Kancsár Takes It To The World’s Best at Rotax Final
press release
Intrepid Force Rotax (IFR) team driver Ferenc Kancsár became one of the youngest Senior Max competitors to step up onto the podium in the 11-year history of the prestigious Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals (RMCGF) last weekend, when he secured a deserving 3rd place against some of the most prominent drivers in his class.
pic by Bas Kaligis / www.racexpress.com
The 15-year old Senior rookie, racing for Austria this season with the Salzburg-based team, had his Hungarian heart firmly set on finishing in the top 3 at the event hosted by the La Conca International Circuit in the south-east of Italy, where 252 of the best drivers from than 60 national Rotax Max Challenge series’ worldwide came together to contest the coveted Rotax titles. As the newly crowned Central European Zone Karting Trophy champion, as well as the winner of the German-Austrian Rotax Max Challenge and 2010 Austrian Champion, Kancsár also ranked 9th in the Rotax Euro Challenge and a notable 6th at the recent Rotax International Open.
After qualifying 6th in the very competitive 72-kart field, the multiple Junior Max champion sealed his place in Sunday’s pre-final with a flawless performance to take 2nd, 3rd and 4th in his three qualifying heats. Lining up on grid 4 for the first of the finals, Kancsár was amongst the quickest on track and drove a smart race to be in P3 at the chequered flag for an inside row start in the 24-lap decider. Tucked in behind polesitter and New Zealand’s number one in Max, Josh Hart, (coincidentally IFR’s leading senior driver the previous two seasons) he kept good pace with the front-runners before making a well-executed move two laps from the end on Canadian champ Pier-Luc Ouellette, also a former winner of the Rotax DD2 world title.
pic by Bas Kaligis / www.racexpress.com
The young IFR driver admitted it was his dream to stand on the podium at La Conca this year on his return to the famous circuit where he also raced in Junior Max at the Grand Finals in 2008. “It’s been a good event for us. In qualifying I had the pace for P3, but I got behind a slower driver and lost the best lap. The sector times were good, so I was quite happy with the set-up. The heat races were also good, driving with professional drivers; not ‘crashers’. In the final, I thought I could have been in 2nd to fight with Josh [Hart] for the lead, but he didn’t get a good start. Once I overtook Pier-Luc [Ouellette] with two laps to go, I expected him to close in on me in the last lap, but he didn’t. Josh and Caleb [Williams] didn’t fight for positions up front, so I couldn’t do any better than 3rd. When I crossed the finish line, I was very happy that I’d made the podium. To be 4th would have been the worst place to finish! I really want to say thank you to my team, to Aldo my mechanic and everyone who’s helped me.”
Intrepid Force Rotax team manager, Ernst Penninger, said he was extremely pleased for Kancsár’s result in Italy to finish 3rd in such a high calibre of international competition and praised the combined efforts of his team technicians and partners in achieving their 5th RMCGF podium to-date. “Ferenc and the team took a tactical approach this week to achieve this result. I’m very happy for Ferenc to finish his season on the podium at the Grand Finals in La Conca after stepping-up from juniors for 2010. He has continually improved his driving and mental performance throughout the year and has showed, especially in the last two events, what he is capable of. I am sure he will be even more competitive in the future and be able to achieve consistently top results in 2011. I would also like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to our partners – both technical and sponsors, whose ongoing commitment and support allows us to compete in the highest level of Rotax karting.”
For the RMCGF results, highlights, interviews and more - www.maxchallenge-rotax.com/event2010/grand_final.html
IFR team news and updates can be found online at - www.intrepidforcerotax.comand www.racetogetthere.com
