Russell takes World Rotax title on the last corner

Prefinal
Michael Simpson took advantage of his pole position to make the best start and consolidate his lead at the first chance and he had the good sense to widen the gap until the finish. This is a victory without tarnishes. Behind that the South African defeated Cooper and remained in second place for three laps before loosing places under pressure from Cameron and Romkema.

Benjy Russell came to meddle in the fight by taking third place from Romkema then he replied by taking the third position at the expense of Cameron. At halfway Simpson was decisively first, followed at a distance by Remkema, Perel and Birizdo. The latter gained some speed and passed first Perel, then Romkema on the lap 11. The ranking stabilized from the 12th lap.

1. Mike Simpson (GB)
2. Imre Birizdo (HU)
3. Ricardo Romkema (NL)
4. David Perel (ZA)
5. Benjy Russell (GB)
6. Paul Cameron (NZ)

Final
The Englishman Mike Simpson perhaps thought the victory in the Pre-Final gave him a decisive asvatage in the final. But he quickly lost the lead when the Dutchman Ricardo Romkema tried a strong move on the second lap on the fast left. Simpson lost two places at once, then another on the next lap, while Romkema dominated in front of the Hungarian Birizdo and Benjy Russell then Simpson and Perel. The situation remained stable for a few laps.

Before long Romkema led the race with a comfortable lead, but five laps from the finish Russell accelerated the pace, dispatching Simpson who was in front of him for too long, and started the attack on Romkema. However the Dutchman seemed so far in the lead. Meanwhile, Birizdo threatened Simpson, and the group of chasers seemed to be waiting for a rush to attack at the finish. It was much better to see Benjy Russell muscle up an attack on Romkema on the last corner of the last lap, less than 150m from the line. It left Romkema disoriented, nearly losing second place to Simpson.

Ben Cooper, the British driver, came back with the biggest rebound of the day, from 34th in the Pre-Final to tenth in the final. Finally, it was the Portuguese driver Tiago Ribeiro who posted the fastest time with 57.604.

1. Benjy Russell (GB)
2. Ricardo Romkema (NL)
3. Mike Simpson (GB)
4. Imre Birizdo (HU)
5. Kevin Reichard (AT)
6. David Perel (ZA)

Full results are available on Kartcom

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