FULL Report: Great racing in France at the Rotax Euro Challenge
Published by Bas Kaligis 29 maart 2007 20:48 - Print
The first round of the ROTAX MOJO Max Euro Challenge took place at the Sologne karting circuit, Salbris on March 21 - 25 as a cold change hit Europe seeing snow falls at the venue only two days prior to the start of official free practice. The chilling conditions didn’t stop the competition heating up which say some of last year’s top driver struggling for results.
176 karters from 31 countries and all five continents made the truly international event another spectacular weekend of great racing, as it continues to grow in this its fourth year. Event promoter Roland Geidel of RGMMC Establishment believes the Euro Challenge still offers both individual and team drivers a fantastic opportunity to race at one of the most competitive and professional championships at this level around the world. The French event again showed that the racing continues to get even better and better.
Senior Max: UK domination
Following two days and 15 sessions of official practice for each class, Friday morning’s non-qualifying sessions saw the current World and European #2 Mike Joossens (Hugo Motorsport/Kombi) of the Netherlands and Britain’s David Sutton (Team Avago/Gillard) in his first senior year setting the pace in their relevant groups. Both were podium winners during last year’s Euro Challenge, although Sutton missed the first round at Salbris. It was Englishman James Bean (PSR/Maranello) who claimed pole position (1.02.871) in the afternoon 15 minutes of timed practice and not surprising after being quick in the lead up.
Bean explained “I had only decided to enter the meeting in France recently when my old mechanic Piers Sexton who’d worked with me at the Euro Challenge round in England two years ago offered to give me a hand. We picked up the kart Tuesday and it was fast from the beginning. If the brakes didn’t get stuck on during qualifying I probably could have gone quicker again.”
Joossens who finished 2nd at Salbris in 2006 topped his session giving him 2nd best time overall and one of South Africa’s Max Champions Matthew Hodges (Kalman Motorsport/Birel) was 3rd quickest. 4th went to the runner-up at the Rotax Grand Finals last November in the DD2 category British driver Michael Simpson (Team Simpson Racing/Birel) and fellow countryman now living in Ireland Martin Pierce (Wildkart Italy/Wildkart) was 5th. There were some obvious disappointing laptimes for several of the more recognised drivers who found the conditions difficult with their choice of dry set-up as the light drizzle gradually dampened the track. Philippines champion Marlon Stockinger lost an engine mount after sliding off the circuit and came in narrowly underweight to register no official time.
Saturday was bumper-to-bumper heat racing as the weather turned cold and wet with the gusty winds continuing to blow. Joossens dominated the results together with Simpson taking two wins and a 2nd place each that would see them line up on the front row for the pre-final. Bean also claimed the win in one race and Pierce the other, with the 65 kart field divided into four groups for the qualifying heats. A few places in Senior Max were unfilled due to some of the Russian drivers failing to get their visa in time.
Turns 1 and 2 were proving to be lethal for a chance to make the finals as the combination of rain and racing hampered the starts during the heats. World #1 Ricardo Romkema (Team TKP/Intrepid) from the Netherlands retired in one of the sessions with racing casualties including former Junior Euro champ South Africa’s Arnold Neveling (PCR International/PCR), ’06 winner at the Italian round Frenchman Damien Vuillaume (Team Freekart Racing/Sodi) and last year’s polesitter at Salbris from Portugal Tiago Ribeiro (HRS Motorsport/CRG) who would face his first ever 2nd chance race in the series. Despite the early action there was some excellent racing throughout the heats resulting in a different combination of top ten finishers in each race.
The track was still quite damp for the 2nd chance race so the only tyre choice was for wets although the sun was shining for a short time. Jeffrey van Bergeijk (Hugo Motorsport/Kombi) was fastest in the warm-up but was starting on row 12. For a cut-throat decider the race was unlike the usual danger field of desperation that can unfold however Brit Harry Drysdale (Tatum Racing/Gillard) may disagree having lost his 6th position on the last corner to fail to make it into the finals. The honours went to a deserved win by local Alexandre Finkelstein (MD Competition/Tony) from early leader Vuillaume.
