(Calendar)
Kartlink covers international kart racing and is the only British website to regularly be in the paddock at most of the World and European meetings.
Search
Fore wins World Cup at Suzuka
A 100% red podium closed the KF1 World Cup weekend at Suzuka. Davide Fore (Maranello) won the final ahead of the young Czech driver Libor Toman (Birel) and his team-mate Sauro Cesetti.
Prefinal
The start was super slow, with poleman Marco Ardigo sticking to 36kph, but it didn’t prevent Gary Catt from tackling Davide Fore at the second corner. The first lap saw Ardigo in the lead ahead of Jason Parrott, Catt, Bressan, and Cesetti. Ardigo and Alessandro Bressan had contact a few metres later, then Will Stevens passed Cesetti who took him back immediately. The first laps were confused and there was a lot of action.
A group of four drivers stood out. Catt was in the lead, then Parrott, Cesetti and Stevens. Richard Bradley was on his own in fifth position. Then came Antonio Piccioni, Matias Laine and LIbor Toman. Fore had the bit between his teeth and soon joined the pack. Ardigo and Bressan couldn’t do much more. It was very tight in the leading quartet and there were many attacks.
Fore successively passed Toman, Piccioni and Laine, and closed on Bradley. Cesetti seemed faster than Parrott and Stevens lost ground. Fore overtook Bradley and gained fifth place but the gap to Stevens was too long for the time remaining. Cesetti passed Parrott just before the finish.
On the line it was Catt first, Cesetti second, Parrott third and Stevens fourth. Fore was fifth, ahead of Toman, Piccioni and Laine. Fore was very angry with Catt after the first lap and the classification remained pending for a while.
Strategy will play a major role in the finals on a track as abrasive as Suzuka and it may be tempting not to push too hard in the Prefinal in order to leave the tyres in a good condition for the Final. The low number of entries means it isn’t too disadvantageous to start from nearer the back of the grid.
Final
The race was rich in suspense. Starting at 15:45 under a sky that was for once completely clear, Sauro Cesetti on pole got through the speed trap but Jason Parrott took control with Will Stevens in his wake. Davide Fore was fifth and Gary Catt, who had started tenth, was already coming through.
Catt took the lead on lap four ahead of Parrott and Stevens who lost more places shortly afterwards. Fore and Toman, who overcame Cesetti, moved into second and third.
But it was far from over. Bressan and Ardigo moved into the top ten but didn’t settle for that. Matias Laine despatched Parrott and Stevens to move back into sixth place. Fore started to threaten Catt and took control of the race on lap eight. Toman also dis not slow at all.
Ardigo was finally on the ascendant and Bressan attacked Parrott. A few corners later Ardigo started to threaten Laine, who disn’t resist. It was to be harder with Cesetti and Marco lost time by going too wide on the kerb before the finish line. Ardigo now found himself behind Parrott. Fore and Toman had escaped and Cesetti took Catt to gain third place.
Always on the attack, Ardigo who was now in the wake of Bressan, despatched Parrott and then Laine. He was now sixth, eight laps from the end. However, as with Bressan, he was slowing down, probably due to the tyre wear begininning to be felt. Catt stayed with the top three. Finally, Laine overtook Parrott and Ardigo came back to Bressan.
On the last lap, Toman started to challenge Fore but he was able to control the situation.
Report by Kartcom and Kartlink, photo by KSP. Results from the CIK.
May 25th, 2008 at 4:25 pm