium 1040 Ø50/1040 front sniper v11 154front/181-192 rear Al and mg 4,254 €

CKR Blue Shark 021-ch-11 OK and KZ 9 6 30 Molybdenum chromium 1040 Ø50/1020 front sniper v11 181-192 rear al 3,422 €

BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASSES N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TYPE OF TUBES WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEMENTARY BARS

SRK SS30 020-CH-54 TOUTES / ALL 9 6 30 25 Cr-Mo 1045 Ø50mm x 1030 mm thickness 2mm front Camber/Caster with sniper system 3 OTHER ADJUSTMENTS heights rear axle - 4 spindle adjustment 3 adjustment for column BRAKING SYSTEM OKR and KZR Rear disc: 192x17mm / 180x15mm front DISC SIZES disc: 157x12mm COMPONENTS Magnesium PRICE N.D.

TBKART S197 020-CH-32 TOUTES / ALL 9 6 32 25 Cr-Mo 1045 Ø50mm x 1030 mm thickness 2mm front Camber/Caster with sniper system 3 rear axle heights - 4 spindle adjustment - 3 column adjustment OKR and KZR Rear disc: 192x17mm / 180x15mm front disc: 157x12mm Magnesium N.D.

TBKART - SRK The TBkart innovation for 2018 is called S197.

It’s a chassis with traditional line made with 32mm diameter tubes. Among the novelties, besides those regarding looks, some are more technological, for example the new brakes and more so the new supports for the axle bearings. Besides this, the factory near Como has also homologated a model with the brand SRK: it’s the one marked SS30 that, as in the name has frame made with 30mm diameter tubes. Both these chassis have been designed for both classes and besides having several adjustments for fore-carriage, spindle and steering column, more than three heights for rear, the accessories that they mount are made of magnesium.

TBKART.IT

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NE W CHASSIS HOMOLOGAT ION 2018-2020 - PAR T I

BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASS N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TYPE OF TUBE WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEMENTARY BARS OTHER ADJUSTMENTS BRAKING SYSTEM DISC SIZE COMPONENTS PRICE

Wright Jupiter 027/CH/02 All 9 6 30 Chromolly 1050mm 50 x 1040 x 2mm Front - Round (30mm) Rear - Flat (30mm) Wright - CIK Single Block - Hydraulic Caliper 192 17mm Magnesium Rims, Graphics Kit, Optional Foot Raining Kit £2495 + VAT

WRIGHT Made near Cambridge and is mainly

aimed for the Cadet class market, the British factory, Wright Kart presents a new chassis for CIK-FIA classes, both direct drive and gear class for the 2018 homologation. It’s called Jupiter and follows the traditional design with double curve and this time too, it’s made with diameter tubes. A new look and with a braking system, which is also made by Wright, wheelbase is 1050 mm and usually it mounts a round supplementary bar at the front e a flat supplementary bar at the rear in order to make it more adaptable to the different track conditions.

WRIGHTKARTS.CO.UK

MS KART The Czech factory has

homologated one model for the three year homologation from 2018, quite “neutral” and valid for all the classes: The frame is traditional made with 30 mm diameter tubes and had a double curve. An extra bar can be added both at the front and rear for strengthening. The name of the chassis id Blue Phoenix and it takes over from the Blue Falcon Evo whose homologation period expired in 2017, it joins the model RZF 29 made of 32 mm diameter tubes.

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BRAND MODEL HOMOLOGATION N. CLASS N. OF CURVES N. OF TUBES TUBE DIAMETER TYPE OF TUBE WHEELBASE AXLE SUPPLEMENTARY BARS OTHER ADJUSTMENTS BRAKING SYSTEM DISC SIZE COMPONENTS PRICE

MSKART.CZ

MS KART Blue Phoenix 008-CH-02 all 9 6 30 mm 25CrMo4 50 mm front and rear torsion bar, round K KART 12 mm front / 17/15 mm rear MG or AL acc.to order/specification

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS

RKZ

DDS

Vortex engines for OK and KZ2 winners of the 2017 CIK-FIA European Championship. OK European Champion 2017

KZ2 European Champion 2017

vor tex-e ngine s.com

VORTEX ENGINES BY OTK KART GROUP

02_2017_vortex_dds-rkz_vroom_eng.indd 1

04/08/2017 16:15:07

TRACK TEST DR1 AND DR7 AXLES

Hard and soft

This time we have taken advantage of data given to us by “Officine in Progress” to see the different response of the two “extreme” axles in the range offered by DR Racing Kart on the track. Words M. VOLTINI – Pics DI NOTA

aving a chance to use a varied track like the one in Arce, not to mention the powerful data acquisition instruments from our friends at Officine in Progress, every so often gives us a chance to “play about” with track tests. On this occasion, we “had some fun” - to tell the truth for Daniele Parravano who drove and carried out the different ways each time it was a tough business… - in wanting to evaluate kart response on the track using the different axles. A popular setup adjustment, even if it is often over64 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

estimated: on an amateur level, often one can get the same effect (or almost the same) quicker and cheaper by changing the hubs; while if we are 1 tenth away from pole position, it’s no good panicking wanting to find a technical adjustment for this side at all costs.

FROM ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER

o, on this occasion we went to the karting circuit Valle Liri “armed” with two different axles out of the ones that were given to us by DR Racing Kart, that is, the chassis

manufacturer of the chassis that we used on the track together with a TM engine. To be precise, they were the models DR1 and DR7, i.e. the two types of axles at the end of the range: the DR1 is the type “extra-super-soft” (this isn’t the definition given by the manufacturer, it’s just to give an idea of how soft it is…) while the DR7 is definitely “harder”. The latter is closer to the standard choice than the other: usually DR karts use grade 5 axles, passing to 6 when, especially with the KZ, there’s less grip and you

WINTER TEST

SEE WHAT’S BEST

SPECIFICATIONS AXLES DR RACING Axle code DR1 DR2 DR3 # DR4 DR5# DR6# DR7

thickness 2 2.5 2.0 2.5 2.0 2.0 2.0

density not available not available not available not available not available not available not available

look to more traction. On the contrary, when you want to “free” the chassis, and this can happen especially with the low power direct drive, we turn to type 3 too. So, generally speaking, when there’s less grip it’s best to use general setup and axles that are harder, and obviously vice versa when you have excessive grip and the kart tends to “stick”. Although, this has its limits too: «There are always hundreds of things to “put together”, it’s not always so easy», Danilo Rossi a champion who has become a manufacturer tells us. He continues: «Obviously the DR7 is an axle that should be used when there is no road grip at all, but don’t forget that in really extreme conditions it might be better to work differently to what it should theoretically be. For example, the DR1 could be useful when we’re on tracks that tend to ruin tyres too much due to heavy load. Generally speaking, first of all you should find out which is the best type of axle for the tyres that you mount for a given class, remembering though that it then depends on the conditions of the track, and on the same drivers: each driver has his or her preference and drive style and these cannot be ignored».

Even with this presuppositions, the question we’d all like to answer - through data acquisition or fortune tellers, whoever - is always the same: how do we know it’s the right choice, in this case, the best axle out of those we have tried? Pin order to give an answer or at least an interesting indication, we went to Arce with the two axles shown us (we repeat a DR1 and DR7) and the kart mounted kind Bridgestone YNB tyres. These tyres respond well to distance soft (especially in constancy) but medium/hard however, we hard started with new tyres when we used both axles, then we continued with used tyres with practically the same amount of wear. We did 6 thirteen-lap runs (3 per model). And sent all our telemetric results to someone who knows all about it, namely Andrea Saccucci (he’s an expert in telemetry also working with F1), to get the final mathematical results. Without, however forgetting or underestimating Parravano’s sensations when driving: «In the end I really didn’t find all that difference between the two axles, not as much as they say: they told me “the kart doesn’t work at all with the DR1”. Instead actual performance wasn’t at all bad and the test was carried out without too many difficulties, even if the track was rather cold». In fact, environmental conditions made a difference in kart response between morning and afternoon testing, as we shall see.

Axles were changed continuously during the test, from soft to hard and vice versa: an operation that requires accuracy and skill to get best balance of all the elements involved. VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 65

Track test DR1 AND DR7 AXLES

PROTAGONIST AXLES This time, for our track test we have concentrated on just one element: the rear axle. To underline the differences we mounted the “extreme” ones out of the range of hardness offered by DR Racing Kart, that is, DR1 and DR7, as shown in the table in the middle: the “hash mark (#) identifies the axles usually used by the racing department when they race.

