2011 TaG Challenge International, Round 1

press release

link to event videos - HERE

THE FRENCH STAMP THEIR AUTHORITY IN THE IAME X30 CLASSES AT THE DEBUT OF THE 2011 TAG CHALLENGE INTERNATIONAL

The anticipated debut of the TAG Challenge International series powered by IAME was hosted by Sologne Karting at Salbris in France over the Easter break with dedicated classes based on the Italian-made Parilla X30 engine.

Above: X30 Senior Winner Sebastien LeGleuher
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

It was a positive beginning to the three-round championship, as drivers from ten nations came together to match their skills against some of the best in their class in Europe. The competition was close in all classes and the weather almost perfect apart from some showers Saturday afternoon for the last of the senior heat races, which adversely effected grid positions for the finals.

In the X30 TaG Shifter class, Emilien Grosso in the Intrepid chassis claimed the first round honours in a finals showdown that went right to the flag, almost beaten to the top step of the podium by qualifying pole-sitter Kenny Charles (1:01.050) of Belgium. The Eurokarting driver edged out the best of the remaining all-French field in the shifter category by taking pole position by 0.090 seconds in his third lap out on the popular 1,495m circuit ahead of Grosso and Paul Roman.

Above: Driver presentation
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Above: Press conference for pre-final pole sitters
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Saturday’s qualifying heats were dominated by a very assertive Grosso with three wins to give him pole for the pre-final to follow the next day. He showed his experience in the X30 Shifter at the all-important standing start, which undoubtedly went in his favour each time. Although Charles was quicker in two of the three heats, he was unable to catch the Frenchman, but took 3rd after having a slow start to the first heat and then was in 2nd place twice to line up alongside Grosso Sunday morning. It was Roman who ranked 3rd in the points just in front of Maxime Roy, who would have been a contender for the inside row grid with two 3rds, only disadvantaged by a DNF in the initial race. The only other driver to feature inside the top 3 was Stephane Stemper who had a 2nd place, but his other results left him on row 4.

The pre-final got off to a fast start with Grosso’s three years of competing with the IAME Parilla X30 engine showing. It was close racing as the laps wound down and the leading pack managed to pull a slight gap on the next group. Track owner Marc Berteaux assumed P4 until passed by Roy in the early stages who also progressed to 3rd and looked for a pass on Charles soon after, who was until then applying the pressure on Grosso out front. Coming from P8, Cedric Goudant was circulating quickest and moved through to 4th with several laps to go, but it was Roy setting the pace in 3rd as he reeled in the leading pair. Charles covered his line in the last lap to hold on for 2nd 0.176 seconds behind Grosso.

Above: 1st and 2nd in X30 shifter final
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

With rain threatening, the X30 Shifter final got underway following the lunch break as Grosso and Charles led the way from the front row. Roman got caught up on another kart, but was able to make his way back into the midst of the racing. Roy remained in P3, while a superb start by Berteaux secured 4th where he kept his position behind Roy for the entire 16 laps. Grosso appeared to be really pushing, taking a wider line out of the corners compared to Charles, as spits of rain speckled the tar. Prior to the halfway mark, it was Yohann Cresson from ROF setting the best time; however, he retired on lap 5. The action for was heating up mid-field  Stemper and Olivier Georges overtook Roman and they went three-wide through the tighter sections of the Sologne circuit, with Goudant also joining in the battle.

An attempt to pass failed for Charles as Grosso shut him out, only for the lone Belgian to take another look. For a moment it seemed that Grosso may have faltered and a very determined Charles might possibly snatch the lead in the closing laps. The victory went to Grosso in an intense finish as they crossed the line, the two rivals shaking hands on the roll-down lap as they acknowledged the great fight between them for the first ever TAG Challenge International winner’s trophy. Roy had a safe 3rd to Berteaux, while Roman and Georges continued to have their own dual, eventually taking P5 and 6. In 7th was Goudant, then Frank Savouret and Niels Marchal. Classified 10th was Stemper, who actually stopped before the race was completed.

Above: X30 Shifters, led by winner Emilien Grosso
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Emilien Grosso – “It was a very good weekend for me. I had a good set-up for the chassis from the start of the meeting. I felt Kenny [Charles] come up behind me and then I made a small mistake which gave him the opportunity to overtake. I was still able to keep the lead so it’s nice to win at the first race of the series here in France. Thanks to my supporters – Action Intrepid France, to my father, my mechanic Maxime and my sponsors Maisons Alicia, Abis Immo and Shark.”

It was the first CIK-FIA sanctioned international event as well for many of youngest competitors in the IAME X30 Juniors and they didn’t disappoint the number of spectators who had turned out regardless of the cloudy outlook at Salbris. Unbeatable across the weekend, Florian Latorre (1:03.938) took pole in Friday’s official timed practice, almost half a second faster than Spanish driver Javier Cobian with 3rd best lap posted in a narrow difference to P4 by Bruno de Oliveira of Portugal.

