Double win for Peter Elkmann at Lausitzring

As expected by the German organisers of the DTM, the huge grandstands of the Lausitzring were invaded by 80,000 spectators. While most of them were mainly there to watch another duel between Audi and Mercedes (won by Paul Di Resta’s Class C Mercedes), many stayed until the end of the meeting to follow the track performance of the Superkarts.

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A thin rain increased further the drivers’ tension before Race 1. The few rain drops that fell within 5 minutes of the start even led some competitors to opt for grooved tyres. The 2007 European Champion, Gavin Bennett (Anderson-FPE), was one of them, and the first lap he completed in the lead seemed to prove him right. However, the Briton quickly had to realise that he had not made the right choice, so he went back to the pits to change to slick tyres. He thus fell back to the bottom of the tables.

On his home ground, the German Peter Elkmann (MS Kart-Yamaha) rapidly took over and was an isolated leader in the first laps. Half way through the race, the Frenchman Benjamin Mahé (PVP-FPE), who went off line at the beginning of the race (as many other competitors because the track was so slippery), caught up with the German and even passed him thanks to a superb overtaking manoeuvre on the outside. Elkmann nonetheless almost immediately retaliated, forced the pace and went on to win by over two seconds.

The main surprise of the event was the third place of the Czech Michal Bartak (MS Kart-VM), very comfortable in these tricky track conditions. The Frenchman Damien Payart (PVP-FPE) finished fourth, ahead of his compatriot Alexandre Sébastia (EMA-FPE) who, although he started twentieth, was second on the fifth lap! The cadet of the category, Lee Morgan, came in sixth… and first of the decimated English contingent after the retirements of the poleman Lee Harpham (clutch), Malcolm Crowe (collision), Mark Owens (broken water hose), John Riley (spin) and Carl Hulme (deliberate retirement).

At the start of Race 2 there was the biggest pile-up ever seen in Superkart. Harpham started in the lead and missed a gear: he got hit and in turn crashed into other competitors. As a result, several karts in distress formed a veritable barrier over the whole width of the track in front of the field. Over twenty karts therefore ended up trapped and hit one other, sometimes in big crashes. Race direction had no other choice but to display the red flag.

Harpham took again the lead at the restart and easily pulled away. His engine however betrayed him halfway through the race, which enabled Elkmann to win again, ahead of Owens (ADE-DEA) and Mahé, the latter now finding himself alone in the lead of the Championship. At Assen (Netherlands) on 3 August 2008, the title will be decided between France’s Mahé and Payart and Germany’s Elkmann.

Full results available from the [CIKFIA]

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