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WINTER TEST

BEST “COMBINATION”

However, let’s continue and move on to studying the graphs with the results obtained with this test, not before underlining one or two important things though. First of all, you mustn’t forget that “absolutely the best” often doesn’t exist, but you can get the best compromise: and this often happens on a complete track that has both fast sections and slow turns. Furthermore, even if at Arce we have the final turns with good, long braking points, often in the mixed parts of the track it’s hard to produce brak-

axl

ing and accelerations with wheels really straight. In fact, it’s hard to evaluate traction on turn exit when the steering wheel is, we can say, straight (that is, when we are practically out onto the straight): it’s possible that you have problems throughout from the apex on, when the turn is anything but over. For this reason it’s better to evaluate not just longitudinal and lateral accelerations, but a combination of both, a value that shows maximum grip developed with tyres and setup used. To help you understand the table better, the negative longi-

tudinal accelerations in the first column are the ones obtained on braking. While the positive ones in the second column are during acceleration. Then in the last column we can see “combined” grip obtained on the basis of the first laps in the morning with new tyres and therefore how the axle DR7 is, generally speaking, more efficient (allowing to stop 46”9 time compared to 47”9) but also how DR1 takes more time to “warm up” from the start and give better grip.

To be able to evaluate the differences between the two axles (DR1 and DR7) more promptly, we added the results of each turn. The “telemetric” layout of the track in Arce (above) shows the numbers given by the various turns (or groups of turns): the final S, double turn, because it doesn’t give any results of braking or traction. VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 67

Track test DR1 AND DR7 AXLES BRAKING AND TRACTION X_ RAYED (GRAPH 1)

The “Traction-Braking Energy” graph allows us to see just by looking the response of the two axles at different parts of the track. As seen below, we have “coupled-to” for each turn (or group of turns) values given by two axles, between braking (negative acceleration in blue) and traction (positive acceleration in orange). Just like in the previous table, going from numbers to graphs the result remains the same (perhaps more evident): usually the DR7 offers higher performance, but the DR1 makes u a bit towards the end of the lap, on braking.

Graph 1 - Morning, analysis of axle 1 and 7 new Bridgestone YNBC tyres

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES (graph 2)

The same type of test was carried out in the afternoon: the same tyres for each axle (even if no longer new) and the same fuel load, but this time in different practical conditions. In fact, the air and asphalt managed to warm up compared to the morning (the temperature went from 12°C to 20°C) but not only: with about ten karts always on the track, the asphalt had cleaned up and rubbery, offering more grip. We must add that also the new asphalt of the track in Arce reacts quickly to the increasing temperature and drop in humidity. So the results changed too: this time the DR1 already “works” at the second turn (and not after 3-4) and so it allows to stop 46”9 compared to 47”3 for the DR7. You can see how the DR7 manages to maintain a certain advantage on braking, but slightly less grip for the DR1 on acceleration out of the turns doesn’t “constrain” the chassis as much and allows the kart to go round the turn at a higher speed. In any case, the differences are less compared to what was seen in the morning.

Graph 2 - Afternoon using the tyres used in the morning (respectively DR1and7)

CALORIC BRAKING  (graph 3 and 4)

How much the two different axles may affect track surface temperature and consequently grip that the tyres can offer on braking, can be seen in these graphs “Tyre Temperature versus Braking Force”. You can see how in the morning the DR7 sends a higher temperature to the DR1 managing to make up especial68 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

Graph 3 - Effect of braking energy generated by the type of axle on tyre temperature, and consequently on braking grip in the morning

WINTER TEST

ly over the last turns. Temperatures were measured before the curb point of the turn.

ENERGY ON ACCELERATION (GRAPH 5 AND 6)

Graph 4 - Effect of braking energy generated by the type of axle on tyre temperature, and consequently on grip on braking in the afternoon.

On the contrary, if we want to see the same type of correlation, but during the acceleration phase on turn exit we’ll take a look at the graphs “Tyre Temperature versus Traction”. Here too the first graph shows the laps carried out in the morning and the second graph shows the afternoon session, and just the same you can see a net “thermal” advantage for the DR7 in the morning laps, and it’s not so evident in the afternoon session where the DR1 gains from turn 6 on.

HEAT GIVES SPEED  (GRAPH 7 AND 8)

Graph 5 - Effect of energy generated by traction by the type of axle on tyre temperature in the morning

Graph 6 - Effect of energy generated in traction by the type of axle on tyre temperature in the afternoon

However, how much such “thermal” effects are actually advantageous or not can be seen comparing how much the working temperatures of tyres effect speed round a turn when the kart going at highest speed (Tyre Temperature versus Apex Speed). Especially in this case, we can see how speed round a turn (red) improve in favour of the DR1 in the afternoon, even when the temperature are the same, but simply closer to the temperature generated by on tyres with the DR7 axle. The numerical data under the bars is interesting too: the first line shows combined G force, that is, the force that the tyre is actually capable of giving no matter which direction. You can see how the DR7 offer more resistance to temperature, also in the afternoon, but just the same in some parts of the track the DR1 manages to go faster.

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Track test DR1 AND DR7 AXLES

Graph 7 and 8 - Speed at the apex possible thanks to temperature generated on the tyre, more G combined value between morning (above) and afternoon (below).

Below, you can see outward tyre torsion, with DR1 axle this causes non homogenous grip on turn exit.

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WINTER WINTER TEST TEST

TO CONCLUDE... Well, once again we have seen how giving more grip to tyres doesn’t always turn out getting more turning speed round turns. However the working temperature of the track always has a decisive role and in this the axle is important. In this sense, we should underline how Bridgestone supplied accurate data regarding the right working pressure for its YNB tyres – a work “window” that allows us to see if we have got the right setup to get the most from that tyre – that is about 0.8-0-9 bar. This allowed us to see what was the best working temperature: we can say that during the test with a hard axle it was between 55°C and 60°C. We have to point out how we didn’t get better performance with a lower pressure, giving credit to a sentence that “tyre dealers” usually say: «Lots of people set the kart tyres, trying to solve problems with low pressure, instead of working on kart setup to make the tyre work better». This too might well be another “field of investigation” that we’ll be looking into shortly...

OUR THANKS TOI Officine in Progress, Unipro, Mario Fini (Circuit of Arce), DR Racing, Tm, OTK, New-Line and Stilo

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Vintage ICONIC KARTS FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF KARTING

1962 IKF WORLD CHAMPION, CLASS A UNLIMITED

The 1962 Go Kart 1200 Vintage karting enthusiast Scott Wigginton is the owner of ASW R & D Machining, a full service shop offering design prototype and production machining located in Santa Clara California. ARTICLE BY: FRANK WEIR

ome time back Scott was searching for a vintage kart to restore for himself but there was nothing in his locale then that appealed to him. Occasionally you just can’t see the wood for the trees. Scott discovered that his shop landlord George Jelich owned a pristine example of a 1962 Go Kart 1200 which had been crowned A Unlimited World Champion that year at a big IKF event held in Las Vegas. Scott then had the idea to re-manufacture the kart thinking that it would be equally as convenient to manufacture a batch as a single kart knowing that there were other vintage enthusiasts on the lookout for such a model. Today the Go Kart 1200 is considered by vintage kart72 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

ing enthusiasts to be one of the best rear engine karts ever made. Scott borrowed George’s kart so that all the dimensions could be collected and detailed drawings produced that would enable the kart to be accurately reproduced. To facilitate the collection of the dimension data the donor chassis was first mounted on a flat granite surface base. Each part of the kart, steering hoop, seat hoop, chassis rails etc were measured using conventional means such as caliper, scale, tape rule, protractor and height gauge. Next all the measured dimensions were used to produce working drawings using AutoCAD. This task was undertaken by a

colleague of Scott’s named Glenn Davis nicknamed Bubba, also a huge vintage karting enthusiast. Incidentally Bubba is no relation to that other Californian Glen with one n Davis who drove a kart around the world in 1961/62. The chassis materials used in the 1962 main frame called for 1 inch diameter by 0.096 4130 chrome moly tubing. The steering hoop and seat back hoop were fabricated from 0.625 inch and 0.75 inch diameter mild steel tubing respectively; Scott substituted 4130 for the mild steel in the re-production mode and used 0.085 inch wall thickness for the 1 inch diameter main rails. Sourcing a company to bend the tubing took some time. There

