Mich and Nato one step closer to success

Always in the leading group, the two KZ1 pilots from Equipe de France FFSA Karting, Thomas Mich and Norman Nato put in their best performances throughout the weekend at Angerville at the start of 2008 European Championship. The race turned out to be harder in KF1 for Alban Varutti and Anthony Abbasse, who anyway took advantage of this opportunity to make substantial technical progress; this experience will allow them to perform better at next round of the European Championship.

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Thomas Mich has joined Birel Motorsport official team for CIK-FIA races. It is an opportunity for him to work with some of the major teams and to benefit from an extraordinary experience in karting. Practice rounds were the key to ensure success at the race. Numerous tests were made, with several different configurations, in order to set a sufficiently wide range of adjustments to be able to cope with all possible race conditions. Therefore Thomas worked hard throughout the weekend. «I did well, although I was a bit too far for my taste, often in the first 6 or 7. In race 2, I had a great start and I immediately realised that was the right setup. I fought hard to keep my advantage and I was happy to finally make it onto the third step of the podium. If I play my cards right, I can still fight for victory at the Championship, and this is what matters».

Norman Nato is a rookie in KZ1, after coming straight from KF2 last year. He is one of the youngest and least experienced pilots in the group. However, this is not the impression he made when he was racing! Norman is a hard worker, a regular and fast pilot who does not make mistakes: this is how he was able to quickly earn the trust of his new team, the Intrepid factory team.

In this case as well, practice was intense, under the ever-present and benevolent eyes of the boss of Intrepid. Norman is very pleased to race with experienced pilots like 2006 European Champion Roberto Toninelli. And Norman has even gone further than merely doing well. He ranked among the best pilots, even fighting with current World Champion, for the occasion: certainly no complex of inferiority for young Nato!

«I was a little disappointed that I didn’t reach a podium; that result was within my reach in race 2. But I lacked something at mid-load and the engine got overheated. I tried anyway to overtake Thomas (Mich), but when he passed me again, I couldn’t do anything. Despite all this, last weekend was very positive: I am learning a lot in my new team and the boss (of Intrepid) is happy with me. I am in good conditions for the other races…»

Anthony Abbasse, instead, had a difficult weekend. Everything started as normal and practice led to good results. The chassis went better and better thanks to the specific tyres for this competition. 17th in timed practice, Anthony was 9th after qualifying rounds. Everything was still possible for this competitive pilot. During race 1, Anthony was in the top 10 and going for the head of the race, when his kart had mechanical troubles, a little before mid-race. Starting from the next to last row at race 2, Anthony had to go back to the stands to fix his rear bumper, something that forced him to leave the race a few seconds later. However, this boy is very determined and has plenty of ambitions to fulfil in next rounds. Alban Varutti, another Sodikart official pilot, succeed with the strength of his determination to revive the glory of Equipe de France FFSA Karting in KF1. Quite far behind after timed practice, Alban gained 11 positions in the qualifying rounds and climbed back to the top 10 both in race 1 and in race 2. «We had been doing a lot of tests on the chassis since Thursday, together with Anthony, and we had found the best adjustments for special tyres. We still lack something, but results are beginning to show. Despite it all, I am pleased to have scored important points».

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