Full throttle into the new year: German Kart Championship 2018. Filled fields of participants at the kick-off in Lonato.
Lonato. Last weekend, the South Garda Circuit in Lonato (Italy) was the location of the first event of the season of the German Kart Championship. 174 drivers made for record fields of participants in the four DMSB-grade series. The spectators experienced balanced races with a couple of surprises in mostly great weather.
The engines rested for six months in the four DMSB-grade series German Kart Championship (DKM), German Junior Kart Championship (DJKM), German Shifterkart Championship (DSKM) and the DMSB Shifterkart Cup (DSKC). The excitement before the first event in Italian Lonato was accordingly high.
174 drivers from more than 25 nations started on the 1.200m long track not far from Lake Garda and showed great kart racing. The weather did its best too. On Friday and Saturday the spring sun was really strong. The finals on Sunday mostly took place on a wet track too. Emilien Denner (DSKC), Jorrit Pex (DSKM), Kai Askey (DJKM) and Harry Thompson (DKM) travelled home as the first Championship leaders of the year.
DKM live show und racing action on MOTORVISION.TV
The new season was started by an extensive DKM live show on Friday evening. The two hosts Jenny Wade and René Köhler led through the program with numerous guests. The weekend’s highlights are going to be summed up in a 30-minute DKM magazine again this season – the one about the kick-off can be viewed on Sunday, May 6th at 1:15pm on the automobile-, engine- and motorsports-channel MOTORVISION.TV.
DSKC: Dominant performance by Emilien Denner
Frenchman Emilien Denner (CRG Holland) was in his element at the DMSB-Shifterkart-Cup. He already achieved a considerable advance during qualifying on the 1.200m long track and continued this trend in the races as well – none of his 33 opponents found a way past him. After this strong performance the double winner was more than happy about his season kick-off: “Before this weekend, I didn’t expect to celebrate a double victory here. That obviously makes it even more great now.”
While Denner took first position, the fights for the further ranks were considerably more varied. Pawel Myszkier (Mach1 Motorsport) took on the role of persecutor during the first race, but shortly after the race half-time his opponents were really close behind him and put lots of pressure on the Pole. Tobias Mähler (Kartshop Ampfing) drove past him during the further course of the race and came in on the second place as best German driver. Myszkier defended third place in front of Jean Nomblot (CPB Sport) and Guiseppe Fusco (Renda Motorsport).
Behind the leading Kali-Kart driver things were a lot narrower during the second final race too. Numerous changes of positions caused a lot of excitement during the 21 laps. Nomblot came in second this time in front of Myszkier, Fusco and the most successful German driver Thomas Neumann (SRP Racing Team) on fifth place. Neumann was already very content with his start at the DSKC before the race: “It’s really great to drive in these surroundings. The organization does an amazing job and provides a smooth course of events. The races are also very fair and challenging.”
Championship ranking DSKC after 2 of 10 races:
1. Emilien Denner (70 points)
2. Pawel Myszkier (46 points)
3. Tobias Mähler (43 points)
4. Giuseppe Fusco (37 points)
5. Thomas Neumann (33 points)
DSKM: Pedro Hiltbrand and Daniel Stell receive winners‘ cup
Fabian Federer already highlighted his preference of the track close to Lake Garda on Saturday. The South Tyrolean achieved a best time during qualifying and also led the interim rankings on Saturday evening. Pedro Hiltbrand (CRG Holland) took the lead during the first race though and was never in danger of losing his top position until crossing the finish line. “This was a difficult race for me. The 21 laps were a lot more than the ones at the heats yesterday. In the end I did it though and am really happy to have won.” Things were a lot narrower behind the Spaniard. While Christopher Hold (Maranello Kart) came in a strong second, things changed behind him on the last few meters. Pole-setter Fabian Federer (SRP Racing Team) fought his way past Jorrit Pex (CRG Holland) due to a last-minute-maneuver and stood on the podium on third place. The cup ranks were completed by German Alexander Schmitz.
No one could have written a better script for the second final race. Hiltbrand defended his first place on the first few meters, but Federer put pressure on him from behind and drove past the 2016 World Champion. He couldn’t rejoice about his lead for long though: After only two laps the South Tyrolean had to park his kart in the off. At the same time it started to rain and racing manager Thomas Lainer was forced to interrupt the race. It stopped raining during the mandatory break and Daniel Stell (Mach1 Motorsport) was the only one out of the leading group to keep his rain-tires. In the end, the Bavarian’s plan worked. While Stan Pex (CRG Holland) temporarily caught up with him, the rain was too strong for the slick tires in the end and the Dutchman had to forfeit despite an impressive performance. It was Stell’s first victory in the highest German kart racing series. He was accordingly happy on the highest step of the podium: “This was a complete gamble and it worked out perfectly this time. I’d like to thank my entire team for their support this weekend. We won together.” Six-time champion Jorrit Pex (CRG Holland) came in third. Fourth driver Kristijan Habulin (KK1) was also using rain tires. Swede Emil Skäras (Energy Corse) came in fifth.
