European KF2 Championship: Sami Luka inherits the crown

Having clinched pole position thanks to his success in the Pre-Final, did Tanart Sathienthirakul (Tony Kart-TM) handle this tension badly? The young Thai (competing with an Irish licence) in fact exceeded the maximum authorised speed during the start, and received a 10 seconds penalty putting him way back into 10th place. Having fought his way up during several laps to rid himself of the pack, the Belgian Sami Luka (Energy-TM) was up in the wake of the Thai driver and finally grabbed the title, which he had been running after for several seasons.
 
On the second tread of the podium, the Spaniard Carlos Gil (Tony Kart-Vortex) was almost as happy as if he had won. On a track which he knows like the back of his hand, Carlos also continued the family tradition. Back in 1991, in fact exactly 20 years ago, his father – with the same first name – also became European Vice-Champion in the same category (known as ICA, in those days)…
 
The podium was completed by the Danish driver Andreas Hanssen (Maranello-Maranello), who drove an excellent race which saw him go from 31st place on the grid – as the result of a broken engine in the Pre-Final – up to an incredible 3rd place when he took the chequered flag. Further down we have the Top 10 with the British driver Sam Macleod (FA Kart-Vortex), the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi (PCR-Parilla), the Spaniard Gerard Barrabeig (Birel-BMB), the Russian Egor Orudshev (Tony Kart-Vortex), the Frenchman Victor Sendin (Tony Kart-Vortex) and the unfortunate Tanart Sathienthirakul.
 
 
European KF3 Championship: George Russel in style
There was hardly any suspense when it comes to victory in Zuera during the Final of the European KF3 Championship (the Juniors class). Second in the Pre-Final, George Russel (Intrepid-TM) had a brilliant start from the front row and … immediately escaped from the others. Behind, the young Englishman’s rivals were losing ground on the leaders and were fighting it out tooth and nail … some not coming out of it unscathed. This was notably the case for the young Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci (Birel-BMB), winner of the Pre-Final, but excluded from the battle for victory following a race incident at the beginning of the race which sent him back in the rankings. His climb back up from 24th to 10th place, punctuated by a best lap time, could hardly console him …
 
Behind the inaccessible, the Swede Robin Hansson (Energy-TM) came out on top of his duel with the Brit Connor Jupp (FA Kart-Vortex) to clinch the silver medal. With Harrison Scott (Intrepid-TM), the Brits managed to slot three of theirs amongst the first four. In 5th place, Alessio Piccini, performed well for a first outing which must have delighted his father, Alessandro, four times World Championship in the 125cc class with gearbox between 1987 and 1993. Having shown their support for their country with a one minute silence on Saturday, the Norwegians Oystein Helgheim (Parolin-TM) and Dennis Olsen (Energy-TM) just missed out on the top 5, but headed off the Italian Simone Cunati (Top Kart-TM), the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (FA Kart-Vortex) and Dorian Boccolacci.