The sky was gradually clearing in Wackersdorf for the final of the first round of the FIA Karting European Championship – KZ; but the temperature remained slightly lower than the day before. In pole position, Emilien Denner (Intrepid/TM) was the favourite after his brilliant run so far. He shared the first row with Riccardo Longhi (Birel ART/TM) while Noah Milell (Tony Kart/Vortex) and Jérémy Iglesias (CRG/TM) were on the second row ahead of Alex Irlando (CRG/TM) and Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart/Vortex).
Longhi got off to a good start, with Iglesias and Irlando following in his wake. Denner was 4th ahead of Puhakka and Adrien Renaudin (Sodi/TM) who had a good start (+5 pl). Irlando attacked Iglesias who had to protect himself from Denner, who was being followed by Renaudin. Marijn Kremers (Birel ART/TM) was already out of the race. Denner was 3rd and Renaudin 4th at the expense of Iglesias. Longhi was in the lead, 8 tenths ahead of Irlando after five laps. Denner had found his rhythm again and took 2nd place by passing Irlando on the eighth lap. Longhi had a 1.3″ advantage with 16 laps to go.
Meanwhile, Stan Pex (KR/TM) moved back into the top five by overtaking Puhakka. The Italian leader’s lead was reduced to 8 tenths on the 14th lap, but he offered good resistance to Denner’s comeback. Still 4th, Renaudin was chasing Irlando and his place on the podium. But he had to watch his back against the approaching Stan Pex. Denner was 6 tenths behind Longhi who was far from giving up. The duel was superb. Pex took 4th place from Renaudin on lap 23. Denner had come back to 0,441” with one lap to go, but it wasn’t enough and Longhi took a very deserving victory with 0,360”. Irlando secured 3rd place, Stan Pex 4th and Renaudin 5th. Pedro Hiltbrand (Birel ART/TM) regained the advantage over his teammate Matteo Vigano (Birel ART/TM) for 6th position.
This article was written live from the competition and does not take into account any subsequent penalties.
Info Kartcom with Kartlink / Photo © KSP