3 Podiums For IFR At Wackersdoft
press release
It was an absolute nail-biter, action-packed fifth round of the German-Austrian Rotax Max Challenge at the ProKart Raceland circuit at Wackersdorf last weekend, where three of the Intrepid Force Rotax drivers graced the podium Sunday and gained some valuable points for the series. They were amongst the 141 competitors racing in eight categories in the five Rotax engine classes being contested.
In Senior Max, Ferenc Kancsár took 2nd place ahead of his IFR team-mate Niki Laa in 3rd, who now leads the championship by 12 points with just two rounds remaining. It was a great battle for positions in both races, where Kancsár set the best time in the 14-lap pre-final and together with Laa, took turns to lead the 25-driver line-up in the deciding race before thunderstorms hit late in the afternoon.
Above: Ferenc Kancsár (centre) with teammates Stefan Locsmandi (left) and Niki Laa.
photo by Jenni Wade
The deserving win eventually went to one of IFR’s former RMC team drivers Tobias Weichenberger, taking his first ever Max podium with a victory that he sealed in the closing moments of the final. It was a fabulous dice right to the finish, with a mere 0.051 seconds separating the two IFR rivals Kancsár and Laa respectively as they crossed the line to take the chequered flag.
Pole position on the day belonged to VPD Team Germany driver Maxi Gunkel, who didn’t have the luck he had hoped over the weekend, but continues to lead the national point score for the chance to represent his country at the Rotax Grand Finals to be held in Italy this November. Kancsár qualified on P2 to join Gunkel on row 1 for the first of the finals, while Laa was 5th fastest to start on row 3.
Above: Stefan Locsmandi
photo by Jenni Wade
Austria’s Stefan Locsmandi wore the IFR colours in Junior Max with a positive finish to the event to claim 5th overall as the third quickest driver on track in the 15-lap final. The constantly changing weather conditions that the German circuit is renowned for made it a demanding weekend for the 14-year old, who ranked 4th in the official timed practice Sunday morning. In race 1, he was 4th as well, so all-in-all it was an excellent result for Locsmandi at the circuit where he actually qualified to start on the front row of the pre-final at round 2 of the Rotax Max Euro Challenge back in May.
The team’s youngest member, Felix Kotyk, had his best result to-date this season in the RMC when he claimed P9 in the 21-kart field of the Rotax Mini Max class. It was his initial visit to the fast 1,222km CIK-FIA homologated track in the Bavarian region where the newly introduced series opener of the U/18 World Championship was recently staged. This proved to be a promising round for Felix, as he sets his sights firmly on making Motorsport a big part of his future plans.
Above: Felix Kotyk in Mini Max. Note the high-back seats used in this class.
photo by Jenni Wade
Round 6 of the RMC takes place at Wittgenborn in Germany from August 20-22 as IFR’s next team race event, one week prior to the last round of the Central European Zone series at the Speedworld circuit near Vienna, followed by round 4 of the Euro Challenge immediately after at Genk, Belgium. In the meantime, the drivers will travel to the magnificent region of Tirol in the south of Austria during the summer break with IFR’s fitness coach for one of the scheduled 3-day training camps.
Complete results from the RMC event at Wackersdorf can be found online at - www.rotaxmaxchallenge.de
For Intrepid Force Rotax news and updates visit the team’s official website – www.intrepidforcerotax.com and www.racetogetthere.com for all VPD Racing news.
Above: Niki Laa
photo by Jenni Wade
