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Last Grand Final Tickets Awarded @ International Open

press release

1 November 2013

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ROTAX MAX International Open at Zuera (ES)
Zuera awards last Grand Finals Tickets

- International Open wins for Wooder, Jupp, Slavin and Pierce
- Seven last chance tickets for ROTAX Grand Finals   

After a record-breaking anniversary season of the ROTAX MAX Euro Challenge the last event the ROTAX MAX International Open from 21st to 27th of October 2013 marked the last highlight of the season for the organising RGMMC Establishment and was a last chance opportunity for drivers, aiming for the ROTAX MAX Grand Finals in the USA.

Scene of action will was the Circuito Internacional de Zuera. The 1.700 metres long track is situated in northern Spain right between the cities of Barcelona and Madrid. The race event had been limited to 34 drivers in each category (Junior, Senior and DD2) and was fully booked. So all told about one hundred drivers from 25 nations entered the event, in order to fight for the last tickets to the ROTAX MAX Grand Finals in New Orleans (US). Seven last chance tickets were waiting for the best drivers – three for each category plus one for the best DD2 Masters driver. Moreover the best drivers could win free and assisted places to the 2014 ROTAX MAX Winter Cup and even one complete free season in the 2014 ROTAX MAX Euro Challenge.

RGMMC CEO Roland Geidel: "With grids set at 34 in each class the International Open is a perfect opportunity to not only gain the fantastic prizes on offer, it's also an opportunity for those Euro junior drivers planning to race senior next season to get some testing done and for drivers who are planning to race internationally next season for the first time to experience some racing under the CIK-FIA International rules. In addition from an organisations point of view it gives us the time to test new technology and introduce new members to our team." Warm and sunny weather made for a perfect week, which saw a close outcome in each of the three classes. In the end the right tactic and a good feeling for the wind and its slipstream was the key to success.

David Wooder wins in Junior Category

The recently crowned European junior champion Guan Yu Zhou (Strawberry Racing) set the pace in the qualifying for almost the entire session. But by a last minute attack it was Harrison Thomas (Paul Carr Racing) who marked the best time at the very end. Clock stopped at 1:05.124 minutes for the youngster from the UK. Zhou had to be satisfied with second place, missing only 0.088 parts of a second. Ralf Aron (Dan Holland Racing) from Estonia completed the top three positions of the 33 junior drivers.

The outcome of the heats was a really an open matter. The competition was extremely high. Temporarily over ten drivers were fighting for the victory showing some great overtaking and slipstream manoeuvres. Though the races were thoroughly balanced there was one man standing out of the pack: Ralf Aron managed to win two of the three heats and put himself on pole position for the prefinal on Sunday. But his opponents gave him a hard time. Especially the German Philip Hamprecht, who recently switched to the team of Strawberry Racing, did a remarkable job. From eighth starting place he caught up numerous positions in each race, even taking a win in the second heat. But yet his efforts were not rewarded. A time penalty in the last race prevented a good result in the overall ranking, which finally listed him in sixth position. So Zhou was lucky and took the second place by collecting three solid results in the heats. Jack McCarthy (Strawberry Racing) from the UK and Dutchman Leonard Hoogenboom (Team TKP) completed the top four positions, while the qualifying quickest Harrison Thomas (Paul Carr Racing) dropped back to eighth place in the starting grid and was not supposed to play any decisive role for the final phase.

In the prefinal McCarthy and Zhou set the pace. The duo easily pulled away from the rest of the grid and kept a ceasefire. Until the very last lap McCarthy owned the lead when Zhou finally came up with his final attack. Successfully he passed his teammate winning the prefinal by only 0.109 seconds. Third place went to Ralf Aron in front of David Wooder (Dan Holland Racing) and Philip Hamprecht.

Even in the decisive final Zhou seemed the one to be beaten. Yet the Tony Kart driver was not easy to be caught. He led nearly the entire race distance with Ralf Aron and David Wooder in his shadow. When it got to the final spurt the DHR duo increased the pressure and found a way to pass Zhou. Even Philip Hamprecht seized his chance. On the last metres Wooder asserted himself in taking the win, closely in front of Hamprecht, Zhou and Aron. "It was a very high competiton this weekend but my kart was perfect and I thank my team so much for", Wooder said during the prize giving.

Jupp kept his Nerve in Senior Category

The UK drivers dominated the qualifying practice. Not less than the first four positions went to the British force, which was led by Connor Jupp (Coles Racing) in first place. Only 0.109 slower was Jai Nijjar (Strawberry Racing) in second position, giving an impressive debut in the senior class. The former junior was even quicker than 2009 European KF2 Champion Jordan Chamberlain (Dan Holland Racing) and Max Aitken (Strawberry Racing). Best non-British driver was Roope Markkanen (MPT Racing) from Finland completing the top five positions.

