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A really challenging and difficult weekend for the second race of the WSK International Series, that took place at the International Circuit of Sarno, Naples. This was the first race for the “queen” class, the KZ2, and the second appointment for KF2 and KF3. A real challenge with 200 drivers on the starting grid and very uncertain weather conditions that created many difficulties for the karts set-up.

The free practices on Friday have been made with rain and cold, while the weather gradually improved until the hot temperatures of Sunday. As if to say, all wiped out in terms of chassis and engines set-up. Under these conditions, the work of the CRG-Maxter technicians was at the highest level, with the continuous development of the race material in view of the KZ1 and KF3 World Cup, that will be run in Sarno on September 6th.

In KZ2, the most important class for this WSK appointment, there have been several situations of great tension but in the end the result was positive. The “All Blacks” have been represented on the podium by the CRG Holland driver Rick Dreezen, after a thrilling final where he conquered a great third place after an heroic resistance to the repeated attacks of Marco Ardigò. The two drivers have crossed the finishing line very close, with Dreezen winning with 13 thousandths of a second. The winner of the KZ2 final was the Dutch Bas Lammers, followed by Manuel Renaudie.

Difficult race for the CRG official drivers, who started the weekend “in uphill” due to various problems in the tests or in the qualification heats. In the end, however, Jonathan Thonon and Davide Forè made great performances, both of them with the new homologated “Bad Boy” chassis. Outstanding race for the Belgian Thonon who gained a seventh place starting from the 17th position in the pre-final, as it should be considered a very good result the 9th place obtained by Forè, who started 22nd after an incredible series of misfortunes, including the heavy disqualification for an underweight of only 200 grams at the end of the qualifying heats where he had obtained the fifth place.

Weekend to forget for the fast CRG driver “Koko” Arnaud Kozlinski, who was forced to leave the race in the second chance heat (where he had come due to an unfortunate series of coincidences) when he had left behind all the competitors with half- track of advantage. In the final, good result also for the standard bearer of CRG Holland, the Dutch Jorrit Pex, who finished eleventh.

First KZ2 race for the LH Lewis Hamilton chassis(produced and marketed by CRG) with the young and promising driver Mirko Torsellini, assisted by Elto Racing. Mirko was penalized at the beginning of the weekend for not being able to take part in the qualification heats – together with other competitors – due to a supposed delay at the track gate, so he had to run the qualification heats always starting from the last rows. At the end of this “ordeal” the 15 years old driver from Siena crossed the finishing line of the second chance heat with a good 10th place, but this result was not able to allow him to take part in the final stages of the race. In any case, this was an important experience for him, as it was important to start the development of the new chassis in KZ2 together with the Super KF development made by the world champion Rowland.

The accidents in the qualification heats of KF2 and KF3 have created many problems to the CRG drivers but fortunately they have not suffered serious consequences. In KF2 Niccolò Schirò was the driver most damaged by the accidents, he got injured in the leg after an overturn in one of the heats, while in KF3 the Pole Jakub Dalewski has been involved in a violent accident where he has reported several contusions. Unfortunate race also for the Sardinian Giovanni Martinez and the Spanish Antonio Alarcon, who failed the qualification for the KF2 final.

In KF2, the best CRG driver was the Belgian Clemente Picariello of the team VDK, with a very good 14th place in the final after a comeback from the last position, where he was forced due to some problems in the pre-final start that obliged him to leave the race. The winner of the KF2 race was Matteo Viganò, followed by Felice Tiene and the English Max Goff.

In KF3 the Romanian driver Robert Visoiu was forced to leave the race at the start of the second chance heat. The KF3 winner was the Russian Daniil Kvyat, after an hard fight with the Spanish Carlos Sainz and Raffaele Marciello.

Giancarlo Tinini, President of CRG:
“We had not the chance to develop the new solutions in the best way. All things considered, the weekend was positive. From a technical point of view, we have made some engine evolutions and we are carrying on the development of the new chassis. Above all we are trying to help the growth of the young drivers, who still have only a little experience, but we see improvements race after race. We will certainly have good results very soon.”

Eng. Jan Witteveen, Maxter general director: “We are working very hard, but the track has not yet shown the outcomes of our hard work. From a technical point of view we are growing, it will take some time, but we will for sure collect good results. We are currently working on very interesting projects. I arrived in Maxter last October, with a medium and a long term program, but I think we will have several improvements starting from this season. ”

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG racing director: “The weekend has been influenced by the very unsettled weather between the heats and the race. We have not been able to do the tests as we would have liked, although we have noticed with great pleasure that our new “Bad Boy” chassis is very performing on the wet track, offering a very good grip. In KF2 and KF3 we had problems in the second chance heats due to the accidents caused by other competitors, that have influenced the evolution of the whole weekend. In KZ2 our drivers performances have improved during the weekend so that we have obtained good results. ”

Eng. Marco Urbinati, CRG responsible of telemetry: “The changes in the weather situation have created several problems in the chassis set-up with dry conditions after the heats made on the wet track. All the drivers had to fight hard to find the best set-up. With the help of telemetry we have been able to develop some guidelines for a better running of the engine power, and even the driving styles had to change several times over this weekend. “

Jonathan Thonon: “During this race we have tested different chassis set-ups and various ratios, especially in view of the World Cup that will be disputed on this track in September. I had a technical problem in the third heat, after having won the first two heats, and this made me start a little back in the pre-final rows, then it was very difficult to recover positions. In the final I have recovered another ten positions, and I have crossed the finishing line in the seventh place so it was definitely a good result. ”

Davide Forè: “With the penalty that I had in the official heats, it was certainly impossible for me to have the chance to get a better result. I could have been in the leading group both in the pre-final and in the final. From a technical point of view I am very happy because starting from the half of the race the chassis was extremely performing. In the first laps I had some difficulties to leave behind the group of competitors, then in the second part of the race I was very fast, so that I was able to obtain the second best time overall. I want to thank all the CRG and Maxter staff, their assistance has been very helpful. I am sure that the next race will be much better. “