were local tube bending companies that were either too expensive, not interested, or didn’t understand the importance of the very accurate bends required for the chassis reproduction. After much searching Scott found a company online called Aero Tube Bending in Lancaster California. That area of California specializes in aircraft manufacturing so it seemed logical that the work could be done exactly as detailed on the drawings. AutoCAD drawings, sample parts and Go/No-Go gauges for formed tubes to drop into were provided to the company and a lead time of 3 months was provided. The compound bend of the sissy rail part of the main chassis leg was a real challenge since it was a three axis bend; Scott’s sample was made out of three pieces. The production legs were formed in two continuous length of tubing using a CNC bender something that Go Kart did not have back in 1962; the late Duff Livingstone, the principal at Go Kart was certainly one gifted engineer to handle such intricate bending. In the meantime a generic turn-over welding jig was made ready. Tooling was machined to mill and cut the tubing ends to provide joints that fitted exactly. Jim Haugner, also a vintage karting enthusiast, was responsibility for this part of the operation. Additional tooling was made to enable the rear axle bearing hangers to be welded accurately to the main longitudinal chassis rails and a shaft was fabricated so that the steering column support tabs could be accurately attached to the steering hoop and front axle. The tabs to carry the seat and belly pans were welded on to the chassis using those items with the tabs attached. After the first welder who was approached to undertake the welding relented on the work because of liability concerns Advanced Welding in Mountain View California, an Federal Aviation Administration approved welding shop, undertook the work. The frames were TIG welded using a stainless steel rod which did not require annealing after welding. Once the frames were welded together then cardboard templates were cut to provide patterns for the floor and seat which were fabricated from 16 gauge sheet alloy. Computer software was used to layout the shapes on the standard alloy sheet size to keep wastage to a minimum. In 1962 the seating area was fabricated using mild steel sheet so using the alloy sheet instead was a weight saving. Additional weight saving was also gained by reverse engineering the steel Azusa engine mount and

2 1. The new Go Kart 1200 is the only production kart that meets every IKF competition spec and bears the IKF Competition Approved Seal. The 1200 is solid completely ready to race. 2. It’s yesterday once more, the remanufactured 1962 Go Kart 1200 dual West Bend 820’s. 3. Welding fixture for spindles. 4. Welding fixture for front axle.

4 fabricating a laser cut replacement using 3/16” thick 5052 aluminum. Instrument Graphics of Newark California screen printed the Go Kart graphics on to the seat back upholstery covering. This was cured using ultra violet light which ensured that the ink would not run should the upholstery come in contact with fuel. Alex’s Auto Upholstery of Tracy California was entrusted with making the

finished seat cushions. The cushions were provided with zips to enable the thickness of the padding to be altered to suit individual body sizes. Fixtures to enable the spindles to be welded were made as well as alloy brake brackets copied from the Reed item that was an aftermarket unit in 1962. Back then the Go Kart 1200 came equipped with a 5 inch diameter Bendix drum VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 73

Vintage ICONIC KARTS FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF KARTING

brake. At this stage it was decided to upgrade the stopping power and use the Airheart 175 hydraulic brake instead with an 8.25 inch diameter ventilated disc. These discs were laser cut from hot rolled steel 5/32 inches thick at JP Manufacturing in Santa Clara California, then annealed and Blanchard ground to a finished thickness of 0.125 inches by Pacific Disk Grinding in Hollister California. Thankfully the Airheart caliper and master cylinder units were still available to buy but now made by a company called Tolomatic located in Minnesota. Other items such as the original foot pedals, steering wheel and steering column could still be purchased off the shelf at Azusa Engineering in California not too far from where the Go Kart was made all those years ago. Unfortunately the seat back fuel tanks that were so popular back in the day were difficult to source despite the fact that the tooling was still in the store at Azusa Engineering. Scott along with Bubba (Glenn Davis) decided to remanufacture a batch of fuel tanks to make the Go Kart 1200’s look exactly like they did back in the day. The aluminum fuel tanks were spun by a company located near Palo Alto; unfortunately they went out of business soon after completing the Go Kart job. They were a very old shop at the time, probably one of the last metal spinners in the Palo Alto area. Another of Bubba’s contribution to the project was to get the fuel tanks made. He made the caps and filler necks in the shop at ASW R & D Machining along with the fuel tank backs. The tanks were welded by an outsider who 74 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

did the work in his spare time. The spun parts along with the welding were the only operations undertaken outside of Scott’s shop to re-produce the gas tanks. The next problem that needed addressing was the wheels. Azusa Tristar wheels were still available but they were not period correct. A top of the range kart needed something up market in the wheel department. In 1962 the wheels to have on your kart were the Go Power units. Since the Go-Power factory used to be located only 10 miles away from Scott’s premises he decided to pay a visit to the original address at 1800 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, California. Scott discovered that the building had been turned into industrial condos, with a number of businesses in the building. He knocked on a few doors, inquiring about the GoPower company, but no one knew what he was talking about. Finally, Scott stepped into the last unit in the building and fortunately happened to meet a chap called Dave, who turned out to be the mechanic for Terry Buffum who had been one of the owners of Go-Power. Dave provided Scott with contact information for Terry Buffum, who at the time was working at

3 NASA/Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California where Scott had served as a machinist intern years earlier. Contact was made with Terry by phone and he was very gracious and glad to know that Scott was trying to preserve a part of karting history. Terry explained that many years earlier, the tooling for the wheels had been sold twice. Through other contacts and leads provided by Ter1. Welded frames ready for belly pan and seat fitting. 2. Turn over welding jig which can be altered to accommodate a variety of rear type historic kart frames. Photo shows jig upside down to allow welding of the underside of the front axle in situ. 3. Location fixture to enable welding of rear axle bearing hangers to chassis rails in the correct position.

6 4. Re-manufactured Go Power wheels. 5. Go Kart logo by the late Tom Medley. 6. Jig for checking that the tubing has been bent within tolerance. 7. A plumberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nightmare, the majority of the frame members needed to construct ten Go Kart 1200 frames.

7 ry, the current owners of the tooling were located, along with the original company that built the pressure die-cast tooling. From start to finish it took about nine months to get the aluminum wheels cast. Once Scott located the owner of the tooling he had to negotiate with them and the foundry to have the wheels pressure die cast. Additional work was also needed; Scottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s company ASW R & D Machining Inc. had to machine the 1 inch and 3/4

inch diameter bushings that were cast into the rear wheels. From inception to ten replica karts being ready for the track occurred over a period of 14 months working on off on. Not only was the kart reproduced it was improved. The braking system was upgraded from drum to hydraulic disc. As well the method that Go Kart adopted of just drilling the front bumper tubing to take the foot pedal pivots was addressed by providing

welded in bushes, a weakness pointed out by the late Alan Burgess in his track test report on the 1200 published in the October 1962 edition of his magazine. The use of alloy sheet in the seating area and on the engine mount made the finished kart lighter than the 1962 model, the weight of the original kart being another criticism by Burgess in his report.

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LEGENDARY KARTS by Glenn Davidson

TONY KART FORMULA

One of the few 90’s Tonykart’s I hadn’t restored was a Formula so when I managed to find one although it was a 28mm version rather than 30mm I couldn’t resist the opportunity. I decided to replicate the factory Australian Tonykart livery from the mid 90’s when they had sponsorship from Castrol as I always liked the look of their karts. 76 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

he engine is a Vortex VR95 which I managed to source from a friend in Europe as still the hardest thing other than finding race suits is finding engines in Australia. Recently ive found a place that re-coats the bolts in gold zinc so every bolt on the kart has had

the treatment and looks just like it did when new. I’m very happy with how the kart has turned out and it will be great to see it on track and take some photos of it in action which is the main reason I began restoring karts from the era.

