Team's 6th Win In LeMans 24-Hour Kart Race
| press release | 3 September 2014 |
| Tweet | |
2014 saw another dominant win for Abbasse-Fiault-Petit-Becq at the wheel of the no. 1 kart entered by the Sarthe RTKF team making it six victories for the Sarthe-based team in front of the 34 other crews in the race watched by 6500 spectators around the track.
They started from pole, led almost all the way, opening up the gap on a regular basis and set the fastest lap in the race (55.607sec). It was a clean sweep for the Sarthe RTKF no. 1, which dominated all its rivals head and shoulders, and crossed the finishing line 15 laps in front of the second-placed squad clinching an uncontested sixth victory.
Anthony Abbasse and Charles Fiault racked up their fourth success in the 24 Heures Karting, while Kevin Petit and Gauthier Becq won for the first time. The latter joined his father Yann on the victory role call: “It’s the result of the work done by the whole team, each one at his post; that’s the key to our success,” said the team manager Claude Jamin on the podium before paying homage to his engine supplier, the Boulineau brothers.
Lady Luck smiled on no. 1 but not on no. 72. In total contrast to its sister kart, the Sarthe RTKF 2 had a nightmare race with an incomprehensible series of engine failures. Very sportingly Maxime Bidard-William Westerloppe-Florian Davail-Arnaud Bouilland never gave up and saw the flag in last place.
The La Manche Kart mag team finished second one place better than in 2013. They lacked only a few more tenths per lap so that Wilfrid Lecarpentier, Victor Compère, Elie and Clément Bluy could pose a real threat to the Sarthe RTKF 1 squad. At the wheel of the second kart entered by this team, 4-time world champion Alessandro Piccini met with less success, but said he was delighted with his experience of this 24-hour event. The Italian driver used an experimental Vortex engine for the race without a clutch, battery or starter, one that may prefigure the future of the blue riband category in endurance kart racing.
The suspense was at its height in the battle for victory in the hotly-contested Group 2 and also for third place overall. There were several favourites and they put on an epic battle. Two teams from Normandy, which ran Kosmic-Rotax ensembles from the Technikart squad, fought it out till the finish. Although Charles Tesnière-Antoine Fayet-Renaud Bertin-Paul Evrard (no. 14 Normandie Technikart) were handicapped by a twisted chassis after a collision on Saturday, they managed to win by a lap. Andrew-Deberne-Jérémie Lesoudier-Harald Creton-Lucas Brion (no. 67 St Pierre s/Dive) pipped the 2013 winners Belinois Jac Kart for second place in the category and fourth overall.
One of the major feats of the race was that achieved by the Pays-de-Loire Handisport team. Melwynn Rodriguez-Claude and Enzo Zéferini scored a great 20th place on their first outing last year. What was even better was the 12th place obtained by the first two mentioned this weekend with Snoussi Ben Moussa and an able-bodied driver,4-time winner Antoine Poulain, who lent them a helping hand after Enzo Zefirini had to cry off at the last minute.
The International Le Mans circuit on which the 24 Heures Karting has been run since 2013 is now a yardstick in phase with top-level racing. Its pits, sporting module, its equipment and welcome structures gave the entrants in the 24 Heures Karting total satisfaction as well as those in the supporting races: Kart Legend and Minikart 24 Minutes.
The event also had long and exciting TV broadcasts on LMTV Sarthe and on Internet. The ACO’s Web TV, which broadcast the race, attracted 21 325 spectators during the 24 Heures Karting compared to 20 250 in 2013 and 18 000 in 2012.
The crowd at the track was similar to last year’s with 6500 spectators, which proves yet again the pulling power of the greatest endurance kart race.
As in 2012 the 30th race in 2015 should coincide with the Fête de l’ACO which means it will be an ever bigger event. The dates will be officialised shortly.
The 24 Heures Moto will be the next major event on the Le Mans circuit. The last round of the FIM World Endurance Championship will take place on 20-21 September 2014.