Above: X30 Junior podium
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

The French driver who’s been racing for 4 years now claimed he was confident of winning the new European addition to the national IAME X30 Challenges he was accustomed to, admitting that there were good drivers from other countries in the class, but obviously he was in the ideal position from start grid 1 in all the qualifying heats. It was in fact Latorre racing for the Eurokarting team who stayed ahead of the competition as he had suggested, taking 3 from 3 wins Saturday and setting the quickest laptime in each race. With two 2nd places, Cobian would start beside him in the pre-final after ranking on equal points with Energy Spain SL team-mate Ivan Segura who had two 3rds. The next French driver following the Sodikart pole-sitter was Charles Machado with one 2nd and two top 10 finishes to complete the second row for the first of the finals.

It was the first time up until the pre-final that Latorre was unable to stretch his lead so early from the start of the race, as Segura stayed with him for some laps. With some spots of rain persisting, Machado traded places with Cobian for 3rd in a tight little battle, gradually joined by a fantastic effort from Jeremy Lesoudier coming from start grid 11 who also overtook Cobian on lap 4. Latorre found himself negotiating with Marc Gonzales Ramos being lapped, while Machado looked set to pass Segura for 2nd. The leader then picked up the pace with 2 laps of 10 remaining as Segura held his place in 2nd, but the group behind bunched up and began to fight it out as the chequered flag approached. It was Machado who secured 3rd from Lesoudier and Alejandro Pascual Martinez, also driving well to advance from row 5 with the second best lap of the race after Latorre. 6th place went to Cobian.

Above: X30 Junior winner Florian Latorre
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

In a finals turnaround, Latorre lost the start on the sweeping first corner when Machado made the surprise “move of the day” up the inside to lead the race until the start of the second lap, when Latorre claimed it back.  Segura was further down the order after his front row start, leaving Cobian to chase Machado in the race for 2nd. Finally showing his true colours, Etienne Mordret from grid 8 was closing on the Spaniard by lap 5 followed by his CBK team-mate Bryan Elpitiya. Cobian lost 3rd to Mordret, as Oliveira who started behind him passed Elpitiya for 5th by half race distance.

Mordret was trying for 2nd and succeeded in taking it from Machado with 4 laps to go; only for the #12 kart to hit back in the same spot he lost P2 to regain his position until he ran wide after braking too deep into the corner which let Mordret with the momentum take 2nd once more. The situation also let Oliveira move to P4 temporarily as Latorre made the most of the battle raging behind him to cross the line by more than nine seconds for the well-deserving impressive win. An elated Mordret showed his emotion as he followed the Sodikart home for 2nd not far ahead of Machado winning the fight for 3rd. Oliveira was 4th, then came Elpitiya, Cobian and Segura with Lesoudier in 8th lacking the pace he needed to repeat his pre-final result. Next was Martinez and Ramos to round out the top 10 in the X30 Juniors.

Florian Latorre – “The driver behind me [Charles Machado] had a great start in the final, but after 2 laps I passed him. I was very relaxed by the end of the race and I took care to only do what I needed to make sure I could win, looking after the tyres and making no mistakes. I want to thank Sodikart and Eurokarting, as well as the FFSA Programme 10-15. ”

The IAME X30 Seniors combined with the X30 Masters was the largest class and provided great track action right throughout the event, beginning Friday afternoon with official timed practice where only 0.001 seconds separated polesitter Jeoffrey Rouchy (1:03.587) racing for the OKS team, from Javier Rodelas Castillo . Both the French and Spanish drivers respectively ran in the first group session for the Seniors, while the third best lap was set by Cedric Magnet in the second group of the 43 kart-field.

Above: X30 Masters podium
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Best in the Masters (32 years+) qualifying and notably running 5kg heavier than the Seniors according to the regulations, was Ideal Kart team driver Ludovic Breton (1:04.775) flying the French flag. He was 0.125 clear of Peru’s Mario Barrios, under the guidance of well-known karting legend Peter De Bruijn at the X30 event. 3rd best lap in the class and only 0.15 seconds slower than Barrios was Luc Levfevre of Belgium. This gave the top 3 Masters a start position of rows 9 and 10 in the heats the next day.

Six qualifying races resulted in 4 different winners in total with Rodelas Castillo ranking at the top of the table on the same points as Steven Lesca, after both won two heats a piece. However, it was the Energy driver from Spain whose laptime was better in qualifying so he would start the pre-final from pole. Martin Van Hove and Andrea Suau each took race honours in one heat, although it was Sebastien Le Gleuher who qualified 11th Friday that was more consistent within the front-runners to start on grid 3 for the initial final. Best of the Belgians Van Hove joined him on the second row. The most prominent on the stopwatch during the heats was Jeremy Peclers; yet he could only manage P11 in the rankings. Masters driver Levfevre qualified directly into the pre-final after gaining considerable positions, but Breton would have to contest the second chance race on Sunday morning.