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PECIAL PALMARES CIK-FIA 1964-2017

2017

CIK FIA TITLES

World Championship 1°Danny Keirle (Zanardi/Iame) World KZ Championship 1° Paolo De Conto (Crg/Tm) World Junior Championship 1° Dexter Patterson (Exprit/Tm) European Championship 1° Sami Taoufik (FA/Vortex)) European KZ Championship 1° Paolo De Conto (Crg/Tm) European Junior Championship 1° Jonny Edgar (Exprit Tm) European KZ2Championship 1° Leon Köhler (Tony Kart/Vortex) International KZ2 Super Cup 1° Alex Irlando (Sodi/Tm)

he CIK-FIA season is over in November and we at Vroom await to hear what’s going to happen in 2018. All that remains to be done is update the list of titles gained this year and also the records since… 1964, and relive those unforgettable moments. An important summary if you look at it carefully you can see the changes and the trends that have characterized these last 53 years of karting on a world wide scale. A summary that’s like a route that takes you along the history of this motorsport and highlights the work of those who have traced this route. The 2017 season has underlined Paolo DE Conto’s superpower and that of the CRG team powered by TM, two of the most important brands in world karting that have once again gained the title, and this year they have also taken home the 125 gear class European title. To be able to get such results there must be a special feeling between driver, engine and chassis. Already after the early part of the season the odds were that De Conto would be the driver to beat. And the double

win seized by this set up hasn’t been an absolute surprise for the karting circus, on the contrary, it was almost taken for granted. Despite this, the world final was very exciting thanks to Abasse’ performance, he too powered by TM. He managed to give De Conto food for thought for about 2/3 of the race. Even if there was just one duel between these champion drivers, there was some exciting driving because they were powered by brilliant engines. The engine reaffirms its position at the top of the class up with the best from 1995 to 2005 and then from 2015 to 2017 including the World Cup in 2010 with Bas Lammers and the 2013 World Championship with Max Verstappen. Fourteen titles in all, 14 World Cups and 15 European titles with KZ. Without counting the ones won with the 125 gear class Cadet: 1 World Cup, 3 International Super Cup events and 19 European Championship wins. Looking at the results for the 2017 season once again we can onlu underline TM’s brilliant results and its great satisfaction in getting the World and European

Paolo De Conto is the driver of the year. After having dominated the European Championship he also wins the KZ world champion. A very well deserved success seeing the evident superiority shown by CRG powered by TM. Two names consolidated by victories. The factory near Pesaro (I) gets five titles out of eight this year dominating the gear class event and winning the European and World Junior title.

Outsider Denny Keirle (Zanardi/Iame) wins the CIK-FIA world championship at PFI. Left, Paolo De Conto (CRG/TM) wins grabs all there was to take in KZ.

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PECIAL PALMARES CIK-FIA 1964-2017

Junior title plus the KZ and the Super Cup with Irlando and the European KZ, it is the factory that has won most this year. For the time being, it’s second out of the motoring manufacturing factories, on the general scoreboard, just 8 lengths behind IAME. But if it continues like this and summing up the success of its direct drive too, TM counts on attacking the leadership of the motor factory with the highest profile in the karting world. The bond with CRG has been a winning one and also Giancarlo Tinini’s factory is getting the success and the acknowledgement it deserves. The Team from Desenzano tops in KZ and in the last five editions of the World Championship, it has taken home 4 wins and 3 of them were consecutive. Only BirelART has done better with a sequence of four title gained from 1997 to 2000. A record that CRG could equal already in 2018 thanks to its potential. CRG is the most successful brand in the historyy of karting events. This year it has gained two other CIK-FIA World Championship titles, the KZ as CRG and the OK with Zanardi (Tinini Group) with a surprising win by outsider Danny Keirle, and the European Championship always with De Conto (CRG). An enviable loot. This year Tony Kart has

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hit the track with a very determined team introducing among them its number one of the 2016 season, the Spaniard Pedro Hiltbrand, first at the World Championship and the OK European Championship and winner of the International KZ2 Super Cup. However, he didn’t manage to repeat himself through sheer bad luck, especially during the last race of the season, the most important, which was the World Championship held at PFI. On front row grid start but had problems with his exhaust valve and had to take an early exit just after the start. This tile lady luck didn’t assist the team from Prevalle who had to do without its top driver Marco Ardigò, who was involved in a crash during the first round of the European Championship in Sarno, a broken rib has put him out of the game for practically all the season. Despite these misfortunes for the racing team Tony Kart was successful in the KZ2 European Championship with German driver Leon Köhler (Tony KartVortex) and above all Dexter Patterson from England who won the OKJ (Exprit-Tm) title, Sami Taoufik (FA-Vortex) winner of the OK European Championship and the OKJ title taken by Jonny Edgar (Exprit-TM. Not bad at all, a loot that includes two continental titles with Vortex. The

De Conto (CRG-TM) celebrating his umpteenth win in Spain, a win that gives him the continental KZ title. Here he’s between Bas Lammers (Sodikart-TM) and Marjin Kremers (BirelART-TM).

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1988 1989 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

GUIDO SALA (I) GUIDO SALA (I) SUSANNA RAGANELLI (I) EDGARDO ROSSI (CH) THOMAS NILSSON (S) FRANÇOIS GOLDSTEIN (B) FRANÇOIS GOLDSTEIN (B) FRANÇOIS GOLDSTEIN (B) FRANÇOIS GOLDSTEIN (B) TERRY FULLERTON (UK) RICCARDO PATRESE (I) FRANÇOIS GOLDSTEIN (B) FELICE ROVELLI (I) FELICE ROVELLI (I) LAKE SPEED (USA) PETER KOENE (NL) PETER DE BRUIJN (NL) MIKE WILSON (UK) FK MIKE WILSON (UK) FK MIKE WILSON (UK) FK JORN HAASE (DK) FK MIKE WILSON (UK) FK AUGUSTO RIBAS (BR) FK GIAMPIERO SIMONI (I) FK MIKE WILSON (UK) FK EMMANUEL COLLARD (F) SUPER 100 MIKE WILSON (UK) FK GERT MUNKHOLM (DK) SUPER 100 JAN MAGNUSSEN (DK) FK JARNO TRULLI (I) FK DANILO ROSSI (I) FK NICOLA GIANNIBERTI (I) FSA ALESSANDRO MANETTI (I) FSA MASSIMILIANO ORSINI (I) FSA JOHNNY MISLIJEVIC (S) FSA DANILO ROSSI (I) FSA DAVIDE FORÈ (I) FSA DANILO ROSSI (I) FSA DAVIDE FORÈ (I) FSA VITANTONIO LIUZZI (I) FSA GIEDO VAN DER GARDE (NL) FSA WADE G. CUNNINGHAM (NZ) FA DAVIDE FORÈ (I) FA OLIVER OAKES (UK) FA DAVIDE FORÈ (I) FA MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) KF1 MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) KF1 ARNAUD KOZLINSKI (F) SKF NYCK DE VRIES (NL) KF2 NYCK DE VRIES (NL) KF1 FLAVIO CAMPONESCHI (I) KF1 TOM JOYNER (UK) KF LANDO NORRIS (UK) KF KAROL BASZ (POL) KF PEDRO HILTBRAND (ESP) OK DENNY KEIRLE (UK) OK

TECNO/PARILLA TECNO/BM TECNO/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA ROBARDIE/BM ROBARDIE/PARILLA ROBARDIE/PARILLA TAIFUN/PARILLA TAIFUN/PARILLA BIREL/KOMET BIREL/KOMET BM/BM BM/BM BM/BM BIREL/PARILLA DAP/DAP SWISS HUTLESS/PARILLA BIREL/KOMET BIREL/KOMET BIREL/KOMET KALÌ KART/KOMET KALÌ KART/KOMET BIREL/KOMET PCR/PCR CRG/KOMET CRG/ROTAX CRG/KOMET PCR/ATOMIK CRG/ROTAX ALL KART/PARILLA CRG/ROTAX HAASE/ROTAX CRG/ROTAX SWISS HUTLESS/ITALSISTEM TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/CRG TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/CRG TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/MAXTER CRG/MAXTER CRG/MAXTER TONY KART/VORTEX GILLARD/PARILLA TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/MAXTER ZANARDI/PARILLA ZANARDI/PARILLA TONY KART/VORTEX ZANARDI/TM FA KART/VORTEX KOSMIC/VORTEX CRG/PARILLA ZANARDI/IAME

