The finals went pretty well for the French clan with very interesting performances that could have produced much better results in other circumstances. Everyone knows about the great uncertainty of motorsport. The heros of the day were undoubtedly Alexander Finkelstein, Guy Pansart and Charly Hipp.
The first thing to celebrate was the exciting drive from Alexandre Finkelstein in Max Senior. The MD Competition driver drove a very intelligent race start along with the Australian Mawson to return to the leaders as soon as possible. 12th early in the race, Alex was indeed able to join the leading group and try his luck for the podium. Given his capabilities and the speed of his kart, there was nothing pretentious here. He finished fourth again, but with a much more rewarding race than in 2011. Xavier Pozzoli no longer had the necessary conditions to regain ground in the final where he finished 27th. His potential has fortunately not gone unnoticed and we should see it confirmed shortly.
In DD2 Masters, Guy Pansart found a more competitive machine after the Haase technicians carefully examined his brake problem (annoyingly it didn’t have the right fluid) that allowed him to set very convincing times and come back from 10th to 6th place. Charly Hipp ended on a good note after an overall very satisfactory weekend. For his first event in DD2, he was in fourth briefly in the world final. After a slump, he was able to up the pace to finish in an incredible seventh place. Finally, William Berteaux will not remember the 2012 World Finals fondly due to a lack of power at low revs, a disadvantage that was difficult to overcome in Portimao whose lower part is demanding in this area. It was a good experience for Sébastien Bertrand, a finalist in DD2, although getting used to the Mach 1 chassis took longer than expected, except in the rain.
France was finally ranked 8th in the Nations Cup after the problems for some of the team in the heats. In any case, the atmosphere was excellent in the team and the 2012 Rotax Max Grand Finals will be remembered like a good wine.
Info Kartcom with Kartlink / © Photo KSP