The pre-final was Joossens at the start from pole with Bean tucked in behind then Simpson, Hodges and former Euro Challenge Junior series leader Dutch driver Niek Vos (Dobla Racing/Energy) in 5th. Ben Cooper (HRS Motorsport/CRG) of Great Britain has previously finished 3rd in juniors in the championship and did just one round last year. He found himself temporarily side-lined with Martin Pierce and team mate John Boyd (HRS Motorsport/CRG) who won the last round of the 2006 Euro Challenge, after some pushing from further back in the filed through turn 1. By the end of the first lap, Neveling was already up to 10th from P17 and Romkema having made up 8 places was sitting in 13th. Maik Barten (Maik Barten Racing/Sodi) left the track as well soon after and couldn’t manage to make up the lost lap.
It was Bean who stole the lead on lap 3 and as Joossens attempted to regain his position Simpson slotted in behind on T3, accidentally mounting the back of the Dutchman’s kart to put them out of contention for a place although they were able to continue. By the halfway mark Sutton was up to 4th and stalking Hodges who ran wide and lost out. Before long Sutton had also grabbed 2nd from Vos who soon surrendered to Neveling and Hodges fighting back. While the battle for 3rd gained intensity between the two South Africans, Sutton hunted Bean down to make a move for the lead with two laps left but Bean forced his way immediately back passed Sutton on T3. The next corner saw Sutton try again but ran a little wide to forfeit his place to Neveling close behind and Bean went on for the win. Hodges finished 4th and Swiss pilot Philipp Witzany (Kart Shop Swiss/CRG) 5th. Cooper ended up in 11th while Ribeiro advanced to start the final on row 7 of the grid next to Vuillaume, with Simpson and Pierce back in 16th and 18th respectively.
Shaping up as a thriller, the Senior Max final was led initially by Bean when the lights changed then came Sutton and Joossens looking to make up for the loss in the previous race. Vos was next then Cooper who went from 11th to 5th in no time. A coming together on turn 2 saw Neveling, Hodges, Vuillaume and Australian Rotax champ Hayden McBride (Red Kart-tech/Gillard) scattered all over the edge of the circuit, Neveling coming out of it with a flat rear tyre and limping back to the breakdown lane. As Bean and Sutton swapped places Cooper overtook both of them soon pulling a gap of around five lengths. Joossens and Vos were still chasing the front-runners but Pierce had moved through to 6th ahead of Romkema and Simpson. Neveling had rejoined the race with 10 laps remaining as another Aussie David Sera gained 14 spots to show up in 10th on his European debut, up to 8th by half race distance. The minor places were being shuffled around as Britain’s Tom Oliphant (Team Naska/Energy) joined in the battle and the action turned on some great racing for the spectators.
Pierce set the fastest laptime of the race in lap 10 of 15, moving by Bean and advancing to take 2nd from Sutton within two laps. Meanwhile there was also another race of its own happening mid-field as some of the faster drivers searched for a way through for the vital championship points. As the ‘last lap’ board came out Cooper’s lead had been reduced to under a second but he held on for a clear win from Pierce, who’d just missed out on the podium at Salbris last year. Bean was close enough to have a look at passing Sutton but stayed put for 4th and later admitted he didn’t want to jeopardise Sutton’s chances for the series, seeing he only had the budget to do this one round himself and was happy with the result. Romkema took 5th from Simpson then Joossens, Oliphant, David Griffiths (GMS/Alonso) of Great Britain and Sera made up the top 10. Vos had a disappointing final ending up a lap down by the finish of the race.
With an all English podium for round 1 Ben Cooper said it was great to have the win for the first meeting especially after being tagged in the pre-final. “It was my first time racing in Salbris and the competition this year was a lot tougher than expected. I thought I had a chance to win coming into the final because I was quick and once I saw the opportunity to pass while James [Bean] and David [Sutton] were dicing with each other, I took it. I couldn’t have done this without the support of all the HRS team, Tristram and Nigel plus my mum and dad.” Cooper’s goal for 2007 is to win the Euro Challenge and have another shot at the World title at the Rotax Grand Finals in November.
Junior Max: Double Dutch! Pex and Van den Brand
Qualifying practice was going to be interesting in Junior Max with the World’s #1 Jorrit Pex (Pex Racing/CRG) from the Netherlands setting the pace (1.03.827) in a field of 63 drivers where the competition was so, so close at the top. He had won the final round of the Euro Challenge in 2006 on a familiar track in Belgium plus the Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal, so the 13 year old was hoping to continue his success in France. Next quickest in official timed practice were British drivers Phillip Haworth (Peek Racing/Tony) and Max Hawkins (NJR Motorsport/Octane), a newcomer to the event already with a list of good results in just his second year of racing. 2006 European #3 Mats Van den Brand (TKP Holland/Intrepid) was 4th fastest ahead of his Dutch rival Indy Dontje (Dobla Racing/Energy). Japan’s Kazuki Hiramine (Protrain Racing/Gillard) had hit the top of the leader board in the morning warm-up but suffered problems with the carburettor hence starting every qualifying heat from rear-of-field Saturday. Last year’s round 2 winner Toni Greif (MS Racing/MS) also had a bad session to be way down the list.