OTK group engine counts 30 wins behind TM that leads with 38 titles. On the general scoreboard it’s third with 58 wins in CIK-FIA events behind IAME and TM. Out of the 8 CIK-FIA titles given this year there’s the International KZ2 Super Cup won by Sodikart with Alex Irlando, powered by TM tuned by Franco Galiffa. A victory that

WORLD FC/KZ CHAMPIONSHIP 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001/2002 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

GIANNI MAZZOLA (I) GABRIELE TARQUINI (I) PIER MARIO CANTONI (I) FABRIZIO GIOVANARDI (I) ALESSANDRO PICCINI (I) PETER RYDELL (S) GIANLUCA GIORGI (I) ALESSANDRO PICCINI (I) ALESSANDRO PICCINI (I) DANILO ROSSI (I) ALESSANDRO PICCINI (I) JARNO TRULLI (I) GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) FRANCESCO LAUDATO (I) GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) NON DISPUTED MAX VERSTAPPEN (NL) KZ MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) KZ JORRIT PEX (NL) KZ PAOLO DE CONTO (I) KZ PAOLO DE CONTO (I) KZ

BIREL/BALEN KALÌ KART/BALEN KALÌ KART/BALEN TONY KART/PAVESI DAP/PAVESI ALL KART/PAVESI KALÌ KART/KALÌ KART BIREL/PAVESI BIREL/PAVESI CRG/PAVESI KALÌ KART/PAVESI TONY KART/PAVESI BIESSE/TM BIESSE/TM BIREL/TM BIREL/TM BIREL/TM BIREL/TM --------------------CRG/TM TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/TM CRG/TM CRG/TM

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FA/KF2/KF JUNIOR/OK JUNIOR 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

DANILO ROSSI (I) FA ALESSANDRO MANETTI (I) FA NICOLA GIANNIBERTI (I) FA DAVID TERRIEN (F) FA MARCO BARINDELLI (I) FA GASTAO FRAGUAS (BR) FA J.CHRISTOPHE RAVIER (F) FA JAMES COURTNEY (AUS) FA RUBEN CARRAPATOSO (BR) FA FRANCK PERERA (F) FA COLIN BROWN (GB) FA

CRG/ROTAX TONY KART/ROTAX TONY KART/ROTAX SODI/ROTAX HAASE/ROTAX TONY KART/ITALSISTEM TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TOP KART/PARILLA

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

ALESSIO LORANDI (I) KF JUNIOR ENAAM AHMED (GB) KF JUNIOR LOGAN SARGEANT (USA) KF JUNIOR VICTOR MARTINS (F) OK JUNIOR DEXTER PATTERSON (UK) OK JUNIOR

TONY KART/PARILLA FA KART/VORTEX FA KART/VORTEX KOSMIC/PARILLA EXPRIT/TM

“U18” WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 2011 2012 2013/15

JAKE DENNIS (GB) MATTHEW GRAHAM (GB) HENRY EASTHOPE (GB) NON DISPUTED

TOP KART/WKE ZANARDI/WKE SODI/WKE ---------------------

matured on the last lap that ended with Irlando overtaking the leader Tornqvist (CRG-TM) after a spectacular race. A photo-finish arrival over the finishing line with the Italian just 49/1000 ahead of the Swede. What a memorable day in Wackersdorf, one that rewarded spectators with two of the most exciting finals of the season.

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PECIAL PALMARES CIK-FIA 1964-2017

1964/2017 1990/2006 CHASSIS

CHASSIS

CRG 80 TONY KART 64 BIREL 55 SWISS HUTLESS 12 ALL KART 11 INTREPID 11 TECNO KART 11 ENERGY 10 ZANARDI 10 FA KART 9 BIESSE 5 HAASE 5 MARANELLO 5 PCR 5 TOP KART 5 BM 4 DAP 4 GILLARD 4 SODI 5 TECNO 4 KOSMIC 3 MACH 1 3 MIKE 1 3 ROBARDIE 3 TAIFUN 3 DINO 3 DR 2 EXPRIT 2 MARI 2 SIRIO 2 ZIP 2 ART GRAND PRIX 1 MAD CROC 1 BRM 1 FULLERTON 1 GOLD 1 IHLE 1 ITALSISTEM 1 BARLOTTI 1 LANDIA 1 LENZO 1 MERLIN 1 PRAGA 1 TRULLI 1 YAMAHA 1

CRG 37 TONY KART 36 BIREL 28 ENGINES ROTAX TM VORTEX IAME MAXTER PAVESI ITALSISTEM

2007/2017 CHASSIS

TONY KART CRG INTREPID ZANARDI ENERGY FA KART MARANELLO KOSMIC DR EXPRIT SODIKART ART GRAND PRIX BIREL LENZO MAD CROC PCR PRAGA TOP KART

24 22 10 10 8 8 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

ENGINES TM 38 VORTEX 30 IAME 14 MAXTER 11

ENGINES IAME TM VORTEX ROTAX MAXTER PAVESI ITALSISTEM BM PCR BMC BALEN DAP DINO ATOMIK COMER KALร -KART KZH SIRIO YAMAHA BMB FOX MORBIDELLI MS-CZ TITAN XTR MODENA ENGINES

37 34 28 18 13 13 11

80 72 58 46 24 23 11 7 7 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

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Above, Leon Kรถhler (Tony Kart-Vortex) European KZ2 title winner after a very hectic final. Below, Alex Irlando, (Sodikart-TM) is very fast he gains KZ2 Super Coppa International win after coming up and beating the leader over the finishing line.

CIK-FIA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUND THREE HELD AT LE MANS (F), LORENZO TRAVISANUTTO (ZANARDI-IAME) IS THE WINNER. THE ITALIAN HAD ALL THE RIGHT CARDS TO WIN THE EUROPEAN TOO, HE DESERVED MORE THAN THIRD FINAL PLACE. BELOW, ENGLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JONNY EDGAR (EXPRIT-TM) IS REALLY FAST, HE STORMS OFF TO GRAB JUNIOR TITLE, A WELL-DESERVED WIN INDEED.

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PECIAL PALMARES CIK-FIA 1964-2017

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1988 1989 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010/2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

PETER DE BRUIJN (NL) FK MIKE WILSON (UK) FK MIKE WILSON (UK) FK STEFAN FRIETSCH (D) FK YVAN MULLER (F) FK ALESSANDRO ZANARDI (I) FK FEDERICO GEMMO (I) FK GERT MUNKHOLM (DK) SUPER 100 MARC GOOSSENS (B) FK JOS VERSTAPPEN (NL) SUPER 100 MARTIJN KOENE (NL) FK MASSIMILIANO ORSINI (I) FSA GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) FK NICOLA GIANNIBERTI (I) FSA JARNO TRULLI (I) FSA MASSIMILIANO ORSINI (I) FSA JONNY MISLIJEVIC (S) FSA JENSON BUTTON (GB) FSA DAVIDE FORÈ (I) FSA GIUSEPPE PALMIERI (I) FSA MARIO SIEGERS (NL) FSA CARLO VAN DAM (NL) FA DAVID HEMKEMEYER (D) FA BAS LAMMERS (NL) FA NICK DE BRUIJN (NL) FA MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) FA MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) FA MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) KF1 MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) KF1 AARO VAINIO (FIN) SKF NON DISPUTED MAX VERSTAPPEN (NL) KF CALLUM ILOTT (UK) KF BEN HANLEY (UK) KF PEDRO HILTBRAND (ESP) OK SAMI TAOUFIK (MAR) OK

TECNO KART/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA KALÌ KART/KOMET KALÌ KART/KOMET KALÌ KART/KOMET TECNO KART/KOMET PCR/PCR TECNO KART/KOMET SWISS HUTLESS/ROTAX SWISS HUTLESS/ROTAX TONY KART/ROTAX KALÌ KART/ROTAX HAASE/ROTAX TONY KART/ROTAX SWISS HUTLESS/ITALSISTEM TONY KART/VORTEX TECNO KART/ROTAX TONY KART/VORTEX SWISS HUTLESS/ITALSISTEM TRULLI/VORTEX GILLARD/PARILLA MACH1/KZH SWISS HUTLESS/VORTEX GILLARD/PARILLA TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX MARANELLO/MAXTER ------------------CRG/TM ZANARDI/PARILLA MADCROC/TM CRG/PARILLA FA/VORTEX

p al EUROPEAN FA CHAMPIONSHIP

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

FABIANO BELLETTI (I) FA ALESSANDRO MANETTI (I) FA DANIELE PARRILLA (I) FA GUY DE NIES (B) FA DAVIDE FORÈ (I) FA GIORGIO PANTANO (I) FA GIORGIO PANTANO (I) FA ANTONIO GARCIA (E) FA CESAR CAMPANICO (P) FA JULIEN PONCELET (F) FA

