For the second time this season, the German Electric Kart Championship travelled to Motorsport Arena Mülsen – this time for the season finale (SEP 10-12). On Sunday evening, Oscar Pellemele had every reason to rejoice – the Frenchman won his first final on Sunday and gained the Championship title at the same time.
With Wackersdorf, Genk and two races in Mülsen, the drivers of the German Electric Kart Championship (DEKM) completed a challenging racing calendar. The final decisions of the year now fell within the framework of the German Kart Championship (DKM).
Oscar Pellemele travelled to Saxony as the overall leading driver, but next to him there were three other drivers who had chances of winning the title: Aleksi Jalava from Finland and the two Dutchmen Jens van der Heijden and Luca Nieuwenhuizen. The conditions were challenging again: On Saturday, short rain showers caused changing conditions on the track.
Jens van der Heijden wins in dramatic Saturday final
Aleksi Jalava was the fastest driver of qualifying on the wet track on Saturday and thereby achieved pole position for the pre-final. It became clear then that Oscar Pellemele wanted to use his chance. The Frenchman won with a considerable advance, but a spoiler penalty threw him back to second place – new winner was Jalava.
The final in the evening ended dramatically: Pole-setter Jalava led the field until three laps before the end. He then had to bow down to his pursuers’ attacks though. A couple of drivers kept gaining the leading position. The decision fell during the next-to-last lap – Luca Nieuwenhuizen collided with the pit wall due to a duel and thereby caused the race to be stopped. Jens van der Heijden was ranked as the winner in front of accident victim Nieuwenhuizen and Jalava. Championship favorite Pellemele came in fourth.
First final victory and title for Oscar Pellemele
Jalava also won Sunday’s qulalifying and started into the pre-final from first position. During the eleven laps of the race Pellemele fought his way to the front again – just like the day before – and drove away from the field. With his victory, he laid the foundation for winning the title. During the final race there were no doubts then: Pellemele prevailed in another narrow race and celebrated his first final victory and winning the Championship at the same time. Van der Heijden and Jalava completed the top three of the last race of the year.
In addition to the Championship award, Champion Pellemele received further attractive prizes. As DEKM-Champion he is going to be invited to an exclusive Formula E simulator test during a behind-the-scenes day at the Porsche development center in Weissach by series partner Porsche Motorsport. Additionally he is going to receive an Arai-Kart racing helmet-voucher by Point Racing. The package is rounded off by a highly coveted starting position for the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals 2021 in Bahrain.
„It was a narrow fight for the title until the end. I’m very happy to have won and will now get the chance to start in Bahrain. I’d really like to thank everyone who supported me“, the new Champion said contently in his winner’s interview.
DEKM finished fourth racing season in Mülsen
2021 already was the fourth season of the German Electric Kart Championship. Drivers from seven nations showed thrilling fights throughout the course of the season and highlighted the appeal of the electric kart racing series. „We’re happy to have witnessed such great sport again in the DEKM’s fourth year. All the races were very close, which shows the high power density of the Project E20 E-Kart by our technical partner BRP-Rotax. We’d like to thank all partners for their support and congratulate Oscar on winning the title“, Oliver Schielein, managing director of DEKM-promoter Ikmedia, summed up the year.
Final ranking 2021 DEKM:
1. Oscar Pellemele (181 points)
2. Aleksi Jalava (166 points)
3. Jens van der Heijden (151 points)
4. Luca Nieuwenhuizen (141 points)
5. Ellis Spiezia (90 points)