Though it does not count for the championships, the Winter Cup is all the same very important, since it allows the teams to assess their potential with a view to the beginning of the season. From this point of view, CRG-Maxter karts did not miss the goal. Arnaud Kozlinski (Super KF) and Max Verstappen (KF3) aimed for victory in their categories and were able to prove the excellence of their equipment.

"Davide Forè set the pole position in timed qualifying right away and that hearted the whole team", CRG team members stressed. "But on Friday, the rain was waiting for us and we really wanted to check our potential as quickly as possible and under the best conditions. We did that later and we were not disappointed. Our drivers showed immediately what stuff they are made of thanks to both the qualities of our chassis and the power of our new Maxter engines".

In Super KF, Arnaud Kozlinski clearly dominated the pre-final by posting the best lap. "I really thought I could win the race, but another driver made me waste a lot of time already at the beginning. Moreover, the final ended when artificial lighting was already on and with the cold there were no longer the best conditions to fully show the well-known effectiveness of the Road Rebel chassis. Anyway, I managed to climb on the third step of the podium thanks to the results obtained in the pre-finals and the final. Like last year, I am pretty sure that CRG will be again one of the protagonists of this season".

Dutch driver Max Verstappen shares the same view. Wearing the leader's number after the qualifying heats, he remained constantly in the leading pack on Sunday. On his first official appearance in KF3, he was able to conquer the second place in the final standings and showed to be very satisfied with his kart. In KF2, success was not on CRG drivers' side, but the victory of Ms Michelle Gatting in one of the heats proved that the match was only postponed...

First verdict: Top Level of Performance for the New Maxter!
Winter tests were already very promising, but there is nothing like a race to know if everything works fine and if engineers have worked in the right direction. Therefore, the 15th Winter Cup was the ideal testing ground to know a bit more about the potential of the newly homologated Maxter XF and Super KF chassis. Arnaud Kozlinski provided a first answer. "In addition to the huge amount of work done in factory, we also had long test sessions. Once again we have gone up to the next level. From KF3 to Super KF and KZ, the different versions were specifically developed for each category and personally I was not surprised to see CRG at the top in all levels at the Winter Cup. And what is more, we had no mechanical troubles: a great satisfaction for the whole team!" The third place of the French driver in Super KF and Max Verstappen's second place in KF3 already hint at a bright future for Maxter...

Giancarlo Tinini (C.R.G. S.p.A. Chairman): ‘My comment on this first event of the season is absolutely positive. We did well in all the categories, in KF2 too with Michelle Gatting, who drove really fast! In KF3 max Verstappen was quick from the very beginning: he played a leading role throughout the whole event. And the same can be said for Gérard, who showed his excellent qualities. It’s a pity for “Koko” in Super KF; he was unlucky in the final. He started from the back rows and he didn’t have the chance to recover. Instead, for Thonon this was a preparatory race: a good training session before the beginning of WSK, where he will participate in KZ. Tiene had several physical problems because of that intestinal virus, but despite this he managed to perform well in the final. Eddy too was going well, then troubles with the engine stopped him. It was a good rehearsal to test our potentialities: I’m sure we’ll get a kick out of WSK.’

Arnaud Kozlinski: ‘I was purposely hindered during the race by one of my rivals, otherwise I’d have won the final. Technically speaking, we had a great chassis and the engine was absolutely performing. The delay of three hours, which obliged us to race in the cold evening, may have limited the overall performance of my engine. In the pre-final, with a warmer temperature, I won with a terrific race recovering from 8th place.’

Davide Forè: ‘During the first race I had some grip problems while braking; my kart wasn’t well balanced. For the final we made some adjustments on the chassis and things started to get better. The engine’s got great potentialities, we will play an important role in the season.’

Jonathan Thonon: ‘After marking the third time during the practice, I started really behind in the pre-final, then I did better in the final managing to gain the 10th place. I’m glad, anyway: for me it was a great training session before the KZ season. I must thank Giancarlo Tinini heartedly for giving me this opportunity. From the next race, on 7th March, with the WSK opening event, my season will be essentially focused on the category with gear-shift.’

Felice Tiene: ‘I hadn’t feel well for a week, and this morning I had to go to the hospital, because I needed some treatment (they gave me a couple of drip-feeds). I felt better, then; the race went well. I had a problem in one of the heats, which obliged me to start from the back rows, even though eventually I managed to recover and to finish 12th. I’m really glad, after all. It was my first race in Super KF and I was at the same level of the greatest champion of the category.’

15. Winter Cup - Lonato (Brescia), 21st February 2010.
Final Placings Super KF (pre-final and final aggregated score): 1. Libor (CZ) (Birel-Bmb) points 53; 2. Cesetti (I) (Birel-Bmb) 39; 3. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) 32; 4. De Brabander (B) (Intrepid-Tm) 30; 5. Hanley (GB) (Maranello-Maranello) 23; 6. Ardigò (I) (Tony Kart-Vortex) 21; 7. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) 16; 8. Maisano (F) (Intrepid-Tm) 14; 9. Viganò (I) (Birel-Parilla) 10; 10. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) 6; 11. Cooper (GB) (Kosmic-Vortex) 6; 12. Renaudie (F) (Pcr-Tm) 5; 13. Felice Tiene (I) (CRG-Maxter) 4; 14. De Vries (NL) (Zanardi-Parilla) 3; 15. Groman Zdenek (CZ) (Maranello-Parilla) 2; 16. Chamberlain (GB) (Tony Kart-Tm) 2; 17. Catt (GB) (Tony Kart-Vortex) 1.
Super KF – Pre-final: 1. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter); 2. Hanley (GB) (Maranello-Maranello) +0.593; 3. De Brabander (B) (Intrepid-Tm) +0.667; 4. Cesetti (I) (Birel-Bmb) +1.462; 5. Libor (CZ) (Birel-Bmb) +3.910; 6. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) +4.100; 7. Ardigò (I) (Tony Kart-Vortex) +6.494; 8. Renaudie (F) (PCR-Tm) +6.495; 9. Maisano (F) (Intrepid-Tm) +7.718; 10. Viganò (I) (Birel-Parilla) +8.791.
Final: 1.  Libor (CZ) (Birel-Bmb); 2. Cesetti (I) (Birel-Bmb) +0.263; 3. De Brabander (B) (Intrepid-Tm) +0.930; 4. Ardigò (I) (Tony Kart-Vortex) +1.350; 5. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) +1.457; 6. Maisano (F) (Intrepid-Tm) +3.407; 7. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) +4.197; 8. Hanley (GB) (Maranello-Maranello) +5.004; 9. Viganò (I) (Birel-Parilla) +5.672; 10. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) +5.858.