Championship ranking DSKM after 2 of 10 races:
1. Jorrit Pex (46 points)
2. Daniel Stell (45 points)
3. Fabian Federer (45 points)
4. Alexander Schmitz (38 points)
5. Emil Skäras (35 points)
DJKM: Enzo Trulli and Kai Askey share victories
47 drivers started into the racing events of the German Junior Kart Championship in Lonato this weekend. Fastest driver after qualifying and the heats was Enzo Trulli (CRG Holland) from Italy. The son of former Formula 1 driver Jarno Trulli won both heats and started into the first final race on Sunday from pole position.
Trulli was unstoppable here as well. On his 13th birthday he drove away from his pursuers immediately and profited from the hard fights for positions on the further ranks during the course of the race. Only five laps before the end of the race, Kai Askey (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) managed to drive away from the group and came close to Trulli. In the end, the leading CRG-driver’s advance was gone and he temporarily even lost the lead. At the finish line he righted things again though and was very happy: “The race was very challenging, but a great birthday present. In the end things got really exciting once more.” Behind the winner followed Kai Askey, Maksim Soldatov (WARD Racing), Mikkel Hojgaard (KSB Racing Team) and Francesco Pizzi (BirelART). Best German was Jakob Bergmeister (KSM Schumacher Racing Team) on ninth place.
Kick-off winner Trulli also won the start of the second race, but the Italian already lost his lead during the first lap and stayed within the group of pursuers. Francesco Pizzi (BirelART) took first place and held his ground there. Shortly before the race half-time there was a collision between him and his opponent Soldatov though, where he fell out. The Russian of the WARD Racing Team finished the race on first place, but received a ten-seconds-penalty afterwards and was only ranked 18th. The Ricky Flynn-duo Askey and O’Sullivan ended the race as the winners. Alfio Andrea Spina (CRG Holland) came in third in front of Edoarda Ludovico Villa (TBKart) and Leonardo Bertini Colla (CRG Holland). Enzo Trulli was taken from the top five group due to a time penalty as well and only came in ninth in the end.
Championship ranking DJKM after 2 of 10 races:
1. Kai Askey (55 points)
2. Enzo Trulli (53 points)
3. Zak O’sullivan (46 points)
4. Alfio Andrea Spina (35 points)
5. Mikkel Hojgaard (30 points)
DKM: Double victory for Harry Thompson
The German Kart Championship already gave a small outlook on the upcoming races during qualifying. The first 40 drivers were less than a second apart and impressed with a high power density. The fields were really closely together during the heats as well. Rookie Hugo Sasse (TB Racing Team) showed the best performance. After a remarkable performance during qualifying, the youngster defended his top position during the following heats as well. “I’m very content with today. During the last heat we did a little tactical manoeuvring and this got us the pole position in the end”, the Saxony-Anhalt resident summed things up positively.
During the first race, the DKM then did its role as the top class of German kart racing justice. During the 21 laps, the drivers showed sensational fights and pure kart racing. Up to six drivers fought for victory until the very last bend. Four drivers temporarily led the field: Sasse, Nicklas Nielsen (KSM Schumacher Racing Team), Kas Haverkoort (Zanardi racing team) and Harry Thompson (Ricky Flynn Motorsport). In the end, Red-Bull junior Thompson rejoiced about his first victory at the DKM. Sasse followed on second place in front of routine driver Nielsen on third. The top five were completed by reigning Junior Champion Haverkort and Andrea Rosso (CRG Holland) from Italy. With Alexander Tauscher (LRT Racing Team) and Marius Zug (TB Racing Team), all in all three German drivers ended up among the top ten.
After the exciting first race, the finalists made things exciting again during the second race as well. Nicklas Nielsen (KSM Schumacher Racing Team) took first place early on from race winner Thompson. The young Brit didn’t let himself be shaken off though and kept close until the end of the race. While crossing the finish line, third driver Tijmen van der Helm (KSM Schumacher Racing Team) started an attack. Thompson, van der Tijmen and Sasse crossed the finish line side by side and caused a photo finish. In the end, nothing changed though. Zane Maloney (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) followed on fifth place. There was a harsh setback for winner Nielsen after the race though. The Dane was too light at the technical post-control and lost his victory. Marius Zug (TB Racing Team) thereby became fifth winner and was the second German among the top five. Harry Thompson became the kick-off double winner.
Championship ranking DKM after 2 of 10 races:
1. Harry Thompson (58 points)
2. Hugo Sasse (56 points)
3. Zane Maloney (36 points)
4. Tijmen Van Der Helm (33 points)
5. Kas Haverkort (31 points)
The DKM is going to continue in four weeks at the Prokart Raceland Wackersdorf. From May 11th-13th the ranked races three and four are going to take place in Upper Palatine. Then, the German Electric Kart Championship (DEKM) is going to take place within the framework of the DKM for the first time and is going to celebrate its premiere there.