Above: X30 Masters winner Luc Levfevre
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Above: Sologne Karting circuit
pic - Jenni Wade / RGMMC Media

Rodelas Castillo appeared to have the pre-final under control from the start as he strengthened his lead to more than a second by lap 2 and was the quickest on track. Behind him the drivers shuffled from the opening lap when Le Gleuher lost out to Lesca, and he then to Lopes on the third lap. Qualifying pole-sitter Rouchy parked his Mirage kart on lap 5 to become a spectator, while the gap to the leader began to narrow as Rodelas Castillo dropped off the pace slightly. It was Van Hove who took the lead with 3 laps remaining, followed by Lopes for 2nd and soon after Suau also slotted in front of Rodelas Castillo for 3rd. The last corner involved a battle for positions immediately behind the front-runners, Lesca taking 5th from Le Gleuher and Pierre Henri Janicaud losing ground for 7th across the line. Breton was the first and fastest Master to the flag finishing in P26 following his second chance success to start in the finals.  

It was a nail-biting final on a warm, sunny afternoon in France for the X30 Seniors and Masters, with 16 laps of fantastic competition for both drivers and race fans at the Salbris circuit. An incident on turn 2 caused some early havoc, but it was Van Hove out in front pursued by Suau as they put a gap between themselves and everyone else. Suau tried for the lead unsuccessfully and a lap later found himself relegated to 3rd by Le Gleuher who followed on by snatching the lead as well. In P3 and 4, Suau and Lesca tangled at the top end of the track, falling down the timesheets to end up just inside the first 20. This allowed Lopes and Peclers from grid 14 to move into podium contention.

In the meantime, the leaders were into a dicing match that went on for laps with no room for error, while Peclers ran wide in an attempt to take 3rd, giving Lopes some breathing space until he fought back with a vengeance; it was the perfect final showdown! Kart #217 Johan Bourassin moved up to P5 ahead of Rodelas Castillo and was looking good, but retired out of the race on lap 12 of 16, but it was the pace-setter of the final Sebastien Pastorek who secured 5th in the end. Defensive driving came into play up front until the last lap board signalled Van Hove had to push hard to bridge the gap. It was another victory for France and 20-year old Le Gleuher’s for the taking by a small margin to the Belgian, as Lopes also outdrove Peclers for the podium position ahead of Pastorek, Rodelas Castillo and Nicolas Perez in 7th. P8 belonged to Loris Aroumougom followed by a brilliant drive by Rouchy from the back of the grid, and Quentin Rongier who was French driver number 7 in the top 10.

Above: X30 TaG Shifter podium
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Above: X30 Senior pre-final start
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Levfevre won the Masters for RSD Karting with an impressive display of acrobatics by the 33-year old from Belgium as he took the chequered flag in P25 overall, while fellow Kosmic driver Breton wasn’t far behind to take the X30 Masters runner-up prize at the opening round. 3rd place went to Mario Barrios.

Sebastien Le Gleuher – “At the beginning of the race meeting it was quite hard, but after qualifying I started to go well. In the qualifying heats I just wanted a good place then I changed to a new set of [KOBE] tyres in the pre-final and went very well. I was feeling confident that I could get a podium here this weekend, but to win is great! Now I will focus on the next two rounds of this championship and use my budget to do some testing as well so that I am better prepared at the other circuits. I would like to say thank you to my team Braun Racing, my parents, and Pierre Henry Nanat.”

Luc Levfevre – “The level of driving was quite high in this class, so I was very happy to be able to qualify directly into the finals as only a Master, despite also carry an extra 5kg of weight. It was a high quality meeting and I’m pleased with my result considering I have only just begun racing in the Parilla X30. I must thank the team – RSD Karting, my mechanic and my sponsors Niembro and Belu-Deco. ”

 
Above: Javier Rodelas
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Above: IAME Parilla X30
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

Above: X30 Senior podium
pic - Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

RGMMC - 2011 TAG Challenge International race schedule
Round 2 will take place at the Zuera International Circuit, Spain (June 30 – July 3) with the third and final round to decide the 2011 TAG Challenge International titles being held at the ProKart Raceland at Wackersdorf, Germany (August 4 – 7) for what should be an exciting action-packed conclusion.

All results from round 1 at Salbris can be found at the official series homepage - www.tagchallenge.com

Check out YouTube at KARTWORLDTV for interviews and racing action with 2011 TAG CHALLENGE INTERNATIONAL or follow the direct link - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy5-RobHLBg&feature=related

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