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20th July 2013

CIK-FIA KF & KFJ European Championship In Ortona - Qualifying

The race for the KF and KFJ European Championships starts in Ortona.
Paperwork is over for the 150 entrants who reached Ortona (Italy) from all around the world. They now have to deal with the technical preparation of the event: it is a delicate and important aspect of their job, especially because the race on the Italian track is going to be one of the season top event of international karting. The second and last round of the KF and KFJ CIK-FIA European championship began last Wednesady at the Circuito Internazionale d’Abruzzo facility. The CIK-FIA Academy Trophy – for drivers aged 13-15 –  will be the side event which completes the programme of this  unmissable racing weekend.

The whole weekend live on the Internet.
Today the event got into top gears with qualifying. Immediately after qualifying, the heats gave the first verdicts and the long list of drivers aiming at victory became thinner. Each one of these phases, until the Finals on Sunday 21st, can be viewed on the Internet as well as real-time result updates. From Sunday morning, fans will be able to enjoy the images of the races produced by WSK Promotion, viewable live in streaming on the official websites www.cikfia.tv and www.cikfiachampionship.com, from the drivers’ presentation until the end of the Finals. On Tuesday 23rd July, on Rai Sport 2, the pre-recorded broadcast of the KF and KFJ finals, while on Friday 26th – always on the same channel – the Special report with the recap of the whole weekend.

Nielsen is the top driver in KF qualifying.
Stopping the clock at 56”358 on the 1,600 metres of the track in Ortona, the Danish Nicklas Nielsen (Kosmic-Vortex-Vega) confirmed his leadership in this initial phase of the KF race. Nielsen, who is the current leader of the Championship ahead of the Swedish Christian Sorensen (Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega), drove 109 milliseconds faster than the French Armand Convers (Kosmic-Vortex-Vega). Third the PolishKarol Basz (Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) then the English Callum Ilott (Zanardi-TM-Vega). Sorensen, on the other hand, set the 6th time, just behind the Dutch Max Verstappen (CRG-TM-Vega). The latter, who has been simply unbeatable in KZ this year (he won the WSK Euro and Master Series and leads the CIK-FIA European Championship) is battling also for the KF European Championship and the results, so far, seem favourable: Verstappen has already won one of the heats, ahead of the Croatian Martin Kodric (FA Kart-Vortex-Vega). In the other race the winner was Convers, who beat Ilott into second position. There are all the ingredients for a gripping challenge in tomorrow’s races.

Ticktum starts well in KF Junior.
The English Daniel Ticktum, with 57”896, was the fastest in KF Junior, 154 milliseconds faster than his fellow countryman and team-mate Enaam Ahmed (both on FA Kart-Vortex-Le Cont). Behind them the French Bryan Elpitiya (Energy-TM-Le Cont) and the Romanian Petrut Florescu (Tony Kart-Vortex-Le Cont). For the current leader of the Championship, the English Lando Norris (FA Kart-Vortex-Le Cont), things are getting a little tricky: he finished 27th. On the other hand, Ticktum’s performance was good also in the heats, where he won once ahead of the Canadian Parker Thompson (Energy-TM-Le Cont). Norris is recovering after his 8th position in the heat won by the Finnish Niko Kari (FA Kart-Vortex-Le Cont) with the Dutch Martijn Van Leeuwen (Zanardi-TM-Le Cont) second. Finally, the British Sasakorn Chaimongkol (Kosmic-TM-Le Cont) won today’s last race beating into second position the Italian Leonardo Pulcini (Tony Kart-Vortex-Le Cont). Tomorrow there are 23 qualifying races on schedule, including the races of the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy.