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The Estonian qualified 4th at Busca for a front row grid in the qualifying heats and got off to a flying start, only to have his race victory taken away when he was excluded from the first heat Saturday. It was established that the number 6 kart failed to meet the requirements of the newly introduced clutch regulations. However, it didn’t prevent the very confident junior driver working even harder to make up for lost ground. Following his convincing win in Italy, Talvar is now running 3rd in the championship.

The best qualifying time Friday was posted by Ferenc Kancsar (Kalman Motorsport/Birel) of Hungary, when he topped the second session of the 35-kart field to take his first European pole position (59.670). The next quickest was the Team TKP driver Kay van Kemenade (Intrepid), who went on to secure pole for the pre-final with two wins and a 3rd in the qualifying races. Round 1 hero Josh Webster (Strawberry Racing/Tonykart) also had a first place and two P4s to join the Dutch driver on the front row. Without a win but sufficient points to do so, Slovenian Matija Jurkovic (MLM Sportstil/Intrepid) would start on P3 beside British Mini Max-turned Euro Junior Harrison Scott (RL Race Team), making his debut in international racing at Busca.

Scott, along with Maxi Gunkel (Intrepid Force Rotax/Intrepid) and Group 1 pace-setter Matt Parry (Paul Carr Racing/Kosmic), each took the chequered flag in one heat on the 21-race program Saturday. Gunkel and Raoul Owens (Protrain Racing/Gillard) made up the third row.

It was Van Kemenade who led from the gate in the pre-final and soon pulled a gap, as the battle raged behind him amongst Jurkovic, Gunkel and Webster in 4th from the outside row. It was finally Webster was into 2nd by lap 2 who held it, while Dave Blom (Team TKP/Intrepid) got involved in the fight for minor placings.

The Junior Max is renowned at the Euro for turning on some of the closest racing, which was definitely the case this time. Talvar had come from 17th to 5th within three laps, shadowed by Beitske Visser, who had been quickest in the heats. It wasn’t to be Harrison Scott’s weekend after all, retiring by half-race distance, but instead fellow British hotshot Ed Brand (HRS Motorsport/CRG) was the mover, as the only one to break the minute mark making up 16 places for P7.

Near the end of the 11-lapper, Blom spun off and went back to mid-field, so Talvar diced with Gunkel, seeing the German driver eventually winning the dash for the line to take 3rd, with Visser 5th ahead of Jurkovic and Brand. Webster had chosen to use his new tyres in the final and waited until the last lap to punishingly relegate Van Kemenade to 2nd.

The Strawberry Racing polesitter led the field around for a perfect start, but with several of the front-runners using their reserved set of MOJOs, he was soon under pressure. Visser overtook Gunkel for P2 and made Webster work for the lead, which she grabbed on lap 5, joined by her team-mate Van Kemenade for 2nd. Nothing separated the leading group as positions shuffled, with the two TKP drivers exchanging P1 until Talvar pounced and took control. Looking to pass, Visser went wheel-to-wheel with Talvar hoping to hold him out through the corner, but the pack bunched and he was pushed forward, allowing him to get a break. In the confusion, Gunkel had nowhere to go and collided with the kart in front, then rejoining in 19th.

The race also ended soon after for Russia’s Artem Markelov (IPB Spartak/Kombikart). Talvar had stretched the lead to just over a second from Van Kemenade, with the Intrepid duo running away with the race. It was Brand who led the English assault, accompanied by race pace-setter Parry, who also moved into the first five ahead of Webster with four laps remaining. In an attempt to gain back P3 from Brand, Visser looked for a way by, which opened up the door for Parry to overtake both of them in the last lap. Coming into the final corner, Parry seemed to overshoot the mark a little, giving Brand room to squeeze through and drive his way onto the podium.

Visser couldn’t improve on 5th, as much as she tried, while Webster managed to keep 6th place from the likes of Kancsar, Blom, Jurkovic and Miika Kaiho (Hemet Racing/ninar) 10th, who were all biting at his heels. Webster also maintained his lead in the championship, which he admitted was most important this round.

The winner was overwhelmed by his victory in Italy, saying this weekend was a definite career highlight:

“It means a lot to me to win my first ever European round. I’ve been on the podium before at the Euro, but this is very special. I didn’t have such a good start in the final but then I was able to pass the others one by one because I was a bit faster than them. Beitske [Visser] tried to pass me but she touched my back wheel, then someone pushed me and I got ahead of them. After eight laps I was leading and looked back to see the others further back, so I thought at this stage that I could win. Wednesday’s practice was the first time I’d driven at this track, but this round the chassis and mechanics were good – so I won! I’d like to say thanks to my mechanic Priit, Tony my engine builder from Supertune, Talvar Racing and all who support me.”

Photo by Bas Kaligis