The juniors had 7 laps per race of the 1495m Sologne Karting circuit to sort out the qualifiers and grid places for the finals with six heats in total for their class, each driver racing in 3. Pex won all of his heats but was disqualified from one race for an adjustment to the position of the airbox for the wet conditions. He would only start 19th for the pre-final instead of on pole. The Euro Challenge Rookie of ’06 Kevin Korjus (TT Racing Team/Zanardi) was convincing with two wins and joined Hawkins who would take P1 on the front row Sunday, having a 1st and two 2nd places. Van den Brand gained a win from Pex’s misfortune to start on grid 3 next to Haworth. Keeping it all fair, the stewards handed out some verbal warnings together with 10 second penalties throughout the day for unsportsmanlike behaviour and being a bit too quick off the start.
In the morning warm-up before Sunday’s second chance race it was Nicolas Claes (PDB Belgium by DFK/Gillard) fastest and he followed it up with a strong win of 3.7 seconds. Karl Oscar Liiv (AGS Racing/Zanardi) from Estonia just scraped in but American Connor DiMond (Protrain racing/Gillard) was unlucky losing out in the early stages in his Euro Challenge debut after a start from row 2. Toni Greif will no doubt be looking to make amends for his zero points result when the next round moves to a track he is very familiar with at Wackersdorf, Germany in May.
A top 5 runner from the heats, James Doherty (NJR Motorsport/Octane) was setting the pace in practice for the finals contenders and started on row 4 for the pre-final but had some very eager young drivers sitting in front of him. It was 14 year old Hawkins who took the instant lead as Korjus was forced wide on T1 in the race for the front where he immediately lost five places and found it difficult to get back on track. Last year’s junior vice champion Steel Guiliana (Intrepid Force Rotax/Intrepid) looked certain in second from grid five ahead of Van den Brand but broke a chain after the chicane on lap 1 to come to a halt on the back straight. As Hawkins extended his lead the fight went on for third between Fawcett and Doherty with Howarth soon into fifth.
Pex had made up 10 positions but was squeezed out at the far end of the circuit and would begin the process of working his way through the field all over again. Hiramine from 24th was on a mission finding his way into the top 10 while the action in the middle of the pack was nose to tail stuff for the majority of the race, not for the faint-hearted. The slightest mistake leaving the door open saw places lost and constant changing of positions throughout the 10 lapper. Hawkins would stretch his lead to take the flag almost five seconds in front of Van den Brand, to Doherty 3rd then Fawcett and Howarth. A couple of stand-outs who drove an excellent race were Jack Swinkels (TKP Holland/Intrepid) and Liiv although their team mates had the opposite results with Korjus ending up way back in 22nd and Sven van Bergeijk (Hugo Motorsport/Kombi) having an absolute shocker to fall from 12th down to 30th.
Following a slow start in the roll-up it was Van den Brand first through turn 1 as Hawkins appeared to lack the speed then found himself out in the puddles going through T2. Doherty was leading the chase with a couple more Brit’s Kenneth Andrews (Gillard) and Howarth when Pex appeared in 5th ahead of Junior Max World #3 Daniel Schellnegger (Intrepid Force Rotax/Intrepid) of Austria. Fawcett had disappeared down the order along with Dontje who was a possible top 5 finisher up until that point. As Van den Brand’s lead got bigger it was like a replay from Salbris 2006 when nobody could catch him but as Howarth and Doherty diced for 2nd, Pex was watching on in 4th and soon claimed 3rd. With five laps run he grabbed 2nd as well and pulled away to let the shuffling begin for the minor places, Schellnegger joining in and Hiramine the danger man carving his way up to 4th. It was non-stop action from then on back to 10th as every corner saw a change in positions.
