76 drivers competed on Friday afternoon at Val d’Argenton in Qualifying for the second round of the OK European Championship, on a dry track, under partly overcast skies and with a temperature of 15°.
Session 1: Cosma Cristofor – 48’999
The karts left the parc fermé with less than 4′ to go before the end of the session. On the second flying lap, David Cosma Cristofor (KR/Iame) went under 49” ahead of Vivek Kanthan (Parolin/TM) and Sebastiano Pavan (OTK/Vortex). After four laps, the Romanian’s time of 48’999 was still the best. Dmitry Matveev (KR/Iame) followed at 66 thousandths ahead of Gabriel Gomez (CRG/Iame) at 0.142”. David Walther (OTK/Vortex) was 4th and Kanthan 5th. Louis Iglesias (CRG/Iame) finished 7th, 0.245 seconds ahead of Jimmy Hélias (KR/Iame). 14th place for Tom Dussol (CRG/Iame) and 23rd for Jean Karras (LN/Iame).
Session 2: Morgatto – 1’02”530
The track was wet following a shower. Everyone set off without delay. Matheus Morgatto (Birel ART/TM) took the lead on lap 1 and confirmed his position on lap 2 ahead of Andy Consani (Sodi/TM) and Salim Hanna (KR/Iame). Morgatto continued his series of fastest times until the fifth lap of 1’02”530. Joe Turney (KR/Iame) was 2nd at 0.297”, Hanna 3rd, Martti Ritonen (Birel ART/TM) 4th and Guillaume Bouzar (CRG/Iame) 5th. Consani finished 8th ahead of Zac Drummond (Parolin/TM).
Session 3: Mclauglin – 1’03”034
The rain was heavier for this final session. Lewis Wherrell (Exprit/TM) was fastest on the first lap ahead of Fionn Mclaughlin (KR/Iame) and Oleksandr Bondarev (KR/Iame). McLaughlin opened up a significant gap on lap 2. Bondarev then closed the gap in 2nd position, but Mclaughlin’s second lap remained the benchmark at 1’03”034. Bondarev finished 2nd at 0.481”, Wherrell 3rd at 0.867. Freddie Lloyd (LN/TM) and Anatoly Khavalkin (Parolin/TM) rounded out the top five, more than a second behind. Thibaut Ramaekers (KR/Iame) was 9th, Thomas Quincé (OTK/Vortex) 12th and Philippe Karras (LN/Iame) 16th.
Info Kartcom with Kartlink / Photo © KSP – Arthur Saulnier-Bruneau