French Championship Round 3 Preview

The 3rd round of the 2007 FFSA Grand Prix Karting series will take place in Salbris this weekend, on a track that will soon be hosting a European Championship race, in company with the previous rounds at Varennes and Essay. Salbris nestles amidst the pines in the Sologne region of central France. It has a long tradition for organising international events on what is a fast and technically challenging circuit, the whole which is visible to the spectators in the stands. The race field is cosmopolitan, with drivers from all over Europe, including Belgium, Great Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany, and even from the USA, taking part.

KF1
The Championship is currently dominated by three non-French drivers: Benjamin Bailly (BE, Kosmic/Vortex), who is on the up and up, and the two British Zanardi/Parilla drivers, Kazeem Manzur, who is extremely fast, and the dependable Ollie Millroy. As expected, the field is not big but what it lacks in numbers it makes up for in quality, as can be seen from the fact that at the start of each race it’s hard to pick from perhaps a dozen possible race winners. Also, what with engineering considerations and engine upgrades, the teams will be going into this Grand Prix with the outcome uncertain. The drivers to watch out for are Anthony Abbasse, Glen Keyaert, Arno Santamato, Julien Poncelet and Gianni Gazzurelli.

KF2
The same four drivers have been at the head of the category so far, but the order has been changing. Charles Lacaze (Tonykart/Vortex) is still ahead in the standings, but in Varennes he was beaten into third place after William Benedetti’s brilliant comeback to take the race at the wheel of his PCR/Windfire, and by Sami Luka (CRG/Parilla), who had a happier time than in Essay. Loïc Réguillon (Sodikart/Parilla) still looks a serious contender. Behind the front runners, there are plenty of competitors who are quite capable of getting good results on this circuit, where the finals of the European championships will be taking place later in the season. The surprise might come from Robin Frijns, Norman Nato or Benjamin Da Silva, without forgetting Julien Deschamps, Alexandre Arrué and Kevin Bole-Besançon. Outsider Stéphanie Lompech is also getting better with every race.

KF3
The Intrepid boys, Brandon Maïsano and Pascal Fourquemin (Intrepid/XTR), are ahead of Belgian driver Sébastien Bailly (Kosmic/Vortex) in the Championship table, but the weekend in Varennes revealed plenty of other talent waiting in the wings and hoping to upset the standings. Brandon, now that he has a competitive kart in his hands, is looking determined and dangerous. He will undoubtedly arrive in Salbris fired up by the victory that had escaped him for so long. With Bailly struggling, Brandon fought out a classic battle with Belgian Guillaume De Ridder (PCR/Windfire) in the final race. Not forgetting rising stars Nicolas De Moura and Hugo Croquison, and the return to the fray of an in-form Christopher Quillet.

KZ2
Dutchman Danny Bleek and Frenchman Tony Lavanant (Energy/TM) top the championship table but Thomas Mich (Birel/TM) was in the points at Varennes, and is now lying 3rd, ahead of Benoît Pécasse, who was out of luck, and a very aggressive Pierre Krypciak. Although the two leaders have opened up a gap at the top of the table, the scrap to get on the podium behind them is heating up. Hoping to make experience count are Cédric Goudant, Emilien Grosso, Paul Louveau and Thomas Letailleur. Mathias Gallepe should be back on the front line as soon as his run of bad luck turns.

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