No. 23 – 21ST July 2013
These are unforgettable races! Today, on the Circuito Internazionale d’Abruzzo racetrack, the races which awarded the two KF and KFJ CIK-FIA European titles were simply terrific. The appointment in Ortona (Italy) was the second and final round of the 2013 season. Today’s Finals were as eventful as ever, with the top positions of the championship which changed continuously thanks to the incredible numbers of overtakings on track. The Italian circuit was also the venue of the second out of three appointments of the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy, for drivers aged 13-15.
The race for the European titles was reserved to the 150 drivers who arrived in Ortona from 35 different countries from all around the world. All the drivers were focused and motivated, and fans were able to enjoy this gripping show also on the Internet thanks to the live streaming on www.cikfiachampionship.com and www.cikfia.tv. A further opportunity to see the battles between these young talents is given by the delayed broadcast of the KF, KFJ and the Academy Trophy Finals. On Friday 26th, always on Rai Sport, the special report with the recap of the whole weekend.
Maiden victory for Moineault in KF, while Verstappen wins the European championship. The last racing day was not favourable to the leader of the Championship, the Danish Nicklas Nielsen (Kosmic-Vortex-Vega), who had to pull over after a contact during the first phases of the race. On the other hand, the Dutch Max Verstappen took advantage of his position in the front row, achived in this morning’s Prefinals. He gained an early lead and, after Nielsen’s retirement, he was virtually the new European champion. Karol Basz (Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega), who started from the pole position, closely pursued Verstappen in the attempt to overtake the leader and achieve a victory which would give him the title. Basz managed to pass the Dutch in the last laps, but Verstappen immediately overtook him and regained the leadership. The French Valentin Moineault (Art GP-TM-Vega), right behind the two leaders after an impressive recovery from the 8th row, took advantage of the battle between the two leaders and passed them both right when Verstappen was again overtaking Basz. So, Verstappen was the runner-up behind the winner Moineault, gaining the points he needed to pull down Nielsen from the first position of the Championship standings. Verstappen, at the end of the day, was the new European Champion. The title of Ortona is the second Championship won by Verstappen in three weeks – he also won the KZ championship in Genk (B) at the end of June.
Ticktum and Norris in KFJ: winner and Champion. The KFJ Final was simply incredible. The English Lando Norris (FA Kart-Vortex-Le Cont), dropped immediately back to the last positions after some contacts in the tussle of the first laps. His fellow countryman Daniel Ticktum, whose performance during the weekend was flawless, kept the leadership of the race from the beginning until the end. The Italian Leonardo Pulcini (Tony Kart-Vortex-Le Cont) was his shadow throughout the race and finished second, a result which was the good conclusion of a weekend which did not go as expected. The Finnish Niko Kari
(FA Kart-Vortex-Le Cont) went off track and did not manage to remain close to the podium positions. So, it was the English Enaam Ahmed (FA Kart-Vortex-Le Cont) who arrived third. The race was full of surpirses for many of the top drivers and, on the other hand, it was unexpectedly favorable to Norris. He finished the Championship with as many points as the winner Ticktum and the Dutch Martijn Van Leeuwen (Zanardi-TM-Le Cont), who finished seventh. Regulations gave the victory in the Championship to Norris, followed by the other two drivers. So, the result of this thrilling championship arrived much later than the end of the Final.
Piquet’s double win in the Academy Trophy. Pedro Piquet dominated CIK-FIA Academy Trophy in this race of Ortona. The Brazilian won both today’s finals. He won Race 1 after a battle against the Belgian Maxime Potty, ahead of the Estonian Ralf Aroon. In Race 2, the young son of Nelson Piquet had no rivals and won preceding again Potty and the Turkish Berkay Besler (all on Parolin-Fim-Vega). The current leader of the championship is Potty, with Piquet second.
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