Winter Cup Podium Kicks Off CRG's Season
press release
As a tradition, the international karting season was inaugurated by the Winter Cup on the Lonato track, a few kilometres from the Italian CRG headquarters. Confident and motivated after its excellent achievements in 2010, the official team confirmed the top level of performances of its CRG-Maxters, both in KF and KZ. Max Verstappen has already celebrated his first podium of the season in KF3, while Jonathan Thonon has come very close to the same result in KZ2...
The start of a new season is always accompanied by a mix of emotion and excitement for a team. Drivers, mechanics, engine preparers and technical managers are all anxious to know if the development work made during winter will bear its fruits. "2011 is not a homologation year, either for chassis or for engines, but that does not mean that our technicians cannot find improvements, so that our products can help our customers to be competitive as quickly and easy as possible", a CRG representative said.
KZ2 : Thonon One Step Away from the Podium
With six drivers with CRG chassis in less than two tenths of a second in the top 15 after timed qualifying, the weekend started under the best auspices, both for CRG Racing Team official drivers and for private drivers. But the dry track of the qualifying session became soaking wet in the final and disrupted the race for some drivers. "The pre-final had a big influence on the final result. We had chosen the rain tyres, which was the ideal solution for the first laps. But unfortunately it stopped raining and several drivers with slicks passed us. It was a sort of lottery that also forced us to take the start in the final with rather worn tyres" "Koko" regretted. In this situation, Jonathan Thonon and Arnaud Kozlinski fought until the end to place their CRG-Maxters at 4th and 9th respectively.
KF2 : Maxter in the Lead Pack
"In 2011, KF2-type engines will be used both in this category and in the KF1 World Championship. We have worked a lot on this Maxter version and our first tests are very encouraging. Some of the drivers who will drive CRG karts this season did not attend this race, but the potential is there. Andrea Dalè has been very competitive on several occasions, and we would like to congratulate British Mark Litchfield on concluding the final in second place with a Maxter engine", a technician from the Italian company commented.
KF3 : an Impressive Verstappen
With his second best time during the timed qualifying session and most of all a remarkable series of five victories in five races during the qualifying heats, Max Verstappen and his CRG-Maxter were once again in the spotlight. "On the dry, I really felt I could win. But the rain appeared on Sunday and another driver proved to be very fast in those conditions. He managed to gain a little advantage and I had to content my self with a second place, as in 2010", the young Dutch commented. Less known, German Kirill Karpov also distinguished himself by finishing all the heats in the top 10 with his CRG-Maxter, before ranking 15th in the final race.
