Menezes scores top-25 finish at the Winter Cup

Gustavo Menezes, the 2007 Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) national championship runner-up in the U.S., competed in his first South Garda Karting Winter Cup, the prestigious international ‘kick-off’ event in Lonato, Italy that brings together some of the best karting pilots in the world. Nearly 300 drivers in three divisions made for a full and exciting week at the historic 1km long circuit, and Menezes showed poise as he battled 100 pilots in the KF3 (Junior) division.

Driving for Ward Racing - a European Tony Kart Racing team - Menezes spent Wednesday and Thursday testing at the South Garda Karting circuit. Friday’s schedule featured qualifying as the KF3 class was split up into three groups. Menezes was assigned to Group 3, the fastest of the three. Gustavo was 15th in his group at the end of the time run, which would classify him 44th overall, placing him in Group D and starting 15th in both of his heat races.

The first heat ran Friday afternoon and featured a difficult start to the racing action as Menezes was twice drilled off the track during the opening lap, dropping him back to 23rd. Fortunately, he was able to claw back to 15th in the short 10-lap race. Saturday morning kicked off with Gustavo’s second heat which saw him move up to as high as 10th spot. Unfortunately, on the final lap while holding onto the top ten spot, Menezes was bumped off the track, dropping him to 15th. With these two finishes, Gustavo was classified 18th in the D-E-F group, one spot short of earning a direct transfer into the Prefinals, forcing him to run in the Last Chance Qualifier.

Starting from the pole position in the LCQ, Menezes was able to open up several lengths on the field until minor carburetion problems allowed two drivers to pass by. Finishing third, he earned a 20th place starting spot in the Prefinal. Needing to finish 17th or higher to transfer to the prestigious main event, Menezes quickly advanced his position up to 16th. As the racing continued, he fell back to 21st. Able to avoid two incidents in front of him in the final laps, Gustavo was able to move up to 16th again when the chequered flag fell, earning a spot in the main event.

Taking the green flag from 32nd out of 34 karts, Menezes picked up the pace in the 28-lap Final. Running lap times as quick as the leaders, Gustavo worked his way up to 22nd place finish.

Menezes will head back to Italy in early March, competing in the Andrea Margutti Trophy in Parma on March 6-9 and the opening round of the WSK Championship in La Conca on March 13-16. These events will help prepare Gustavo for his bid at the Stars of Karting JICA national championship as the first round of the program is set to take place at Ocala Gran Prix in Florida on April 4-6.

Photo by Chris Walker/Kartpix

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