Pex eventually wore down the Dutch driver and overtook him for the lead but it was short-lived as Van den Brand regained 1st place only to be passed back. This time Pex made it count, setting the fastest lap of the race with 3 to go and only looked back once to see Van den Brand a few kart lengths behind. Across the line Andrews was a distance back in 3rd ahead of Hiramine, Doherty, Petiet, Schellnegger, Killian Bouman (JB Racing/PCR) of the Netherlands, Haworth and Swinkels in 10th. Korjus was just outside the top 10 and Hawkins close behind. Guiliana overcame some early difficulties to finish 17th and Dontje 18th.
After receiving his winner’s trophy Jorrit Pex assisted by his father and team mentor former F1 pilot Jos Verstappen, said he was very happy to have won this meeting in France because he knew there were some other drivers who were very fast. He added that “The pre-final was not so good with what happened in the beginning of the race and I had to drive hard to make the places back up. In the final when I passed Mats [Van den Brand] for the lead I made a small mistake and he passed me straight back but I got into first and realised that I could win then.”
Max Masters: Colin Davis takes victory
The Masters category at the Euro Challenge is a culmination of karters that have competed for many years in engine classes other than Rotax like 100cc, ICA, etc together with drivers who have not necessarily been racing karts for so long but most have achieved some notable results on a national level within that timeframe. The racing offers a completely different class of drivers as compared to the Senior Max and even a bad result in the heats doesn’t exclude the entrants from making the finals.
It was the 2006 Euro Challenge Masters vice champion Colin Davis (Peek Racing/Kosmic) running a new brand of chassis that looked as if he may duplicate his success of round 1 at Salbris in the previous year leading up to the timed practice Friday. The British driver was sharing the pace in the non-qualifying sessions that morning with Frederic Ostier (Nowa) but the polesitter was actually to be another French entry Olivier Fiorucci (Fiorucci Team/Merlin), who came out of nowhere setting the best lap (1.03.531). Davis and Ostier would have to settle for 2nd and 3rd on the start grid for the heats the next day, where 9 out of the 22 driver line-up were from France. 3rd and 4th place-getters in the championship last year Christophe Adams (Gem Sport/Swiss Hutless) from Belgium and local former Formula A pilot Jerome Bourquard (BRK/Sodi) were slightly off pace.
With three qualifying races each of 10 laps, the first was a victory to Davis in what would be the driest of all the heats for the Masters class. Fiorucci made every start a winner to take the early lead but Davis always managed to overtake him by the beginning of the second lap. It was only in the following race that Dany Moriceau (RKO/Tony) of France was to steal the British driver’s limelight to take a close win from Adams and Davis. In the wet and cold conditions Davis extended his lead to almost 5 seconds in the last heat to show he was getting serious about starting the series off well. Finishing with a 2nd and 5th place in hand at the end of the day, Moriceau was pleased to be joining Davis on the front row Sunday. Pascal Bielatowicz (Team Action/Vmax) was there for 3rd in the points while Bourquard achieved no better than 4th place in the heats but was however always one of the quickest on the track. Regardless of clocking the best lap in two of the three races, Adams had a disappointing 10th place result which left him starting on grid 5 for the pre-final next to Fiorucci.
When it came to the pre-final Adams who had entered both the Masters and Rotax DD2 classes at the season opener failed to compete due to a mechanical problem and was relegated to the back of the grid for the final that afternoon. Davis maintained his pole position from the start to take the lead followed by Moriceau and Bourquard. Turn 3 saw Junpei Takiyama of Japan and the current Rotax 177 British champion Stephen Cobb (Ogden/Protrain/Arrow) have a coming together that sidelined Cobb indefinitely. Further into the lap Moriceau went sliding onto the grass opening the chance for Bielatowicz to move through and was soon all over the back of Davis as the battle for the lead began. The Frenchman was too good and passed Davis on lap 5, only to overshoot his braking mark within several laps and leave the circuit therefore surrendering his place.
Davis had a clear lead of around 2 seconds while Fiorucci had worked his way up to 2nd by this stage ahead of the Netherlands’ Patrick Vasterman (VZ Racing, Red kart tech/Gillard) who started on row 4. It was a brilliant drive by Arne van de Plaetsen (PDB Belgium by DFK/Gillard) making up 11 places to take 4th from Bourquard. Moriceau ended up 11th after his bad luck and Ostier way back in 18th. Euripides Hatzistefanis (PRT Motorsport/Tony) of Greece was left a paying spectator completing just one lap.
