Thrilling halftime event at the Rotax MAX Challenge Euro Trophy in Sweden

Six weeks after the outstanding season kick-off at the Italian Adria International Karting Raceway, the Asum-Ring in Kristianstad, Sweden, was the next top race track in the calendar of Europe's professional RMC karting series. 

85 drivers from around 20 nations made their journey to Scandinavia to compete in the 2019 mid-season event on the 1,234 metre circuit. 

Juniors: Home victory for Wilgot Edqvist 

On home soil, Wilgot Edqvist (Strawberry Racing) showed a thrilling performance on Sunday with a terrific fight with opening round winner Mike van Vugt (JJ Racing) and Oli Pylka. Eventually, it was Edqvist who savoured the victory by a narrow gap of less than half a second at the flag.
The second major race was not lacking any excitement, either, seeing Wilgot Edqvist, Mike van Vugt and Oli Pylka setting the pace again. This time Pylka asserted himself in front and was the first to cross the finish line. However, the Pole received a bumper penalty and an additional time penalty for driving standards, which dropped him back to twelfth place, handing the win to Wilgot Edqvist.

Seniors: Mathilda Olsson celebrates title win

In the first main race, championship leader Mathilda Olsson (Strawberry Racing) took the reins. Starting from seventh position, she fought hard and overtook one opponent after the other. At the end of the 17 lap race, the Swede collected her third victory in a row. And this is not the end of the story: Even in the second final, Olsson was the benchmark. In an early stage of the race, she was able to head away from the grid and seemed to be able to manage her lead up to the chequered flag. But it was Axel Saarniala (Kohtala Sports) who put a spoke in Olsson's wheel. The Finn literally flew around the track and closed the gap. Ultimately Saarniala seized his chance in the very last corner successfully and snatched the win. 

DD2 / DD2 Masters: Victories for Petr Bezel and Christophe Adams

Xander Przybylak (Bouvin Power) seemed to be unbeatable, which he proved by a dominant show in the first final winning by a gap of almost six seconds. But the setback followed soon, right after the start of the second race, when the favourite retired with a technical issue and had to bury all chances for the day's victory. In the meantime Petr Bezel (KSCA Sodi Austria Team) seized his chance. The Czech took the victory ahead of Sweden's David Rehme (Dan Holland Racing), which also matched the result of the day's standings. Here Ville Viiliaeinen climbed on the podium in third place.

The classification of the DD2 Masters pilots was a clear case, in which the Belgian Christophe Adams (Team La Putrel) won both races ahead of Austria's Roberto Pesevski (KSCA Sodi Austria Team) and Poland's Slawomir Muranski (46 team).
   
The Rotax MAX Challenge Euro Trophy is now looking forward to the grand finale, which – as in the previous year – will be held in Germany at the Prokart Raceland Wackersdorf from 6th to 8th September 2019.

 © Timo Deck |  Julia Jäger