Sunday at the La Conca International Circuit dawned bright with a cool,
crisp feeling in the air. The morning track action started with the Junior Max warm up to be followed
by the Max class and DD2. For most drivers it was a time to do last minute
checks and make adjustments to settings.
01/12/08
Author: Vroomkart International
Great end to the 9th Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in La Conca. In Junior, leading the pack of 34 karts into turn 1 was Rio Haryanto followed on his
tail by Kevin Korjus. For the next 20 laps, we were treated to one of
the best 4-kart races for the lead ever. Impressively, Facundo Chapur of Argentina had worked his way up through the pack and by halfway had taken his share of the lead. Not to be outdone,
defending champion Korjus took it off him in a daring move into turn 1 the following lap. In the final lap, a minor bumping session separated the top four with Chapur as World Champion, Korjus second and
Paul Fourquemin of France for the final podium spot.
After winning all his heat races and the Pre-Final, all eyes were on Ben Cooper from the UK to see if he could sweep he Final too. Although his fellow countryman Chris Lock kept him honest for the first few laps, by lap 6 of 24 Ben had separated himself from the pack and was off to his first Rotax World Championship. Also impressive was Martin Pierce’s run through the field in the Pre-Final and Final to finish on the podium in third and win the Max Masters championship. It’s worth noting that this year, all three podium finishers in the Senior class were of British origin.
But, before we hand over the torch to the UK, South Africa is back on the rise as Johannesburg’s Leeroy Poulter came victorious in DD2. Poulter’s win, while not shocking, did catch some people off-guard. Leeroy had been lurking at the front all week long while others were taking the glory with heat race wins. As such, most people were expecting either defending champion Pier-Luc Ouellette, Ryan Urban or Damien Vuillaume to stand on top of the podium when all was said and done. However, Vuillaume never got the chance, as he got turned around in the first lap. This left Poulter in the lead with Ouellette on his heals. Pier-Luc did manage to get by for the lead once, but Poulter was not to be denied and re-took the lead on the following lap. On the finish line, the Canadian did make an attempt for the top spot but Leeroy was ready for it and made sure the road was blocked. Poulter took DD2 World Championship by 0”271. Holland’s Maik Barten came third but got 10” penalty for a jump start. This put American Stuart Marsell into third, the best Grand Finals finish ever for his country’s team.
RESULTS
JUNIOR MAX
1) 79 Chapur, ARG
2) 10 Korjus, EST
3) 26 Fourquemin, F
4) 31 Haryanto, IDN
5) 41 Kose, J
6) 53 Riley, GBR
7) 39 Kancsar, HUN
8) 38 Jones, UAE
9) 35 Ishikawa, J
10) 32 Hays, AUS
SENIOR MAX
1) 120 Cooper, GBR
2) 147 Lock, GBR
3) 162 Pierce, IRL
4) 172 V. Asseldonk, NL
5) 124 De Donno, I
6) 111 Andersson, S
7) 173 V. Splunteren, NL
8) 166 Rossler, S
9) 176 Woolston, AUS
10) 136 Hart, NZL
DD2
1) 258 Poulter, RSA
2) 201 Ouellette, CAN
3) 249 Marsell, USA
4) 239 Kraihammer, A
5) 255 Odendaal, RSA
6) 280 Pearce, GBR
7) 214 Boisclair, CAN
8) 232 Kent, GBR
9) 261 Rossi, I
10) 228 Grube, LVA
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After winning all his heat races and the Pre-Final, all eyes were on Ben Cooper from the UK to see if he could sweep he Final too. Although his fellow countryman Chris Lock kept him honest for the first few laps, by lap 6 of 24 Ben had separated himself from the pack and was off to his first Rotax World Championship. Also impressive was Martin Pierce’s run through the field in the Pre-Final and Final to finish on the podium in third and win the Max Masters championship. It’s worth noting that this year, all three podium finishers in the Senior class were of British origin.
 |
 |
But, before we hand over the torch to the UK, South Africa is back on the rise as Johannesburg’s Leeroy Poulter came victorious in DD2. Poulter’s win, while not shocking, did catch some people off-guard. Leeroy had been lurking at the front all week long while others were taking the glory with heat race wins. As such, most people were expecting either defending champion Pier-Luc Ouellette, Ryan Urban or Damien Vuillaume to stand on top of the podium when all was said and done. However, Vuillaume never got the chance, as he got turned around in the first lap. This left Poulter in the lead with Ouellette on his heals. Pier-Luc did manage to get by for the lead once, but Poulter was not to be denied and re-took the lead on the following lap. On the finish line, the Canadian did make an attempt for the top spot but Leeroy was ready for it and made sure the road was blocked. Poulter took DD2 World Championship by 0”271. Holland’s Maik Barten came third but got 10” penalty for a jump start. This put American Stuart Marsell into third, the best Grand Finals finish ever for his country’s team.
RESULTS
JUNIOR MAX
1) 79 Chapur, ARG
2) 10 Korjus, EST
3) 26 Fourquemin, F
4) 31 Haryanto, IDN
5) 41 Kose, J
6) 53 Riley, GBR
7) 39 Kancsar, HUN
8) 38 Jones, UAE
9) 35 Ishikawa, J
10) 32 Hays, AUS
SENIOR MAX
1) 120 Cooper, GBR
2) 147 Lock, GBR
3) 162 Pierce, IRL
4) 172 V. Asseldonk, NL
5) 124 De Donno, I
6) 111 Andersson, S
7) 173 V. Splunteren, NL
8) 166 Rossler, S
9) 176 Woolston, AUS
10) 136 Hart, NZL
DD2
1) 258 Poulter, RSA
2) 201 Ouellette, CAN
3) 249 Marsell, USA
4) 239 Kraihammer, A
5) 255 Odendaal, RSA
6) 280 Pearce, GBR
7) 214 Boisclair, CAN
8) 232 Kent, GBR
9) 261 Rossi, I
10) 228 Grube, LVA
