Leclerc’s sweet farewell for ART Grand Prix in Varennes

 

Despite not having such a glamorous title to race for, the KZ2 field saw the most competitive drivers in the category lined up on starting grid.

British ART Grand Prix star Ben Barnicoat seemed not that impressed, since he stopped a good 8th fastest lap in qualifying at his debut in the category. The start of the heat session was a bit rocky, as the young Brit had some issues in finding the right feeling with the clutch for a clean start. The first two heats saw Ben having to comeback from mid grid as a result, despite starting from P3. Nevermind, because two heats were quite enough for the Brit to get his act together as he grabbed a 2nd, two 4th and a 6th place in the reaming heats also stopping the fastest lap twice. A promising 7th place on starting grid however proved not enough, with Ben involved in a pile-up right after the start.

ART Grand Prix large line-up in the category saw Oscar Arcila making it through to the final with consistent laptimes, while Poncelet and Kurakin did not make it to the final following some contacts.
 

Nicolas Todt (Team Owner)

“What a fantastic result for ART Grand Prix Karting : We put our two drivers in the top 5 of the most challenging karting category in the World ! Charles finishes World vice-champion in his first year in KZ and it’s totally deserved following his hard work all year long, his commitment and his speed. He didn’t put a foot wrong during the finale and drove as if he had as much experience as the drivers he was fighting with !

Ben showed that we had a very fast package signing the fastest lap of the finale while he was coming back through the field to finish a strong 4th. That’s a very positive result too and there was no better way to thank the whole ART Grand Prix Karting team for the work which has been done these past months.”
 

Charles Leclerc (KZ)

“Vice World KZ Champion in my last karting race! I’m really, really happy considering the speed I had in the final! I’m going to miss all of this a lot, and I want to come back as often as possible! I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at ART Grand Prix for the great job on the chassis, a big thank you to Tm Racing and Fast Kart, and to my two mechanics who have done a perfect job during all week-end. Also, I would like to thank All Road Management, Formula Medicine and Richard Mille, and all the people who have helped me during all these years in karting.”