It was Vasterman applying the pressure to Davis at the beginning of the final followed through by Bourquard who also had an inside line advantage. The French driver soon moved up to 2nd at the expense of Vasterman as the two karts appeared to have made contact coming through the last corner leading onto the start/finish straight. Fiorucci in 4th saw the opportunity to go into 2nd, as Vasterman dropped back and was also overtaken on lap 3 by Bielatowicz for 4th. As Davis circulated consistently making no errors, Fiorucci and Bourquard each held a two second gap that secured their podium place without any threat. Moriceau had said going into the final that after his poor result in the earlier race he would realistically aim for a top 5 finish, as making the podium like he had last year was not likely to happen this time. He overpowered Vasterman and was able to hold out Sardinia’s Antonio Dettori (Quick Ghost Racing/Zanardi) who was not about to give up on the chance to beat Moriceau to the line. Cobb showed more of his true form and salvaged 7th from rear-of-field while Vasterman finished 8th. Takiyama finally worked his way into the top 10 which was rounded out by Ostier putting in a big effort for points from a lesser pre-final.
A man of few words, Colin Davis agreed that he would like to have been confident coming into the first round of the Euro Challenge after his victory last year but with new drivers entering the series it was a little unknown. “I’m very happy with the win for the team especially. We made the change to the Kosmic kart simply because it offered me more ‘front-end’ which I like and it’s working well. Now I’m looking forward to round 2 in Germany; it looks like a fast track from what I have seen of it… which is what I like.”
Rotax DD2: Leeroy Poulter the man to beat
With a field of 26 drivers at round 1 in France, the 2-speed gearbox class enticed some familiar names coming from both the Max category and DD2 racing as national champions. This included the first ever vice champion of the Rotax Grand Finals South Africa’s Leeroy Poulter (Kalman Motorsport/Birel) who set the fastest lap of all the timed practice sessions Friday to qualify on pole (1.01.923), as the only driver to break the 1.02 mark. The 24 year old is the current DD2 champ back home and was originally looking at competing in Senior Max at the Euro Challenge but made the change when the class was oversubscribed and Birel Motorsport wanted an outstanding driver in the DD2. The 2004 European Junior vice champ Michiel Beutels (Schepers Racing Service/Zanardi) from Belgium clocked the 2nd best time while French pilot Morgan Riche (Kart Runner/Sodi) was 3rd.
The heat races saw Poulter display some incredible speed to finish two out of three with more than a 9 second lead by the finish while posting the fastest lap in both. In the early stages of one heat he had to fight for the position but soon pulled away to remain unchallenged. It wasn’t to be in the last of the 10 lappers when 17 year old Beutels succeeded for the win in the wet and the battle for places turned on some great action; Pieter Scheefhals the quickest but had to settle for 4th. Following Poulter, Beutels shared the top three places with Riche, Germany’s Andreas Matis (Banaszak Racing/Kombi), newcomer to the class Kevin Ludi (Kart Shop Swiss/CRG) and former Masters Euro Challenge front-runner Dennis Kroes (Euro Indoor Karting/Haase) of the Netherlands.
Poulter naturally was on pole for the pre-final joined by Beutels then Riche and Kroes lined-up behind them on row 2. Ludi had a DNF in the initial heat that left him starting back in 9th. With the track gradually drying, six of the drivers opted to run with slicks and take the gamble that it would give them the edge over the 13 lap race distance. Poulter being one of these and although he took the lead from the start, was involved in a turn 1 incident as Riche (on wets) got caught up with him and several other karts spun out. Kroes dived to the front leading Riche, Austrian Bernd Herndlhofer (Speedworld p.b.MKR/RM1), Scheefhals and Andre Banaszak (Banaszak Racing/Kombi) of Germany. Poulter was back in 6th and later admitted he thought at that point the team had made the wrong decision to change to the dry tyres.
By lap 5 it all began to differ and the polesitter picked-off the karts in front of him one by one, making it up to 2nd place before starting the next lap. Scheefhals and Herndlhofer were having their own battle for 4th at the halfway mark while Portugal’s Rui Viera (Korridas/Intrepid) experienced mechanical problems that had made the weekend less favourable for him until now. Kroes had to watch Poulter cruise by to take the lead he had established with the wets around three plus seconds slower nearing the race end. Matis also came onto the pace to finish in 2nd ahead of the quickest driver on the circuit Beutels, who made his way through to 3rd with just a few laps remaining. Danish driver Dennis Ladefoged (Swiss Hutless/Swiss Hutless) was one of the karts that spun on the first lap but also had the advantage of having slicks and was only a fraction off the pace of Beutels to take 4th in front of Ludi. Belgium’s Christophe Adams (Gem sport/Swiss Hutless) was the last of the dry-runners finishing a pleasing 6th from starting on P13, having made the best choice to make up some lost ground during the heats. Poulter took the honours by an incredible 10.8 seconds.
