Even DKM race in Oschersleben

After a two year break the German Kart Championship was back at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. 128 drivers started at the ranked races five and six and highlighted the power density of the highest German kart racing grade series. There were six different winners at the six races.
The DKM’s comeback to Oschersleben was a great success. The fields of participants of the half-time race of the three DMSB series DKM, DJKM and DSKM were internationally strongly manned. 128 drivers from more than 20 nations and four continents started on the 1.108m long track in the Magdeburger Boerde.
The six final races on Sunday went thrillingly. The fields kept closely together and temporarily 40 drivers ranked within a second. The final races went accordingly diversified. On Sunday evening Sergio Sette Camara, Martijn van Leeuwen (both DKM), Maximilian Fewtrell, Juan Correa (both DJKM) as well as John Norris and Fabian Federer (both DSKM) were celebrated as the winners.

DSKM: John Norris and Fabian Federer win
At the shifterkarts Irishman John Norris (Mach1 Motorsport) showed a strong performance throughout the course of Saturday. In addition to pole position at qualifying, he also won both heats and thereby achieved the best starting position for the first final race. His team leader Martin Hetschel was accordingly content during his interview: “Things went perfectly for us today. Being a small manufacturer, we meticulously work at the development of our models and are therefore able to celebrate great victories.” Behind Norris, Italian Fabian Federer (Südtirol Kart) followed on second place in front of the best German driver Maik Siebecke (SRP Racing Team). The race in Oschersleben is a home race for the Hanover resident: “Due to two second places, I’m going to be on the third starting position tomorrow. I’ll try to drive behind John at the start and to win in the end”, the CRG driver dared to predict.
The numerous spectators saw a turbulent starting phase during the first race. Dutchman Marijn Kremers (AVG Racing) was pushed into the off during an accident and thereby caused a slow phase. After four laps, the field was able to gain speed again and John Norris was unstoppable. He dominantly drove away from his pursuers and achieved a victory at the DSKM for the first time. “There’s absolutely no reason to complain so far. I hope things are going to continue like this at the second race, even though I’ll have slightly older tires than my opponents then”, Norris summed up at the finish line. Behind the Irishman, the positions were quickly obtained as well: Fabian Federer followed on second place in front of Finn Simo Puhakka (AVG Racing) and Stan Pex (CRG Holland). Brand-new European Kart Champion Rick Dreezen (CRG Holland) drove on fifth place for quite a while, but wasn’t able to bear up against the pressure put on him by his opponents until the end of the race and had to let Verdi Geurts (Solgat Motorsport) pass him by. Best German driver was Toni Tschentscher (Team NKS for Racing) on seventh place. Jorrit Pex (CRG Holland) showed a great catching-up race – after technical difficulties during the heats, the reigning Champion only started into the race from 15^th position and fought his way forward to eighth place. The top ten were completed by Alexander Schmitz (KSW Racing Team) and Guust Specken (P.D.B. Racing Team).
Just as predicted, John Norris was stopped due to his used tires during the second race and temporarily fell back to seventh place. At the forefront, South Tyrolean Fabian Federer got comfortable in the meantime. He won the start and was able to fend off his Finnish opponent Simo Puhakka’s (AVG Racing) attacks. “We drove really fast throughout the entire weekend and made the right choice regarding the new tires for the second race.” Things got serious concerning the last place on the podium: at times up to five drivers fought for it. German Maik Siebecke caused a small sensation then. From sixteenth position, the driver from Hanover achieved gaining a place on the podium due to incredible maneuvers. On fourth and fifth places Rick Dreezen and Jorrit Pex were able to gain further Championship points. Winner of the first final John Norris came in on sixth place in front of DSKM-rookie Stan Pex. Verdi Geurts followed on eighth place this time in front of Michele di Martino (Energy Germany) and Finn Kooijmann (CRG Holland). Despite the mixed weekend, Rick Dreezen was able to increase his advance and now has a winning margin of 36 points to a trio with the same amount of points consisting of John Norris, Jorrit Pex and Simo Puhakka. Best German driver is Alexander Schmitz on fifth place.
Championship ranking DSKM after 6 of 10 races:
1. Rick Dreezen (98 points)
2. John Norris (62 points)
3. Jorrit Pex (62 points)
4. Simo Puhakka (62 points)
5. Alexander Schmitz (61 points)

