Double Podium For CRG At Winter Cup
| press release | 21 February 2013 |
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CRG celebrates another Max Verstappen's brilliant success in the second, official appointment of the year for the 18th Winter Cup of Lonato, together with the excellent performances of all the other CRG drivers such as, for example, David Forè's one: he achieves the third placeafter a hard-fought KZ2.
Above: Davide Forè, 3rd in KZ2
VERSTAPPEN'S TRIUMPH IN KF2
Max Verstappen's success, this time, arrived in KF2, after the promising victory achieved in KZ2 at the beginning of the season in the WSK Master Series of La Conca.
The young CRG driver powered by TM, on this occasion too, was overwhelming in the final, leaving no chance to his rivals who had to settle for the remaining placings on the podium.
Above: Max Verstappen
After being one of the the fastest since qualifying, setting the time only a millisecond from the leader, Verstappen, in the heats, achieved a 'hat-trick' winning them all.
Then, in the Pre-final, he was content with a second place behind the Danish Nielsen; but in the final nobody was able to be as fast as the Dutch driver. He took an early lead and kept until the end, with a remarkable lead over the other drivers.
In KF2, for the second time in a row, the Canadian Zachary Claman DeMelo (CRG-Bmb) showed his performing qualities: he won one of the heats and definitely showed to be ready to enter the group of the few top drivers, even though in the pre-final and in the final he was slowed down because of some contacts.
The Brazilian Vitor Baptista and the French Ingrid Girard were stopped by accidents and did not manage to pass the second-chance heats, as well as the Finnish Niclas Nylund, who could not join the finalists.
Above: Max Verstappen
IN KZ2 PODIUM FOR FORE’
In KZ2 the best CRG driver was Davide Forè, powered by Maxter and with the colours of the Polish DTK Racing Team. He won one of the heats, then, in the pre-final, Forè was immediately among the leading drivers until an accident made him drop back of several positions. In the tussle of the final, the Italian driver was, once again, very fast and recovered many positions, as far as fourth place which became third after De Conto's 5-second penalty: De Conto crossed the finishing line first but he was punished for a crash with Ardigò.
Also AndreaDalè (CRG-Maxter) achieved a remarkable streak of excellent performances. He was always very fast but, in the final, after an accident with Torsellini he had to settle for 9th. Fabian Federer (CRG-Modena) finished 14th; he, too, was slowed down by a crash at the start. The Austrian Marcel Muller (CRG-Parilla) had to retire in the second-chance race for another accident after the spectacular one he was involved in during one of the heats.
SHWARTZMAN PERFORMS WELL IN KF3
Among the young KF3 drivers, among the private drivers who raced for CRG, the best was the Russian Robert Shwartzman of the Forza Racing Team. He was able to recover many positions from the back rows and, finally, he arrived in 9th. On the other hand, the weekend was particularly tough for the promising Finnish driver Niko Kari of the LH Racing Team: he retired after an accident both in the pre-final and in the final.
NEXT EVENT. For CRG the next appointment is from 1st to 3rd March in La Conca for the first round of the WSK Euro Series.
Above: Zachary Claman DeMelo , KF2
THE INTERVIEWS
Euan Jeffery, CRG team manager: “This week has been really tough from the point of view of weather conditions. We even had snow during the first days of free practice, then, fortunately, the weather got better eventhough the track changed a lot throughout the racing days. Despite hard conditions, Max Verstappen was simply awesome and, in KF2 too, he was at top level after winning, two weeks before, in KZ2 in La Conca. Also Claman DeMelo did really well: it is a shame he had that accident in the final at the start, otherwise he would had finished in the first positions. Very positive the performances of Baptista, Nylund and Girard. KZ2 turned out to be a very hard-fought race in all the positions. We achieved podium with Forè, but also with Dalè and Federer we could have had good satisfaction if they had not been slowed down by crashes. Now, we are all focused on the WSK Euro Series, where we will be present with our whole official team."
Max Verstappen (KF2): “That's my second victory in a row this year, and it is also my second victory in KF2 at the Winter Cup. Of course I'm very satisfied. In the pre-final the rear of the chassis swerved a bit; then, in the final, the setup was adjusted and I had no problem at all. My next race is in La Conca for the WSK Euro Series, where I'll make my debut in KZ1, a very demanding category.”
Davide Forè (KZ2): “I'm very happy for my race. I'd like to say thank you to all the DTK Team; they gave me the opportunity to take part in this Winter Cup, and, of course, I do thank CRG President Giancarlo Tinini, who allowed me to participate. Many thanks to Maxter too, which gave me an excellent engine. I was fast during the whole week then, in the pre-final, after a contact I dropped back to 11th position. In the final everything worked and, with the exception of a contact with another driver, I was always veryclose to the leading positions and, finally, I achieved this podium which is very rewarding for me."
