The first round of the FIA Karting OK and OKJ European Championship in Angerville, France, from 19^th to 21^st of April. The CRG Racing Team ready to live a season as protagonist with its drivers.

The FIA Karting OK and OK-Junior European Championship kicks off in Angerville, and after a long winter preparation, the CRG Racing Team will line up 6 drivers in the first French meeting: Pedro Hiltbrand, Gabriel Bortoleto and Ayrton Fontecha in OK, Lucas Pons, Enzo Trulli and Théophile Naël in OKJ. Also, Kas Haverkort (Keijzer Racing) in OK and Cherine Bröer (CRG Holland) in OK-Junior will be racing with the CRG colours.

The FIA Karting European Championship starts in France with good participation, 73 drivers in OK and 90 in OK Junior. The path will be quite long and hard, with 4 rounds of the OK and OKJ European Championship to be added to the 2 rounds of the KZ and KZ2 European Championship, besides the two final events of the World Championship for both direct drive and shifter classes.

In OK there a great expectations on Pedro Hiltbrand, already European Champion in 2016 in this category and 3^rd last year, and on Gabriel Bortoleto, at his first season in OK after last year’s third place in the OK Junior European Championship and in the World Championship as well, besides the possibility of the Spanish Ayrton Fontecha to make good results. In the Junior class, the eyes will be on Enzo Trulli, more and more competitive, and on the French Théophile Naël at his debut with the CRG Racing Team, besides the Spanish Lucas Pons that is performing at a good level.

The race format will be the following: qualifying practice on Friday afternoon, qualifying heats on Saturday and Sunday morning, OK Junior Final on Sunday at 1.20 pm and OK Final at 2.20 pm in live streaming on www.cik-fia.com.

The drivers’ comments:

Pedro Hiltbrand (OK): “We worked hard during winter races to be ready for the FIA season and this first round of the European Championship will be an excellent benchmark to measure our ambitions. For what concerns the chassis, we have the guarantee of tested material and that we know very well with these tyres; the track, instead, will tell us from the engine's point of view where we should place in relation to our main competitors. But we are confident we’ll make an excellent race.”

Enzo Trulli (OKJ): “Winter work, including the national race we did here in Angerville 15 days ago, gave us a lot of useful data and excellent feedback both regarding the chassis and the engines. I feel much more secure of my potential and I trust I can be competitive in this second season of international races.”

The 2019 European Championship calendar:

21.04.2019 - Angerville (F), OK, OK-Junior

05.05.2019 - Wackersdorf (D), KZ, KZ2

19.05.2019 - Genk (B), OK, OK-Junior

02.06.2019 - Kristianstad (S), OK, OK-Junior

16.06.2019 - Sarno (I), KZ, KZ2

21.07.2019 - Le Mans (F), OK, OK-Junior

Crg Racing Team record of achievements in the FIA Karting European Championship:

2018: KZ, Jorrit Pex

2017: KZ, Paolo De Conto

2016: KZ2, Fabian Federer

2016: OK, Pedro Hiltbrand

2014: KZ2, Andrea Dalè

2014: KF, Callum Ilott (Tinini Group)

2014: KZ, Rick Dreezen (Tinini Group)

2013: KZ, Max Verstappen

2013: KF, Max Verstappen

2012: KZ1, Jorrit Pex

2011: KZ2, Fabian Federer

2009: KF3 Northen Qualif., Nyck De Vries (Tinini Group)

2009: KF3, Nyck De Vries (Tinini Group)

2008: KZ1, Jonathan Thonon

2007: KF2 Central Qualif., Felice Tiene

2006: 100 Ica,  Nicola Nole'

2003: 125 Super Icc, Alessandro Manetti

2003: 100 Ica, Nicola Bocchi

2002: 100 Ica, Jonathan Thonon

2002: 100 Ica Junior, Sebastien Buemi

2001: 125 FC, Alessandro Piccini

2000: 125 Icc, Valerio Sapere

2000: Formula A, Lewis Hamilton

1998: 100 Ica, Julien Poncelet

1998: Cadet’s Green Trophy, Alvaro Parente

1998: Formula A, Cesar Campanico

1996: 125 Icc, Stefan Haak

1996: Formula C, Alessandro Piccini

1996: Formula A, Giorgio Pantano

1995: FA, Giorgio Pantano

1994: Cadet’s Green Trophy, Lukas Luhr

1993: Cadet’s Green Trophy, Giorgio Pantano

1993: 125 Icc, Stefano Marcolin

1992: 125 Icc, Stefano Rodano

1992: Formula K, Gianluca Beggio

1991: 100 Junior, Jordi Surrales

1989: 100 Ica Junior, Gianluca Malandrucco

1989: 125 Icc, Gianluca Paglicci

1988: 125 Icc, Vincenzo Saitta

1987: Formula K, Alessandro Zanardi

1987: 125 Icc, Paolo Pulliero

1987: Intercontinental-A, Michael Schumacher

1986: Formula K, Ivan Muller

1986: 125 Icc, Lamberto Di Ferdinando

1985: Intercontinental-B, Stefan Friatsch

1984: 125 Icc, Riccardo Franchini

1979: 125 Icc, Jan Svaneby

1979: Formula C, Giancarlo Vanaria