IAME News From Monaco Cup

press release

The Monaco Kart Cup was held last weekend (17th – 18th October) at the characteristic city circuit of Montecarlo. The Parilla powered drivers were protagonists in every race thanks to the performances of Nyck De Vries (Zanardi/Parilla) and Pierre Gasly (Sodi/Parilla). Victory was the only thing missing.

QUALIFYING
Gasly shone above the rest. He finished the first heat in fourth position, recording the fastest lap time (the only driver below 48 seconds…) and he won the second heat with a large margin. Therefore he got in a precious third place for the pre-final. On his side Nyck De Vries (picutured) had some bad luck: traffic, other karts rolling over, and penalties. Qualifying was a cross. In the first heat he finished 14th: he was penalised for touching the white line (otherwise he would have been sixth) and he got "blocked" in the back of the field due to numerous contacts. In the second heat an accident occurred in front of him causing a big delay. He restarted fifth, but the leading 4 had an advantage of over 10 seconds. However, lap after lap, Nyck managed to crawl back and close the gap. "That’s OK", said his Team Manager Dino Chiesa. "He was unlucky, but he battled and anyway, that’s racing: you also need a little luck". The sum of penalties led to an overall eighth place in the heats: ready for the pre-final…

THE FINALS
It the pre-final things went even worse. After a lap De Vries was fifth and Gasly was sixth (he started from the "dirty" side of the track…). Gonzales, who was third, was feeling the pressure and made a mistake at the chicane causing a huge accident that involved Jaminet, De Vries and Gasly, who were all forced to withdraw . "A shame", said Nicola Decola, Sodi Kart Team Manager, "Gonzales made a mistake that compromised the race of many others. It happens. It’s a shame because Pierre was going very well". Goodbye to dreams of victory? Maybe not. Because Pierre Gasly really drives well on this track and De Vries is used to incredible recoveries. So it was Freddie Killensberger who flew the Parilla colours in the pre-final. He started from 20th position and completed a great come back to finish fifth (it was a shame that he would then withdraw in the final).

In the final Nyck De Vries was 30th on the grid, but started last due to a small technical problem. From the back, the bad luck was over him, De Vries showed what he and his kart were made of: he put on a show of overtaking and he finished fourth. Dino Chiesa was enthusiastic: "Fantastic. On a track where it is difficult to pass, Nyck overtook at least fifteen drivers…incredible. And he also recorded the best lap time: it was a spectacular race. He didn’t win, but now he is ever more conscious of his capabilities". And Gasly? He started 28th but didn’t get beyond 16th place. Strange for someone who had already demonstrated winning lap times. There is an explanation offered by Decola: "He was hit during the start and damaged the steering arms: the tyres were both pointing to 10 o’clock. It was impossible to hope for a better result. He continued just because it is a prestigious race…".

CONCLUSION
Decola, added: "Considering the lap times of the Parilla drivers, it could have been easy to win the race. However that is racing. I thank everyone for their hard work and IAME for the engines, that always allow us to aim for victory. We will try again next year…".

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