After a sixth place in the qualifying session on Friday Edward Brand (Intrepid Driver Program) was the man of the heats. The UK driver took two wins and one second place thus conquering the pole position for Sunday's prefinal. "The races were far away from being easy. Especially the long straight is difficult as following drivers can undo all your leading gap easily due to the slipstream", Brand stated to the media. The last heat win went to Max Aitken who thereby put his Tony Kart in second place in the heat ranking. Connor Jupp and Jordan Chamberlain completed the top four positions after the heats.

In the prefinal Edward Brand (Intrepid Driver Program) and Connor Jupp (Coles Racing) defended their top positions in the beginning. Both headed away from the grid but when they started quarrelling for the positions almost ten drivers caught up again, turning the leading group into a rope of pearls. What followed was a breath taking battle, which had an unlucky ending in the very last corner. A collision between Edward Brand and the meanwhile leading Jordan Chamberlain made the duo drop back to the end of the grid. The lucky one was Luke Varely (KMS Europe) who profitted by the turbulences ahead. Th UK driver decided the race in his favour by a photo finish, which captured Nicolas Picot (Sodikart) and Connor Jupp on places two and three.

After being lucky in prefinal Varley and Picot suffered in the final. While Picot was pushed back to eighth place, Varley got involved in a collision and had to retire completely. Contrarily the race developed for Connor Jupp. At an early stage he was able to conquer the lead, which he was able to defend for the rest of the race ahead of Max Aitken. "It was a tough race. But I made sure to have enough gap in the last lap. It surely was the best weekend of the season for us", Jupp summed up his successful day. A sensational performance showed Ed Brand. After picking up the final from 28th position the Intrepid driver caught up one place after the other and finally even managed place three on the podium.

DD2: Slavin prevails against Backman and Abbasse

The highspeed track of Zuera was an absolutely perfect soil for the gearbox karts of the DD2 category. In the qualifying practice nine different nations made into the top ten. At last Sweden, represented by Andreas Backman (Strawberry Racing), was quickest in the Spanish heat. Japan's Tadasuke Makino (KMS Europe) took second place ahead of ex-junior Rasmus Markkanen (MPT Racing) from Finland, Shaun Slavin (Paul Carr Racing) from the UK and Frenchman Anthony Abbasse (Sodikart).

Andreas Backman (Strawberry Racing) was the one to be beaten in the heats. After already deciding the qualifying practice in his favour, Backman did not show any weakness in the races. Three times he crossed finish line first and undoubtedly defended the pole position for the prefinal. In the shadow of Backman's impressing performance Anthony Abbasse, Shaun Slavin and Oriol Dalmau Caballero (Motor Club Creixell) from Spain played the best supporting roles taking positions two to four in the heat ranking.

In the prefinal Backman's predominance was finally broken. Anthony Abbasse and Shaun Slavin gave the Swedish driver a really hard time. The trio changed the lead permanently throughout the twelve laps lasting race. In the end Abbasse crossed the finish line first ahead of Slavin and Backman. Yet even the following drivers Rasmus Markkanen, Jan Wunschek (VPDR) and Michael Christensen (Kartschmie.de) were in striking distance as they saw the chequered flag by only a minor gap of not even two seconds.

In the final Anthony Abbasse established himself in the lead again. But the Frenchman got a lot of pressure from behind thus putting him back to fourth position in the end. Nevertheless he kept in front of the fifth placed Andreas Backman who was not able to confirm his top performance up to the finish. So other drivers were fighting for the win. Especially Shaun Slavin was in perfect shape. He led the most of the 15 laps and even counterattacked several manoeuvres of his opponents. Finally he won closely ahead of Tadasuke Makino and youngster Rasmus Markkanen. After the race Makino was disqualified for a technical non-conformity, which made the rest move up in the ranking.

In the DD2 Masters classification Martin Pierce (Josh Hart Racing) dominated the whole weekend. Besides one heat, in which Tamsin Germain (DG Racing) took the triumph, Pierces adhered to first place. Finally the Irishman got seventh in the overall grid and thereby won the Masters classification ahead of Tamsin Germain and Jesus Perez Santander. As Pierce was already qualified for the Grand Finals Germain inherited the ticket to New Orleans.

During the prize giving not only the seven winners of the Grand Finals tickets had reason to cheer. The race winners even won a free and assisted place at the ROTAX Winter Cup 2014. And as a cherry on the cake Jack McCarthy (junior), Max Aitken (senior), Michael Christensen (DD2) and Martin Pierce (DD2 Masters) won a lottery draw, getting a complete free season in the 2014 ROTAX MAX Euro Challenge with a value of 5.400 Euro each. For RGMMC the season is officially over now. But his does not mean a break at all. The preparations for the season 2014 are already in full swing. So stay tuned on the official website www.rotaxmaxeurochallenge.com, where you get all information regarding reports, photos, results and live TV stream.

 

 

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