Rotax Euro Challenge Round 3
| 20 July 2014 |
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Pierce Lehane will start his pre-final from grid 11 at round 3 of the Euro MAX Challenge in Spain this weekend. The Aussie qualified his Dan Holland Racing Alonso Kart in 19th with a 1:05.286s lap, 0.877 behind pole sitter Harry Webb. A third and a pair of 8th place finishes in the heats now sees him ready to challenge the top ten.
New Zealand's Marcus Armstrong is an excellent third on points in Junior MAX. The Kiwi (also with the Dan Holland team) enjoyed a heat win, a 5th and a 6th. He had earlier qualified 3rd fastest.
- Live stream and timing is scheduled to be shown on www.rgmmcmedia.com (pre-finals from 7:10pm AEST, finals from 9:00pm AEST)
press release
The Spanish track of Zuera witnessed some thrilling and hot racing action during the third round of the ROTAX MAX Euro Challenge: 15 qualifying heats were held on the 1,700 metre long high speed circuit, ascertaining the final grids for the decisive races on Sunday.
In contrast to the previous days a slightly cloudy sky made for less high temperatures. This did not only mean an acceptable relief for the drivers but even enabled quicker lap times in each category. Yet the positions on the top remained unchanged.
Above: Leaders after the heat races (left to right) Martin Pierce (DD2 Masters), Ben Cooper (DD2), Harry Webb (Seniors), Dave Wooder (Juniors)
pic - Rotax Euro Challenge
Junior MAX
In the junior class Dave Wooder (Dan Holland Racing) tied in with his performance from Friday’s qualifying. The UK man was unbeatable on the track and celebrated three wins, thus putting his FA kart on pole position for the prefinal on Sunday. In the chasing role was Dean MacDonald (Strawberry Racing) who established himself in second place, by three very consistent heat results. New Zealand’s Marcus Armstrong (Dan Holland Racing) belonged to the small circle of heat winners and was rewarded with third place in the ranking ahead of Darren Keane (Strawberry Racing) from Ireland. Pretty unlucky was local hero Marta Garcia (MGL Racing Xtreme). The lady driver was involved in a collision in her first heat, which made her drop back to a disappointing 17th place. In her following heats she cut her losses, set the benchmark and crossed the finish line first in both races. Finally she still ended up on sensational fifth position in the ranking and could make for a surprise on Sunday. Championship leader Thomas Preining (Team TKP) experienced tough heats, too. After he retired in the first race due to a lost front bumper, he took positions six and four, which finally granted him a moderate 17th place in the heat ranking.
Senior MAX
In the most competitive senior category one man stood out of the pack: Harry Webb (Strawberry Racing) did not show any weakness: After his best time in qualifying practice on Friday he added three heat wins on Saturday, which was the maximum he could achieve. Consequently the former junior world champion took the pole position for the prefinal on Sunday. Oliver Hodgson (KR Sport) from the UK followed in second place after the heats. The UK man took one win and additionally finished second and third during his races. So he put his Tony Kart on a starting place in the first row for the prefinal, equally pushing back Edward Brand (Intrepid Driver Program), Josh Price (Strawberry Racing) and Guan Yu Zhou (Strawberry Racing) to the following positions.
DD2
The reigning champion Ben Cooper (KMS – Birel Motorsport) was the man to be beaten in the DD2 category. The Canadian with British origin was successful twice and completed his heats by a strong second place. That meant the defence of the pole position from Friday. “The heats were really good. Actually I intended to win all races but I made a small mistake, which cost the hat trick. The finals won’t be easy. The pressure from behind is big and some of my toughest opponents will surely catch up quickly”, stated the pole sitter with regard to his long list of potential chasers.
Sweden’s Andreas Backman (Strawberry Racing) confirmed his performance, too. He came out of the heats in a promising second position and was able to assert himself ahead of Ferenc Kancsar (KMS – Birel Motorsport) from Hungary and Xen De Ruwe (Intrepid Driver Program) from Belgium. For Anthony Abbasse (Sodi) and Jordan Lennox Lamb (CRG SPA) the heats did not go according to plan. The two factory drivers crashed in the first race, which cost them important points in the heat ranking. But the duo did not make any mistakes in the following races: As expected both were able to gain top positions again, which Abbasse remarkably underlined by winning heat 2. Finally the Frenchman was classified ninth in the ranking, while Lennox Lamb followed in fifth place. Last but not least there is another man coming from behind: Sean Babington (Strawberry Racing) had to retire from Friday’s qualifying with a broken battery. But he seized the heats in order to improve his position dramatically, ending up on place seven in the starting grid.
Above: The fastest qualifiers in Spain (left to right) - Harry Webb (Seniors), Dave Wooder (Juniors), Ben Cooper (DD2), Tamsin Germain (DD2 Masters)
pic - Rotax Euro Challenge
DD2 Masters
As for the DD2 Masters classification Friday’s pole sitter Tamsin Germain (DG Racing) was unluckily involved in a collision, which made her give way to Martin Pierce (Praga Racing Team). The man from Ireland was classified 19th in the overall grid, while his rivals Tamsin Germain and Christophe Adams (Sonic Racing Kart) took positions 22 respectively 24.
Sunday promises to be a real challenge again. Hot temperatures and a cloudless sky are expected for the final phase, which will kick off at 11.10 a.m (European time). Everybody is invited to join the action in Zuera via live TV coverage throughout the entire weekend. So stay tuned on the official website www.rotaxmaxeurochallenge.com or www.rgmmcmedia.com, where you get all information regarding reports, photos, results and live TV stream.
