Lehane Holds Championship Lead
| 1 June 2015 |
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Having been the man to beat at round 1, Pierce Lehane continued his strong run in the Rotax Euro Challenge at the second round in Italy on the weekend.
While he didn't qualify fastest (Pierce was 3rd, just 0.032s off pole, Strawberry Racing teammate Leonard Hoogenboom), Lehane was top scorer after the heats with 2 wins and a third. This put him off pole for the pre-final, however an incident on lap 8 dropped the Aussie to a 15th place finish.
After initially dropping back a couple of spots in the lap one argy bargy, Lehane got his head down and charged forward in the 19-lap final to take 8th at the flag, which ended up 7th after penalties, plus fastest lap of the race.
Pierce continues to lead the championship on 155 points ahead of CRG's Ed Brand (148) and DHR's Sam Marsh (141).
Above: Pierce Lehane in action on the weekend, here leading fastest qualifier Leonard Hoogenboom
pic - RGMMC
RGMMC official press release
Exciting Finals of Euro Challenge in Italy
- full results HERE
Today the second round of the ROTAX MAX Euro Challenge 2015 ended with some exciting final races on the 1.256 metres long circuit of "7 Laghi". After two days of qualifying phase only the best drivers took part in the decisive finals. In the end Dean MacDonald (juniors), Richard Verschoor (seniors), Paolo DeConto (DD2) and Cristiano Morgado (DD2 Masters) celebrated the victories on Italian soil.
Above: Top scorers in each class after the heats (L to R) Morgado (DD2 Masters), MacDonald (Junior), Lehane (Senior) and DeConto (DD2)
pic - RGMMC
In the prefinal of the juniors, pole sitter Dean MacDonald (Aim Motorsport) managed the best start, while his teammate Fin Kenneally (Aim Motorsport) boosted himself into second place. The British duo from Aim Motorsport pulled away from the rest of the grid and controlled the lead easily. Although MacDonald was under constant pressure by his chaser, there was no successful move to come, endangering his victory. In the end MacDonald crossed the finish line first by a gap of only 0.076 seconds ahead of Kenneally. Third position went to Axel Charpentier (Strawberry Racing) in front of Scott Symons (KR Sport) and Alex Quinn (CRG SPA).
Above: Junior winner Dean MacDonald
pic - RGMMC
For Dean MacDonald the final did not prove to be a walkthrough. This time Fin Kenneally and Alex Charpentier were ready to take the battle. So the three drivers headed away from the grid and arranged the win among themselves. They showed some breath-taking race, which each of them was able to lead for at least one time. There was no decision until the very last lap. MacDonald, who was leading at that point, however did not make any mistakes on the last metres and defended his position up to the finish line ahead of Charpentier and Kenneally. Forurth place went to Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (Strawberry Racing), while Kiern Jewiss (Strawberry Racing) made his way up to fifth position. That was a quite remarkable job since he reached the qualification only by the second chance heat before he already did a great job in prefinal, in which he finished eighth. In the championship table Alex Charpentier took the lead ahead of Kiern Jewiss and Dean MacDonald.
Above: Junior podium
pic - RGMMC
The senior's prefinal was really exciting. After a few laps up to ten drivers, lead by pole sitter Pierce Lehane (Strawberry Racing) made demands for the victory. So Lehane had to struggle hard to keep the pack behind. But that was not easy at all, since Rinus van Kalmthout (Daems Racing) took the lead by halftime. When Lehane tried his counter strike, the battle got more heated, resulting in a collision which threw the championship leader back to 15th place in the end. On the top Rinus van Kalmthout kept cool and defended the lead bravely against Jordan Lennox Lamb (BirelART/KMS), who finally took the second place. Sam Marsh (Dan Holland Racing), Brett Ward (Aim Motorsport) and Edward Brand (CRG SPA) saw the chequered flag in the following positions.
Above: Pierce Lehane leads the field to the line to start the Senior pre-final
pic - RGMMC
Above: Rinus van Kalmthout wins the Senior pre-final
pic - RGMMC
A big surprise was to come in the final race: Richard Verschoor (Team TKP), who had been excluded in qualifying, was in brilliant shape. After having picked up the prefinal from 18th place, he improved to 8th position. From that spot the Dutchman boosted himself quickly to the top of the senior's grid in the final. After he gained the lead he was even able to increase the gap to his chasers, finally taking an impressive win. Second place went to Rinus van Kalmthout in front of Jordan Lennox Lamb, Leonard Hoogenboom and Spain's Mauricio van der Laan (CRG SPA), while Pierce Lehane recovered from his unfortunate prefinal result by finishing in seventh spot, which helped him to defend the championship lead.
Above: Senior winner Richard Vershoor recovered from being disqualified in qualifying
pic - RGMMC
Above: Senior podium
pic - RGMMC
As he had already proven during the heats, Paolo DeConto (CRG S.P.A.) was strong in the prefinal, too. He made the best start while only Ferenc Kancsar (BirelART/KMS) seemed to be able to follow the Italian. During the first laps Kancsar kept in the leader's slipstream but towards the end DeConto increased the gap constantly and took a controlled victory. Kancsar gained a secured second position ahead of Anthony Abbasse (Sodikart), who made his way up to third place. Rasmus Markkanen (VRT) and Austria's Max Hofer (Speedworld) completed the top five of the ranking.
Above: Start of the DD2 pre-final
pic - RGMMC
In the final Paolo DeConto complemented his dominant performance. Again none of his opponents was able to keep the pace of the CRG manufacturer driver. Consequently DeConto celebrated a clear start-finish victory again. The best supporting roles were played by Ferenc Kancsar, Anthony Abbasse and Rasmus Markkanen who had a long and tough fight for the podium positions. In the end Kancsar took the second place ahead of Rasmus Markkanen. Abbasse took the fourth place but was excluded after the race due to a technical non-conformity. So Germany's Marcel Schirmer (RS Competition) inherited the fourth place ahead of Max Hofer, completing the top five results. Due to his exclusion, Abbasse even lost the championship lead. Now Ferenc Kancsar owns the top position ahead of DeConto and Schirmer.
Above: Paolo DeConto wins DD2
pic - RGMMC
As for the DD2 Masters Cristiano Morgado (Sodikart) took a secure double win. In the prefinal Tamsin Germain (DG Racing) and Martin Pierce (Rotax Praga Racing Team) followed in second and third place. In the final Igor Mukhin (CRG S.P.A.) made his way up to second position, pushing Pierce to third place of the podium.
Above: DD2 Masters winner Cristiano Morgado
pic - RGMMC
Above: DD2 podium
pic - RGMMC
Above: DD2 Masters podium
pic - RGMMC
Now the ROTAX MAX Euro Challenge has reached the halftime of the season and is going for a small break. But from 20th to 26th of July Europe's most original ROTAX series heads for the third round of the year, giving its Comeback in Germany on the modern circuit of the Prokart Raceland at Wackersdorf. This venue will herald the final spurt of the season, focussing on the top candidates for the 2015 championship crowns. So stay tuned on the official website www.rotaxmaxeurochallenge.com or rgmmcmedia.com, where you get all information regarding reports, photos, results and live TV stream.
Above: Fastest qualifiers
pic - RGMMC
Above: Leonard Hoogenboom was fastest qualifier in Senior
pic - RGMMC
Above: Jack McCarthy chasing the pack in Juniors
pic - RGMMC
Above: Senior MAX take a start in a qualifying heat, Lehane off pole
pic - RGMMC
Above: Dean MacDonald crosses the line in Juniors
pic - RGMMC
