The IAME Winter Cup has become synonymous with that start of the international season for the top teams and drivers in the IAME X30 circle, and its 7th running did not disappoint! As usual, this year once again the Winter Cup took place in the Kartodromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero in Valencia, Spain, where the weather has historically been sunny and warm, perfect for a February race!
This year’s edition saw a very high driver attendance, especially with the senior category completely maxed out, and several of top brands sending their best representing teams to the series! Great racing with fierce competition saw Marcus Luzio (Dan Holland Racing), Aaron Garcia (MDC Racing) and Kit Belofsky (Fusion Motorsport) prevail in the final in X30 Senior, Junior and Mini respectively.
X30 Mini
Friday’s first Qualifying in X30 started with top driving with the top-38 drivers being separated by just over a second, and the top-4, defining the poles in the 4 groups going to Dan Allemann (Spirit-Racing.ch), Jagrat Detroja (Monlau Competicion), Jesse Phillips (Fusion Motorsport) and Alex Martinez (Praga Racing)!
A strong showing from Phillips saw him take wins in all his heats and placing him on SuperPole for the newly introduced Sunday’s SuperHeats, ahead of Daniel Kelleher (Fusion Motorsport), Dan Allemann and Alex Martinez!
At the end of the two SuperHeats Phillips remained still on top spot for the start of the final, still with Kelleher on his side and Allemann third, but it was Kit Bellofsky who made his appearance to complete the second row! A strong final from Belofsky saw him take the win ahead of Phillips, while Zdenek Babicek (TEPZ Racing Team) came to third to conclude the podium!
X30 Junior
It was another tight qualifying practice in Junior, with surprises throughout the grid! On Pole position it was the local Aaron Garcia (MDC Racing), while the top starters for groups B, C and D were Hugo Martinello (Jana Racing), Leo Robinson (Fusion Motorsport) and Jules Caranta (Jana Racing).
Aaron Garcia was unshaken after Saturday’s qualifying heats, claiming the SuperPole, while Robinson gained one place from Martinello and Caranta remained in fourth.
There were surprises in the SuperHeats, which saw the retirement of Garcia handing the pole position to Robinson, with Martinello behind him, and Macauley Bishop (Dan Holland Racing) third, making up no less than 37 places from this Friday classification! The second row was completed by Caranta while Garcia, thanks to his strong heats, only lost 5 positions and would start the final in 6th.
The final saw Aaron Garcia return to claim the win with Robinson and Martinello completing a well deserving junior podium!
X30 Senior
The pole position in the largest category of the Winter Cup, with 80 drivers contesting in 3 qualifying practice groups, went to Fionn Mc Laughlin (Fusion Motorsport), Sebastiano Pavan (Team Driver Racing Kart) second, Ariel Elkin (VDK Racing) third, also signifying his best qualifying in international racing so far and Ivan Arias (AC Motorsport) fourth and closing the front starters for the 5 senior groups Danny Carenini (Team Driver Racing Kart).
After the qualifying heats it was Ariel Elkin who was on top, followed by Khali Atkins (Croc Promotion), Fionn Mc Laughling, and Marcus Luzio (Dan Holland Racing) for the two front rows of the Super Heats.
Adding the SuperHeats results to the classification, it was once again Elkin who would start on pole position, but next to him would be Bart Harrison (Mick Barrett Racing) with Pavan and Andy Ratel (KBK Competition) behind.
The final turned around the classification and after Elkin struggled for pace it was Luzio who claimed the outright win. Mari Boya made 8 positions to finish second, and Danny Carenini completed a well contested podium!
Mission: Carbon Neutral Racing
A new collaboration between RGMMC and AQ Green Tec saw the start of a big effort to make racing carbon neutral by reducing and offsetting carbon emissions. AQ Green TeC calculates each team’s or individual’s carbon footprint and show their climate impact. Many teams and drivers were already eager to start reducing carbon emissions after enhancing their carbon conscience.
Live Streaming and TV Highlights
This race saw the introduction of upgrades to our streaming graphics, produced by the Sports TV Graphics company, as well as upgraded full HD streaming quality image.
Once again, RGMMC is pushing to the maximum with all other communications as well to bring results, photos and video highlights and as many information updates on Facebook and Instagram, in addition to the video content made available on the RGMMC Productions Youtube channel.
More information and complete results can always be found on the IAME Euro Series official website www.iameeuroseries.com, the RGMMC Group website www.rgmmc.com, and the IAME Euro Series Facebook @x30euro and Instagram page @iameeuroseries.