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

WILL STEVENS (GB) FLAVIO CAMPONESCHI (I) JORDAN CHAMBERLAIN (GB) NICOLAJ MOLLER-MADSEN (DK) SAMI LUKA (B) BEN BARNICOAT (GB)

ALL KART/PARILLA TONY KART/ROTAX MARI/ITALSISTEM TECNO KART/ROTAX TONY KART/ROTAX CRG/ROTAX CRG/CRG MARI/ITALSISTEM CRG/CRG SWISS HUTLESS/ITALSISTEM

mar

EUROPEAN KF2 CHAMPIONSHIP

84 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/TM ENERGY/TM ENERGY/TM ART GRAND PRIX/PARILLA

EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

GIANLUCA MALANDRUCCO (I) BAS LEINDERS (B) JORDI SURALLES (E) MASSIMO DEL COL (I) MASSIMILIANO RUSSOMANDO (I) PHILIP CLOOSTERMANS (B) WILLEMJAN KEIJZER (NL) MARINO SPINOZZI (I) NELSON VAN DER POL (NL) FRANK PEREIRA (F) REINHARD KOFLER (A) MICHAEL AMMERMULLER (D) SEBASTIAN VETTEL (D) SEBASTIEN BUÉMI (CH) NICHOLAS RISITANO (I) STEFANO COLETTI (MC) MICHAEL CHRISTENSEN (DK) MIGUEL MONRAS (E) JACK HARVEY (GB) KF3 AARO VAINIO (FIN) KF3 NYCK DE VRIES (NL) KF3 ALEXANDER ALBON (GB) KF3 GEORGE RUSSELL (GB) KF3 GEORGE RUSSELL (GB) KF3 LANDO NORRIS (GB) KF JUNIOR ENAAM AHMED (GB) KF JUNIOR CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD (DK) KFJ FINLAY KENNEALLY (GB) OKJ JONNY EDGAR (UK) OKJ

1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

TERRY FULLERTON (GB) F. EUROPE JEAN-PIERRE KNOPS (B) F.EUROPE CATHY MULLER (F) F. EUROPE TONI ZOESERL (A) F. EUROPE PETER DE BRUIJN (NL) ICA JOSEF BERTZEN (D) ICA STEFANO MODENA (I) ICA STEFANO MODENA (I) ICA JUKKA VIRTANEN (FIN) ICA LINUS LUNDBERG (S) ICA MICHAEL SCHUMACHER (D) ICA MARTIJN KOENE (NL) ICA JOS VERSTAPPEN (NL) ICA EDDY COUBARD (F) ICA DANIELE PARRILLA (I) ICA OLIVER FIORUCCI (F) ICA ARNAUD SARRAZIN (F) ICA NARCIS CALLENS (B) ICA ARNAUD LECONTE (F) ICA LUDOVIC VEVE (F) ICA ALESSANDRO BALZAN (I) ICA JULIEN PONCELET (F) ICA STEFANO FABI (I) ICA JULIEN MENARD (F) ICA JEAN PHILIPPE GUIGNET (F) ICA JONATHAN THONON (B) ICA NICOLA BOCCHI (I) ICA KEVIN ESTRE (F) ICA JAMES CALADO (GB) ICA NICOLA NOLÈ (I) ICA

CRG/PARILLA TECNO KART/ROTAX CRG/PARILLA TONY KART/PARILLA MIKE1/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA HAASE/TITAN TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/MAXTER BIREL/TM BIREL/PARILLA GILLARD/PARILLA MARANELLO/PARILLA MARANELLO/XTR MARANELLO/MAXTER ZANARDI/PARILLA INTREPID/TM INTREPID/TM INTREPID/TM FA KART/VORTEX FA KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX FA KART/VORTEX EXPRIT/TM

EUROPEAN 100 ICA CHAMPIONSHIP ZIP/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA SWISS H./PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA TECNO KART/PARILLA ZIP/PARILLA DAP/DAP DAP/DAP BIREL/PARILLA DINO/DINO KALÌ KART/PARILLA TONY KART/ROTAX SWISS HUTLESS/ROTAX DINO/ROTAX BIREL/ROTAX MERLIN/ATOMIK TECNO KART/ROTAX BIESSE/FOX TECNO KART/ROTAX BIESSE/ROTAX TOP KART/COMER CRG/CRG TOP KART/COMER TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/MAXTER CRG/MAXTER SODI/TM TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/TM

ARDIGÒ This has been a very hard season for Marco Ardigò who got caught up in a serious crash and ended up with a broken rib during the first round of the European Championship in Sarno. A long convalescence means that he couldn’t defend his continental title gained in 2016. He was greatly missed, let’s hope that Tony Kart standard bearer will soon get better and tackle the next season in the best of ways. Right, Dexter Patterson (ExpritTM) Junior world champion.

WORLD CUP 100cc FK/FSA/FA 1991 1991 1992 1992 1993 1993 1994 1994 1995 1995 1996 1996 1997 1997 1998 1998 1999 1999 2000 2000 2001 2002 2003/2005 2006

DONNY CREVELS (NL) FK DARRELL SMITH (AUS) FA DANILO ROSSI (I) FK ALBERT PEDEMONTE (I) FA NICOLA GIANNIBERTI (I) FK PAOLO MORO (I) FA JARNO TRULLI (I) FSA LUCA CASAZZA (I) FA JARNO TRULLI (I) FSA DANIEL WHELDON (GB) FA MASSIMILIANO ORSINI (I) FSA MILOS PAVLOVIC (I) FA KAZUSHI SANO (J) FSA KOSUKE MATSUURA (J) FA TAKAO MATSUYA (J) FSA FA - NON DISPUTED VITANTONIO LIUZZI (I) FSA JULIEN PONCELET (F) FA DAVIDE FORÈ (I) FSA LEWIS HAMILTON (GB) FA NON DISPUTED JEROME D’AMBROSIO (B) FA NON DISPUTED ARNAUD KOZLINSKI (F) FA

2007 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012 2013/15

MICHAEL RYALL (GB) KF2 OLIVER ROWLAND (I) KF2 DAVID DA LUZ (P) KF2 GIULIANO NICETA (I) KF3 KF2 - NON DISPUTED ALEXANDER ALBON (GB) KF3 LORIS SPINELLI (I) KF2 CHARLES LECLERC (MCO) KF3 FELICE TIENE (I) KF2 LUCA CORBERI (I) KF3 KF/KFJ - NON DISPUTED

TECNO KART/ROTAX PCR/PCR CRG/ROTAX KALÌ KART/ROTAX HAASE/ROTAX KALÌ KART/ITALSISTEM TONY KART/ROTAX CRG/ROTAX TONY KART/ROTAX FULLERTON/ROTAX SWISS HUTLESS/ITALSISTEM BIREL/ROTAX ITALSISTEM/ITALSISTEM BIESSE/ROTAX YAMAHA/ROTAX --------------------CRG/CRG SWISS HUTLESS/ITALSISTEM TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/PARILLA --------------------BIREL/TM --------------------INTREPID/TM

WORLD CUPS 125cc KF2/KF3 BIREL/TM TONY KART/VORTEX ZANARDI/PARILLA TONY KART/VORTEX --------------------INTREPID/TM TONY KART/VORTEX INTREPID/TM CRG/BMB KOSMIC/VORTEX ---------------------

WORLD CUP 125cc KF1/SKF 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011/15

