Lock wins second Euro Max race on the trot

Defending European champion Ben Cooper (44.519) set the quickest lap in the final group in the class of 76 drivers. He was fast in both the wet and dry sessions in the two days leading up to official timed practice, edging out the current series leader Chris Lock by 2-tenths. “I am happy to be on pole; the kart feels really, really good and it’s fast. I thought I could take pole and hopefully it gives me the results in the racing that I need for the points in the championship. It’s going to be close.”

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Photo: RGMMC/Alex Schelbert

The polesitter was unbeatable in all four of his qualifying heats Saturday, giving him P1on the grid for the pre-final. Lining up with Cooper on the front row was Lock, who’d won three heats, including one when New Zealand’s Josh Hart received a 10-second start penalty, reducing his own tally to two race wins. The remaining heat was won by Tom Fawcett. The best lap in the heats was again set by Cooper.

Unlike the previous round in Germany, the senior pre-final was without major incident or even as much as a driving standards flag being shown. Cooper took the lead and held it for the entire 15 laps, also clocking the best overall lap (44.341) of the meeting to win the race by just over three seconds. Minor places changed behind him, as the frontrunners diced frantically, but in the process let the young Brit get away. Lock kept a considerable gap over eventual third-placed driver Luke Caudle, who passed Fawcett when he ran wide several laps into the race. 4th was claimed by Joey Van Splunteren, as Hart dropped out of contention in the early stages.

The Final had a little more action, which could have been expected with the series able to be won at the Czech round. The start went with Cooper once more as Lock was unable to move inside on the first corner and found himself back in 3rd chasing Caudle. James Bean off grid 9 had a coming together with Fawcett in 5th, who had slowed as he continued to circulate on track, until suddenly being hit by another kart. He sustained a wrist injury so officials signalled a full restart, however Bean was later handed a fine for his part in the initial incident. There was a slight delay before the final got underway once more.

The start went Coopers’ but way Lock took a different line and slotted into 2nd ahead of Caudle and Hart. On lap 3, he had a shot at the lead and it was Cooper on his rear bumper for the first time over the weekend. Bean had pushed his way through into the top 5 as the laps unfolded, making the fight for 3rd and beyond a close one, heading a reasonably bunched field. Just over halfway and Bean looks to pass Caudle for a place on the podium but he holds his line. Eventually Bean steals 3rd, followed shortly after by Van Splunteren and Hart passing Caudle as well, who didn’t have their pace in the final.

With only minutes remaining, Cooper set his fastest lap as he moved up on Lock, who kept glancing over his shoulder and consequently also then did his best time just two laps from the end. It was a case of one covering and one taking the shortest way around the track. Cooper pushed hard as they approached the finish line, but it was Lock’s victory for the second round in a row. His hope of sealing the championship on the day disappeared, but the 21-year old still maintains a narrow lead over Cooper in the points going into the series decider in Belgium this September.

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