Sunday’s final had an eventful start as Beutels stopped on the infield to re-fix his fuel pump that had become dislodged, while Australia’s Matt Holmes (Hochhauser/M-Tec) racing for the first time in the DD2 class also had to make some minor adjustments before rejoining the race for a start at the back of the pack. Poulter had the victory in mind as he led the race from the first corner with Matis, Ludi, Scheefhals and Kroes in toe. Manuel Scheibinger (Scheibinger Motorsport/Birel) stopped briefly on T3 to continue having the same misfortune he had from when the racing began. The frontrunners diced for places as Riche moved through to sit in 2nd and Herndlhofer acknowledged the “ordinary racing” flag from the clerk of course. With places changing and Scheefhals snatching 3rd, Ludi attempted to take it back but got caught up on the kart of the Dutchman in the process. Kroes passed by to slot into 3rd as he and Herndlhofer went head-to-head until the last lap, when the youngster was sent wide dodging puddles to rejoin the circuit in 11th. Adams was fought off by Ludi but it was 20 year old lady driver Fabienne Lanz (PCR/PCR) from South Africa who made her stand when it counted most, also setting one of the best times for the race. Poulter and Riche were too far in front to catch in 1 & 2, as Kroes 3rd was shadowed over the line by Lanz and Ludi in a close finish. Adams took 6th ahead of Scheefhals and Ireland’s James Tumulty (Kartshop Hochhauser/RM1) while Banaszak and Viera made up the 10. Viera was the best DD2 Master of the 2006 Euro Challenge and Rotax Grand finals but put in a huge effort from the back row at the start to gain some valuable points for this year’s championship.
Leeroy Poulter again set the quickest time in the final and explained afterwards that he had not expected to be fastest in Friday’s qualifying knowing what the competition was going to be like, having raced in Senior Max at the Italian round of the series in 2006.
“In the pre-final the team manager had seen that the fastest guy on the track in the session before us was 2 seconds quicker on slicks running back in 15th, so we made a late call to change which paid off. For the final I was a bit worried about the weather because we went with the dry set-up but luckily the track got better as the race went on. I’m really happy with the result and have to say a big thanks to Ronni Sala at Birel for all his support. I think we can be very competitive this year.”
Six times karting World Champion Mike Wilson who is now responsible for providing a point of reference for customers and external teams at the most important international events as part of network development at Birel Motorsport, was there to see Poulter’s brilliant win at the Rotax Euro Challenge, topping off his first visit to the event. As part of the manufacturer’s growing interest in the championship and the engine classes, Wilson was impressed by the overall organisation of the meeting. It is expected Birel will continue to support their drivers throughout the year along with many of the other industry names recognising the standard the Rotax Mojo Max Euro Challenge now offers as far as international racing is concerned.
Round 2 of the 2007 Rotax Mojo Max Euro Challenge will be held at the ProKart Raceland complex at Wackersdorf, Germany May 16 - 20 and further information can be found at www.rgmmc.com
Results – Round 1: Salbris, France
Rotax Senior Max
1 – Ben Cooper Great Britain CRG/Rotax/Mojo
2 – Martin Pierce Great Britain Wildkart/Rotax/Mojo
3 – David Sutton Great Britain Gillard/Rotax/Mojo
Rotax Junior Max
1 – Jorrit Pex The Netherlands CRG/Rotax/Mojo
2 – Mats Van den Brand The Netherlands Intrepid/Rotax/Mojo
3 – Kenneth Andrews Great Britain Gillard/Rotax/Mojo
Rotax Max Masters
1 – Colin Davis Great Britain Kosmic/Rotax/Mojo
2 – Olivier Fiorucci France Merlin/Rotax/Mojo
3 – Jerome Bourquard France Sodi/Rotax/Mojo
Rotax DD2
1 – Leeroy Poulter South Africa Birel/Rotax/Mojo
2 – Morgan Riche France Sodi/Rotax/Mojo
3 – Dennis Kroes The Netherlands Haase/Rotax/Mojo
