Preview: World Karting Championship, Round 1
press release
Further to the postponing of Japan’s Suzuka event to 13 November, it is to the Pro Kart Raceland circuit of Wackersdorf that falls the distinguished honour of being the first to roll out the red carpet for the new look World KF1 Championship this Whitsun weekend.
The utterly revised World Championship treats itself to a new format with a series of 5 events each comprising 4 races and a new technical framework with the recourse to homologated KF2 engines which replace the exceedingly exclusive and costly engines of the late Super KF.
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Above: 2010 World Champion, Nyck de Vries
The major Manufacturers will all join the party and have decided to play the “youths” card by entering only hopefuls in the World Championship and sending their own professional Drivers to compete in the top category of gearbox karts, KZ1.
The latter will be present at Wackersdorf to run in the single-round of its European Championship. One might as well say that there will be a lot of talent in the works Teams’ structures! And, this weekend in Germany, to the exceptional quality of KF1 and KZ1 entries will even be added the large number of KZ2 Drivers: some 111 of them will fight it out for the European title of the category. In all, 187 Drivers are expected on the Pro Kart Raceland circuit dear to Stephan Fritsch!
The World Championship will therefore oppose Drivers mostly considered as hopefuls whose ambition is to have a career in Motor Sport. Although he is not the youngest competitor, Nyck de Vries is the smallest of the field and is nonetheless mostly tipped to win the Championship. Reigning World Champion, the diminutive Dutch prodigy is considered by everyone as the Driver to beat, and the multiplication of Races (4 per event, i.e. 20 for the whole Championship) further reinforces his status as huge favourite. It is difficult to say which of his rivals will be able to match him throughout the competition.
The competitors in the best position to do so could be the Finn Teemu Suninen (4th in the U18 World Championship in 2010), the Czech Libor Toman (Vice-World Champion in 2008), the Italian Flavio Camponeschi (European KF2 Champion in 2008), as well as Britain’s Jordan Chamberlain (the current Vice-World Champion) and Alexander Albon (KF3’s strong man in 2010).
Whereas KF1 is swarming with youngsters, KZ1 has more than ever become the playground of hugely experienced professional Drivers such as Lammers, Ardigo, Fore, Kozlinski, Thonon, Iglesias, Dreezen, Hanley, Catt, Cesetti, Piccini, Abbasse, Convers, Puhakka and Mich, who have known and competed against one another for ages. Their glorious CVs do not however give them complete impunity: the category boasts a few ambitious rookies, in particular Paolo de Conto, Oskari Kurki-Suonio and Yan Pesce, in addition to a female Driver, Holland’s Beitske Visser, who is capable of knocking out all these gentlemen!
Throughout the weekend, all the results will be published in real time on www.cikfia.com