DJKM: first victories for Maximilian Fewtrell und Juan Correa
Hagen resident David Beckmann started the racing weekend with his second pole position in a row and was unstoppable during the heats as well. “No one was able to pass me by today. I hope that will be the same tomorrow. We can’t afford to rest though, because a lot can happen during the finals,” said the vice Champion of last year in a good mood. Right behind the Westphalian followed British Maximilian Fewtrell (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and Mick Junior (KSM Racing Team).
After his confident performance on Saturday, David Beckmann held his ground during the start of the first race as well. But things weren’t so easy this time – he had to let his pursuer Maximilian Fewtrell pass him by during the third lap already. The Brit held Beckmann at bay until the end of the race and was able to celebrate his first victory at the German Junior Kart Championship. Mick Junior, Enaam Ahmed (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and Michael Kuiper (Keijzer Racing Team) fought for third position in the beginning, but things cooled down around the middle of the race and Enaam Ahmed finished on third place in front of Junior and Kuiper. “These were important points regarding the Championship. Just like in Wackersdorf and Ampfing, I drove here for the first time. Due to the little amount of bends and long straight passages, the field keeps together really closely and it’s difficult to overtake someone”, Ahmed explained at the finish line. Carrie Schreiner (Energy Germany) on seventh place showed a great performance as well: She was on sixth place almost until the end of race, then had to let US American Juan Correa (Energy Corse) pass her by in the end. Behind the fast Saarland resident followed Julia Pankiewicz (Forza Racing), Rinus van Kalmthout (Keijzer Racing) and Max Hesse (Solgat Motorsport).
Kick-off winner Maximilian Fewtrell won the start into the second final as well and was able to defend his position. Nothing was decided as of yet though – six drivers fought thrilling duels and changed positions numerous times. US American Juan Correa showed the best performance in the end. From sixth starting position he drove to the forefront of the field. He set the speed at the front for more than ten laps and crossed the finish line as the winner. “This is my first victory at the DJKM. The kart worked perfectly and I want to thank the team for their great support,” the driver from the Lotus F1-support program rejoiced. Enaam Ahmed actually came in second, but a ten-seconds-penalty threw him back to 13^th position. David Beckmann was now on second place in front of Mick Junior, Maximilian Fewtrell and Jonas Nielsen (Ricky Flynn Motorsport). DJKM-rookie Max Hesse followed on sixth place in front of Michael Kuiper, Jarno Opmeer (Maddox Racing Team), Sun Yue Yang (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and Lirim Zendeli (KSM Racing Team). The Bochum resident had started into the race as a favorite, had to forfeit the first race after an accident though. From the back of the field he then managed to drive his way forward to the top ten during the second race. Things are getting really exciting regarding the Championship now: The first five drivers are only nine points apart after six races.
Championship ranking DJKM after 6 of 10 races:
1. Enaam Ahmed (79 points)
2. Mick Junior (78 points)
3. Michael Kuiper (74 points)
4. Maximilian Fewtrell (71 points)
5. David Beckmann (70 points)

DKM: double victory for Keijzer Racing
Kevin Rossel (KSB Racing Team) achieved the best time during qualifying of the German Kart Championship. The Kosmic-Kart-driver was then thrown back to 18^th place due to an exclusion from the ranking of a heat though. He was in prominent company there: Things didn’t go so well for the overall leading driver Martijn van Leeuwen. He was excluded from the ranking of the first heat as well, achieved a heat victory like Rossel though and therefore started into the first final race from 19^th position. Due to a victory and a second place, Egor Stupenkov (Forza Racing) took the lead and achieved pole position for the first final race.
The first race was exciting then: After difficulties at the start, the Kosmic-Kart-duo Nicklas Nielsen (Kosmic Racing DPT.) and Nikita Sitnikov (Kosmic Racing DPT.) led the field. Brazilian Sergio Sette Camara (Keijzer Racing) stormed to the front from the back of the field though. On 40^th position after qualifying, he gave it his all during the heats and achieved a victory due to an outstanding performance. “I’ve been starting in Europe since 2012. This race is my first time at the DKM though. The competition is really strong, which is why I’m even happier about my victory”, the Brazilian rejoiced at the finish line. Russian Nikita Sitnikov established himself on second place in front of regular driver Jehan Daruvala (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and his team mate Nicklas Nielsen. Martijn van Leeuwen and Kevin Rossel showed great catching-up races as well – the duo came in on fifth and sixth places. Egor Stupenkov fell back to seventh place, followed by Sasakorn Chaimongkol (PM-Racing), best German driver André Matisic (KKC-Racing/PDB Germany) and Jessica Bäckmann (Kosmic Racing DPT.).
With a confident victory, Martijn van Leeuwen (Keijzer Racing) finished the halftime-race of the DKM in Oschersleben. The Dutchman gained the leading position after three laps and was unstoppable then. “This has been a labor-intensive weekend. After the falling out during the first heat I’m now very happy to have won after all. The competition was really strong once again, but I was able to win in the end. I’ve thereby been able to increase my advance in the Championship”, van Leeuwen summed up. On the other positions, things got interesting at the end of the race again. Nikita Sitnikov, Kevin Rossel and Nicklas Nielsen moved closer together. Regarding the Championship nothing changed though: Russian Sitnikov came out on top of the Kosmic-Kart-trio. The top five was completed by Jehan Daruvala. Thailander Sasakorn Chaimongkol came in sixth in front of Jessica Bäckmann, Egor Stupenkov, André Matisic and Andreas Jochimsen (RS Motorsport). Everything is still possible at the Championship. Martijn van Leeuwen starts into the second half of the season as the leading driver. His closest pursuers are Jehan Daruvala and Egor Stupenkov.
Championship ranking DKM after 6 of 10 races:
1. Martin van Leeuwen (115 points)
2. Jehan Daruvala (97 points)
3. Egor Stupenkov (88 points)
4. André Matisic (70 points)
5. Manuel Valier (52 points)
In the evening, after the diversified races, series coordinator Stefan Wagner was happy about the successful Oschersleben-comeback of the German Kart Championship: “We can be very content with this weekend. Oschersleben has presented itself well and the drivers and teams were thrilled. You don’t see exciting races like these very often. A huge praise belongs to ACV, which has contributed to the success of the weekend with their smooth organization. We can now look forward to an exciting final spurt; the separate fields are still very close together.”

The drivers of the DKM will start at the next race in four weeks already (September 12^th-14^th). The grade series are then going to take place on the old-established Erftlandring in Kerpen.