CRG Opens New Factory

Famous Italian manufacturer CRG opened brand new premises earlier this month at Desenzano del Garda. The new plant is in the same area as the Maxter and Maranello factories that have been opened by the CRG group over the past 2 years.

The new building has three stories and an overall surface of 10,000 square meters. Together with the nearby Maxter and Maranello plants – 1,450 and 1,350 square meters respectively – the new complex is now a top industrial hub for karting.

The old CRG factory, not far away from the new one, will house the official CRG Racing Team, plus Primatist, one of the brands of the group specialized in the production and selling of connecting rods, drive shafts and other accessories for karting.

Major dealers for CRG from all over the world, plus members of the official racing team, took part in the opening ceremony, together with karting VIPs and several representatives of the national and international press.

This important event was the occasion for the traditional CRG prize-giving ceremony, during which prizes for the 2009 season  were given to CRG drivers and dealers.

Above: “Koko” Arnaud Kozlinski and Jonathan Thonon with CRG boss Giancarlo Tinini.

Among the CRG dealers, the Best Dealer Award went to Christian Marchandise’s  French firm KCM. Further prizes for this particular ranking went to Dominique Labreque’s Canadian firm PSL and to the German Prespo of Manfred Brandl.

This is Giancarlo Tinini’s comment, chairman of C.R.G. S.p.a.:
“It was a great celebration for CRG. All our friends and major dealers of our brand took part in it, coming from all over the world.

It’s been two years since our last ceremony before Christmas, since we suspended it because of my father’s death. He was a great supporter of this annual appointment and he was always so pleased to represent our brand. Without him I felt it was pointless to keep on organizing the event. But the achievements of this year – the opening of the factory and the wins in the championships - pushed me to resume the tradition.

I was pleased to realize how happy our guests were and it is always great to see such an enthusiasm surrounding our brand. The opening of our new factory is a crucial moment in our business enterprise. The new structure is essential to increase the production and to simplify the goods handling, with the possibility of adding new equipment. Our aim was to work better.

Everything seems so big, but in the end you always need more room. Anyway, we definitely took a big step forward. Now our commitment is to step up the production. We are quite satisfied for the achievements of the year at the moment.

Our production is at the same level of last year production: good news considering the general conditions of the world’s economy. We got excellent selling results in France, followed by Canada and Germany. We recorded a light increase in Japan but a worrying downward trend in America that we will try to recover. In 2010 we think we can increase our sales, even though it won’t be easy.

Regarding the racing we are about to complete our official team: our goal is to get as many trophies as possible, according to our tradition. Jonathan Thonon will take part in KZ1 and KZ2 competitions together with Gary Carlton, while “Koko”, Davide Forè and Eddy Tinini will compete in Super KF.

In this class we will have Felice Tiene’s comeback, the winner of this year KF2 Asia-Pacific Championship. Giovanni Martinez will compete in KF2, Luca Tilloca in KZ2. In KF3 we will have the début of the promising young kating driver Max Verstappen, son of the F1 champion Jos Verstappen.

Soon we will have the names of the drivers of our new junior team, besides probable new drivers in KF2 and KF3”.

Jonathan Thonon: “ I want to thank Giancarlo Tinini for his confidence. I have been racing for CRG for nine years, with the VDK Team first and then with CRG Official Team. This is something I’m so proud of because it’s a continuity that is hard to get in the world of sports; it is based on a great and mutual respect, and this is fundamental for me. It makes me very self-confident.

My season will be focused on KZ1 in the WSK World series and in KZ2 in the WSK Euro Series. The only exception will be the Winter Cup, where I will compete in Super KF. For 2010 we have lots of novelties, starting from the engine, and I’m sure we’ll have a top level season”.

Arnaud Kozlinski: “It is the first time I take part in a CRG celebration and I had the feeling to be a member of a big family. A beautiful feeling.

Concerning my racing activity, in these last weeks I have been following the development of the new engine, and I must say that we are at a satisfactory stage.

We are all happy with the equipment, for the power and the reliability at top levels. My season will be focused on Super KF in the WSK, both in the World Series and in the Euro Series, besides the opening race in the Winter Cup”.

Davide Forè: “I’m expecting much from 2010. I have tested the new Maxter KF engine and I noticed it has been greatly enhanced. It offers excellent reliability, it is much smaller than the previous one and this is the reason why the chassis offers a better efficiency. It’s given me positive emotions, that’s why I’m so confident.”

 

CRG 2010 OFFICIAL TEAM (temporary list)
KZ1 (e KZ2)
Jonathan Thonon (B)
Gary Carlton (USA)
Super KF
“Koko” Arnaud Kozlinski (F)
Davide Forè (I)
Eddy Tinini (I)
Felice Tiene (I)
KZ2
Luca Tilloca (I)
KF2
Giovanni Martinez (I)
KF3
Max Verstappen (NL)

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