Iglésias and Lammers : Battle of the Team Mates

The championship of Europe in class KZ1 which began this weekend at Sarno,
close to Naples, presented a renewed duel between Jérémy Iglésias and Bas
Lammers. After having achieved the double in 2009 in the principal class of
karts with gear box, the two team-mates of the Intrepid Team shared the two
victories of the day. They will continue their fight for the European crown at
the end of June on the French track at Varennes-sur-Allier where the second
and final round of the championship will be held. In KZ2, division 2 gearbox
karts, it is the Italian Paolo De Conto who left Sarno at the head of the
championship standings.

A few minutes before the start of the first race for the KZ1 championship of Europe
KZ1, the sky was clouded over and large spots of rain fell to soak the Circuito
Internazionale Napoli. All the form book became irrelevant because whereas the
qualifying races had made it possible to determine a certain hierarchy, under wet
and precarious conditions of very little grip, it would be rare indeed for drivers not to
make errors. Jérémy Iglésias (Intrepid-TM) is one of these. Taking command of the
situation quickly, the Frenchman stood alone whilst the majority of his opponents
suffered amongst the outsiders. The champion of Europe Dutchman Bas Lammers
(Intrepid-TM), in particular was a victim of a contact with another competitor, could
do no better than 6th place whereas his fellow front row starter, Ben Hanley
(Maranello-Maranello), fell well down the classification. Under these difficult
conditions, the British driver Jack Hawksworth (Maddox-Parilla) drove a superb race
in his KZ1 European championship debut by taking second place in front of Thomas
Mich (Birel-TM), Anthony Abbasse (Sodikart-TM) and Antonio Piccioni (Parolin-
SGM).

Contested on a track which had become dry once again, the second race enabled
European Champion Bas Lammers to gain his revenge. The Dutchman this time
imposed himself upon the vice-champion of Europe and winner of Race 1, Jérémy
Iglésias. Returning well after a difficult first race, Manuel Renaudie (PCR-TM) also
made the podium, thus preserving his chances of an eventual good outcome in the
championship, just like Anthony Abbasse and Antonio Piccioni, again fourth and fifth
respectively. On the other hand, there is less chance of a successful championship
outcome for Thomas Mich, frustrated by a non-finish due to the fracture of a radiator
clip.

So far as the championship stands, it looks like the two Intrepid Team rivals who
hold the aces, the 2009 runner-up Jérémy Iglésias leading his team-mate Bas
Lammers, who will be heartened to still have the chance to defend his title on the last
weekend of June at Varennes-sur-Allier (France). If these two leave Sarno with the
favourites label, they nevertheless know that anything is possible in karting. Grouped
together in 3rd place with the same some points total, Jack Hawksworth , Anthony
Abbasse, Manual Reneudie and Antonio Piccioni must all be saying the same
thing…
Just like the KZ1 class, the KZ2 drivers (division 2 of karts with gear box) began their
European competition close to the foot of Mount Vesuvius. Contested right to the
final turn, the first race enabled the German driver Marcel Jeleniowski (Energy-TM)
to gain his first European victory ahead of his Italian team-member Paolo De Conto
(Energy-TM) and Simone Brenna (TB Kart-TM). Taking the chequered flag in third
place, the German Simon Solgat (Birel-TM) was disqualified after being under the
lawful weight.

During the second race, Paolo De Conto made the best start and led the race from
beginning to end whereas Marcel Jeleniowski was involved in a collision with Luca
Tilloca (CRG-Maxter) and Yan Pesce (Energy-TM), these three drivers all battling for
second place. The Dutchman Kevin Leitjens (Energy-TM) did not waste any time in
climbing on to the second stage of the podium ahead of Simone Brenna, who also
benefitted as well from a scuffle between Marco Pizzuti (Birel-TM) and Marco
Zanchetta (Dr.-Parilla) on the last turn to gain his second podium of the day.

In the championship, Paolo De Conto benefitted from the problems of Marcel

Jeleniowski to take a considerable advantage over the German driver. Simone
Brenna, Kevin Leitjens and the regular, Jan Midrla (Birel-TM) completed the top 5.
But with the best three results counting out of the four possible (as in KZ1, as well),
the final positions are far from determined leaving all to race for when the
championship proceeds to its conclusion at Varennes-sur-Allier from the 24 – 27
June.

Present at Sarno for the first round of this European championship, Nicolas
Deschaux, the new President of the CIK-FIA, was enthusiastic having regard to the
spectacle served up. “High level karting is a sport of an extreme intensity and one
could see that today”, he explained . “I enjoyed myself observing such competitive
racing between the drivers, and all this in a very sporting spirit. The organisers
pulled out all the stops to ensure a successful opening of the CIK-FIA
championships and I thank them for this. After this opening event, we can say that
our season has been well and truly launched!’

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