MARCO ARDIGÒ (I) KF1 DAVIDE FORÈ (I) KF1 YANNICK DE BRABANDER (B) SKF OLIVER ROWLAND (GB) SKF NON DISPUTED

1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997/2006

AMEDEO PACITTO (I) D.CARLSSON (S) ALAN LANE (GB) MARC WOUTERS (B) DEREK BLISS (GB) ALAIN PROST (F) FELICE ROVELLI (I) ADRIAN WEPFER (CH) ANDREA DE CESARIS (I) PAOLO BANDINELLI (I) STEFANO MODENA (I) THOMAS GLAUSER (CH) BERND SCHNEIDER (D) MICHEL VACIRCA (NL) ROMEO DEILA (I) FRANK VAN EGLEM (NL) ANDREA GILARDI (I) ANDREA GILARDI (I) FABRIZIO DE SIMONE (I) JAN MAGNUSSEN (DK) GIANLUCA MALANDRUCCO (I) JAN MAGNUSSEN (DK) JÉRÉMIE DUFOUR (F) SÉBASTIEN PHILIPPE (F) BRUNO BALOCCO (I) ENNIO GANDOLFI (I) GIORGIO PANTANO (I) JAMES COURTNEY (AUS) FERNANDO ALONSO (E) NON DISPUTED

TONY KART/VORTEX MARANELLO/MAXTER INTREPID/TM ZANARDI/PARILLA ---------------------

WORLD CUP 100 JUNIOR TECNO/BM IHLE/PARILLA BARLOTTI/KOMET TAIFUN/PARILLA ZIP/KOMET BIREL/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA BM/BM SIRIO/SIRIO SIRIO/SIRIO BIREL/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA BIREL/PARILLA ALL KART/PCR BIREL/PCR TECNO KART/PARILLA BIREL/PCR BIREL/PCR BIREL/PARILLA TONY KART/ROTAX CRG/PARILLA TONY KART/ROTAX DINO/DINO SODI/DINO MIKE 1/PARILLA KALÌ KART/PARILLA CRG/ROTAX TONY KART/VORTEX MIKE 1/PARILLA ---------------------

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PECIAL PALMARES CIK-FIA 1964-2017

EUROPEAN FC/SICC/KZ CHAMPIONSHIP 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

AAD VAN DAALEN (NL) FC BEN VAN VELZEN (NL) FC GIANFRANCO BARONI (I) FC GIANFRANCO BARONI (I) FC GIANFRANCO BARONI (I) FC GIANCARLO VANARIA (I) FC FRANK LEUZE (D) FC GIANFRANCO BARONI (I) FC ALESSANDRO PICCINI (I) FC ALESSANDRO PICCINI (I) FC GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) FC GIANLUCA BEGGIO (I) FC RONNIE QUINTARELLI (I) FC FRANCESCO LAUDATO (I) FC ALESSANDRO PICCINI (I) FC FRANCESCO LAUDATO (I) S-ICC ALESSANDRO MANETTI (I) S-ICC FRANCESCO LAUDATO (I) S-ICC FRANCESCO LAUDATO (I) S-ICC ROBERTO TONINELLI (I) S-ICC ALESSANDRO MANETTI (I) KZ1 JONATHAN THONON (B) KZ1 BAS LAMMERS (NL) KZ1 BAS LAMMERS (NL) KZ1 PAOLO DE CONTO (I) KZ1 JORRIT PEX (NL) KZ1 MAX VERSTAPPEN (NL) KZ RICK DREEZEN (B) KZ FLAVIO CAMPONESCHI (I) KZ MARCO ARGIGÒ (I) KZ PAOLO DE CONTO (I) KZ

86 VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

LANDIA/YAMAHA MACH1/YAMAHA ALL KART/BMC ALL KART/BMC ALL KART/BMC KALÌ KART/PAVESI MACH 1/KZH BIREL/BMC ALL KART/MORBIDELLI CRG/PAVESI BIREL/TM BIREL/TM TONY KART/VORTEX BIREL/TM CRG/TM BIREL/TM CRG/PAVESI BIREL/TM BIREL/TM BRM/TM INTREPID/TM CRG/MAXTER INTREPID/TM INTREPID/TM ENERGY/TM CRG/TM CRG/TM ZANARDI/PARILLA TONY KART/VORTEX TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/TM

WORLD CUPS S-ICC/KZ1/KZ2 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012 2013/14

ROBERT DIRKS (NL) S-ICC ENNIO GANDOLFI (I) S-ICC FRANCESCO LAUDATO (I) S-ICC DAVIDE FORE’ (I) S-ICC JONATHAN THONON (B) KZ1 JONATHAN THONON (B) KZ1 JONATHAN THONON (B) KZ1 BAS LAMMERS (NL) KZ1 JONATHAN THONON (B) KZ1 JOEY HANSSEN (NL) KZ2 BAS LAMMERS (NL) KZ1 JORDON LENNOX-LAMB (GB) KZ2 KZ2 - NON DISPUTED

2013 2013 2013 2014 2015 2017 2017

DORIAN BOCCOLACCI (F) KZ2 KAROL BASZ (PL) KF LANDO NORRIS (GB) KF JUNIOR RYAN VAN DER BURGT (NL) KZ2 THOMAS LAURENT (F) KZ2 PEDRO HILTBRAND (ESP) KZ2 ALEX IRLANDO (I) KZ2

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

JAN SVANEBY (S) FC-2 MILAN SIMAK (CZ) FC-2 GIANFRANCO BARONI (I) FC-2 MARIO BERTUZZI (I) ICC PIER MARIO CANTONI (I) ICC RICCARDO FRANCHINI (I) ICC PIETRO SASSI (I) ICC LAMBERTO DI FERDINANDO (I) ICC PAOLO PULLIERO (I) ICC VINCENZO SAITTA (I) ICC GIANLUCA PAGLICCI (I) ICC WALTER VAN LENT (NL) ICC ROBERTO MONTAGNANI (I) ICC STEFANO RODANO (I) ICC STEFANO MARCOLIN (I) ICC VINCENZO AZZOLINA (I) ICC PAOLO GAGLIARDINI (I) ICC STEFAN HAAK (D) ICC FILIPPO FLENGHI (I) ICC VALERIO SAPERE (I) ICC CLAUDE MONTEIRO (F) ICC VALERIO SAPERE (I) ICC ALESSANDRO SFERRELLA (I) ICC ROBERT DIRKS (NL) ICC MANUEL COZZAGLIO (I) ICC RICCARDO VAN DER ENDE (NL) ICC ERIK JANIS (CZ) ICC ERNST BEHRENS (D) ICC THOMAS KNOPPER (NL) KZ2 TONY LAVANANT (F) KZ2 ANGELO LOMBARDO (I) KZ2 PAOLO DE CONTO (I) KZ2 FABIAN FEDERER (I) KZ2 SIMAS JUODVIRSIS (LT) KZ2 EMIL ANTONSEN (N) KZ2 ANDREA DALÉ (I) KZ2 JOEL JOHANSSON (S) KZ2 FABIAN FEDERER (I) KZ2 LEON KOHLER (GER) KZ2

BIREL/TM BIREL/TM BIREL/TM TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/MAXTER CRG/MAXTER CRG/MAXTER INTREPID/TM CRG/MAXTER LENZO/TM PRAGA/PARILLA CRG/MAXTER ---------------------

INTERNATIONAL SUPER CUP ENERGY/TM TONY KART/VORTEX FA KART/VORTEX DR/TM TONY KART/VORTEX CRG/MAXTER SODI/TM

EUROPEAN FC-SICC-KZ2 CHAMPIONSHIP KALÌ KART/ROTAX SIMAK/MS-CZ BIREL/ROTAX ALL KART/ROTAX ALL KART/PAVESI KALÌ KART/PAVESI BIREL/PAVESI KALÌ KART/PAVESI KALÌ KART/PAVESI KALÌ KART/PAVESI KALÌ KART/KALÌ KART ALL KART/TM TONY KART/TM KALÌ KART/TM KALÌ KART/TM GOLD/PAVESI BIREL/TM CRG/TM BIREL/TM BIREL/TM BIREL/TM CRG/PAVESI TOP KART/PAVESI BIREL/PAVESI BIREL/PAVESI ENERGY/TM BIREL/PAVESI ENERGY/TM PCR/TM ENERGY/TM TONY KART/VORTEX ENERGY/TM CRG/TM ENERGY/TM DR/TM CRG/MAXTER ENERGY/TM CRG/MODENA ENGINES TONY KART/VORTEX

REFERENCE POINTS Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals, 18th edition. Superkart! USA Super Nationals, 21st edition. There are some reference points on the karting calendar and these are two of them, in November, these are the two major karting events in the world. We also have reference points concerning circuits, like Lonato, Genk and Kristianstad, three of the most beautiful and most appreciated tracks in Europe. Sometimes however, reference points do change. Up to a few years ago, the first real event in international karting was the Winter Cup held at the South Garda Karting circuit in Lonato, then WSK Promotion added the WSK Champions’ Cup a month earlier, so now that is the first big event of the year… In a fast environment like karting, everything changes in the blink of an eye. Talking about drivers, two years ago if someone asked

me “who is the reference driver in KZ?” I’d have answered “Marco Ardigò”, of course! Now I’d say “Paolo De Conto”… The driver from Brescia who has been really unlucky this year, and with Christmas drawing near I’d like to wish him a speedy recovery, because this world still needs him with his helmet and his race suit on. We have come to the end of another incredible year, in this issue you can find updated CIK-FIA results and some interesting views and information about the future: a close up on two huge markets: China and USA, the calendar the 2018 season and a list of chassis that have been homologated for the next three years. All that is left for me to do is to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. A. Roca

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GALLERY

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GALLERY

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Index 01

S pectators on the grandstands starting a wave (photo by: Cityphoto)

08 Jan Wade taking a picture of her flying Mikey Mouse (photo by: Cityphoto)

02 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals, a multicultural environment (photo by: Cityphoto)

09 A mother and her little champion, family first (photo by: Cityphoto)

03 Columbian representative, winner of the 2017 Team Contest (photo by: Cityphoto)

10 Rotax staff and the 360 karts on the main straight of the Kartodromo Internacional do Algarve (photo by: Cityphoto)

04 A brand new Rotax rear bum..! (photo by: Cityphoto) 05

Fully focused (photo by: Cityphoto)

06 Tijem van Der Helm celebrated by Dutch mascot (photo by: Cityphoto) 07 Australian kangaroo ready to go! (photo by: Cityphoto)

You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always win. (photo by: Cityphoto)

12 SuperKart! USAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amazing trophies (photo by: M. Gonzalez) 13 Anthony Abbasse gives Bas Lammers an ultimate ride on Sodikart in Las Vegas (photo by: M. Gonzalez)

VROOM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 95

2018 Racing Calendar IF YOU DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T WANT TO LOSE ANY RACES NEXT YEAR, HERE IS SOMETHING FOR YOU...! A COMPLETE CALENDAR WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD 2018.

DATE JANUARY

CHAMPIONSHIP / EVENT

13th & 14th

SKUSA! Winter Series - Round I & II

20th & 21st

27th & 28th

S1 Pro, S2 Semi-Pro, S4 Masters, S4 SuperMasters, Micro Swift, Mini Swift, X30 Junior, X30 Senior, X30 Masters, Briggs&Stratton X30 Asia Cup X30 (Cadet, Junior, Senior, Masters, Veteran) FWT - Round I ROK (Master, Senior, Junior, Shifter, Shifter Masters, Micro, Mini) Rotax MAX Asia Challenge - Invitational race Rotax (Micro, Junior, Senior, DD2 and Masters & Veterans) Bambino Comer 50cc, Rotax (Micro, Mini, Junior, Senior), IAME X30 Dubai O'Plate (Senior, Masters, Shifter, Shifter Veterans, Cadet, Junior) WSK Champions Cup KZ2, OK, OKJ, 60 Mini Challenge of the Americas - Round I ROK (Master, Senior, Junior, Shifter, Shifter Masters, Micro, Mini) Rotax (Rotax 125 Heavy, Rotax 125 Light, Junior, Mini, Micro, DD2 Australian Rotax MAX Pro Tour - Round I Masters, DD2)

FEBRUARY 3rd & 4th

WSK Super Master Series - Round I

10th & 11th

SKUSA! Winter Series - Round III & IV

17th & 18th 24th & 25th

CLASSES

IAME Winter Cup Winter Cup FWT - Round II Challenge of the Americas - Round II Australian Kart Championship - Round I Belgian MAX Challenge - Round I

KZ2, OK, OKJ, 60 Mini S1 Pro, S2 Semi-Pro, S4 Masters, S4 SuperMasters, Micro Swift, Mini Swift, X30 Junior, X30 Senior, X30 Masters, Briggs&Stratton IAME (Mini, Junior, Senior, Master, Shifter) KZ2, OK, OKJ, Mini ROK ROK (Master, Senior, Junior, Shifter, Shifter Masters, Micro, Mini) ROK (Master, Senior, Junior, Shifter, Shifter Masters, Micro, Mini) KZ2, KA1, KA2, TaG 125, KA4 Junior, KA3, Cadet 12, Cadet 9 Rotax (Micro, Mini, Junior, Senior, Senior Plus, DD2, Gentlemen)

CIRCUIT

NATION

Homestead

Florida, USA

Bandaragama Jupiter Sepang

Sri Lanka Florida, USA Malasya

Dubai Autodrome

Dubai

Adria Phoenix

Italy Arizona, USA

Port Melbourne

Australia

Adria

Italy

Ocala

Florida, USA

Valencia Lonato Ocala Fontana Monarto Genk

Spain Italy Florida, USA California, USA Australia Belgium

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2018 Racing Calendar

MARCH 3rd & 4th 10th & 11th

17th & 18th

24th & 25th APRIL 7th & 8th

WSK Super Master Series - II round

KZ2, OK, OKJ, 60 Mini S1 Pro, S2 Semi-Pro, S4 Masters, S4 SuperMasters, Micro Swift, Mini Swift, X30 Junior, X30 Senior, X30 Masters Trofeo Margutti Mini ROK, OK, OKJ, KZ2 X30 SouthEast Asia - Round I X30 (Cadet, Junior, Senior, Super Shifter, Masters & Veteran) Campeonato de EspaÃ±a de Karting - Round I Alevin, Cadete, Junior, Senior, Senior KZ2, Senior KZ2 Silver Rotax (Rotax 125 Heavy, Rotax 125 Light, Junior, Mini, Micro, DD2 Australian Rotax MAX Pro Tour - Round II Masters, DD2) WSK Super Master Series - III round KZ2, OK, OKJ, 60 Mini Rotax Asia MAX Challenge - Round I Rotax (Micro, Junior, Senior DD2) FWT - Round III ROK (Master, Senior, Junior, Shifter, Shifter Masters, Micro, Mini) Belgian MAX Challenge - Round II Rotax (Micro, Mini, Junior, Senior, Senior Plus, DD2, Gentlemen) IAME X30 Euro Series - Round I IAME (Mini, Junior, Senior, Master, Shifter) Rotax MAX Challenge Japan Mizunami Rotax (Micro, Mini, Junior, Novice, Senior, Masters) Series - Round I & II

Lonato

Italy

SKUSA! WinterNationals

TBD

Lonato KF1 Karting Chiva

Italy Singapore Spain

Dubbo

Australia

La Conca Sepang Orlando Mariembourg Salbris

Italy Malasya Florida, USA Belgium France

Mizunami

Japan

WSK Super Master Series - IV round

Sarno

Italy

Grantham

Great Britain

Super One Series - Round I 14th & 15th

21st & 22nd 28th & 29th

Challenge of the Americas - Round III BNL Karting Series - Round I Rotax Asia MAX Challenge - Round II CIK-FIA European Championship Rotax MAX Euro Trophy - Round I Super One Series - Round II Italian ACI Karting Championship - Round I X30 SouthEast Asia - Round II

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KZ2, OK, OKJ, 60 Mini Honda Cadet, IAME (Cadet, Junior, Senior) Rotax (Mini, Junior, Senior, 177), Mini X ROK (Master, Senior, Junior, Shifter, Shifter Masters, Micro, Mini) Rotax (Micro, Mini, Junior, Senior, DD2) Rotax (Micro, Junior, Senior DD2) OK, OKJ Rotax (Micro, Mini, Junior, Senior, DD2, DD2 Masters) Honda Cadet, IAME (Cadet, Junior, Senior) Rotax (Mini, Junior, Senior, 177), Mini X TBD X30 (Cadet, Junior, Senior, Super Shifter, Masters & Veteran)

Simraceway Performance Karting Center Genk Elite Sarno Genk

Sonoma, USA Belgium Malasya Italy Belgium

Whilton Mill

Great Britain

Siena Sepang

Italy Malasya

ONE STEP AHEAD

TONY KART by OTK KART GROUP

tonykart_01_17_def_VROOM.indd 1

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