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| June 19, 2009 |
| WSK International Series Round 4 Report |
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 | Marco Ardigo (151) sprints past Bas Lammers (127) in the KZ2 Final
(Photo: Press.net Images) |
At the fourth round of the WSK International karting Series, a light shower fallen in Genk concurred to make all races more intricate, highly charged and thrilling. The Horensbergdam Circuit, the Flemish complex hosting this central round of the season, thus put on highlevel races.
After the opening round in Sarno (SA, Italy) that was distinctly positive for Bas Lammers (Intrepid/TM/Vega), Marco Ardigò from Brescia (Tony Kart/Vortex/Vega) gave his answer today. Lammers had reached the Final with the best omens: dominating the first race on a wet track, ahead of Ardigò, in the second one he reckoned on taking advantage of weather improvement, seeing that the track was clearly drying off. However, Lammers slewed round right after the start and being one of the best protagonists out, Ardigò took centrescene. So the Italian driver in turn dominated the Final with no rivals while on his back an heated duel between teammates was on: between Italian Francesco Laudato and French Thomas Mich (both on a Birel/TM/Vega), the latter attempted many times to overtake Laudato who however was successful in stopping him thanks to his experience. In the duel for the championship ranking, Ardigo’s win, mounting the podium followed by Laudato and Mich, narrowed the gap with Lammers who is always at the top but only with a 4point lead. Laudato improves too, now placed fourth below French Manuel Renaudie (Gillard/SGM/Vega). The latter ranks in a good position for the championship score, after a profitable fifth place achieved at today’s Final, behind Italian Sauro Cesetti
(Birel/TM/Vega).
English Ben Cooper (Tony Kart/Vortex/Bridgestone) performed an overtaking in KF2, snatching the leadership from Italian Matteo Viganò (Birel/Parilla/Bridgestone). It was possible thanks to the unrelenting race Cooper brought off on a very hard track, both in Prefinal and Final. Actually, KF2 races met with the rainiest part of the day and the English driver outdistanced the rivals in no time, managing then to win unchallenged. In the Final, Swedish Jesper Rossler (Birel/Parilla/Bridgestone) performed well and from the fourth row at the start, achieved a second place, snatching it from Danish Nicolaj Moller Madsen (Energy/TM/Bridgestone). Things didn’t work out for the exleader Viganò, losing his position down to second. Lots of going off track in the heated early stages in the wet due to several collisions with other rivals, stopped too early the driver from Bergamo preventing him from scoring in both the decisive races. At the third place there is Swedish Mans Grehagen (Energy/TM/Bridgestone) who started in a good position in the Final to finish then only fifth.
Dutch Peter Hoevenaars (Zanardi/Maxter/Dunlop) can claim the name of weekend hero, after the wonderful races run today. Starting in the ninth line in the Prefinal, Hoevenaars performed a resounding recovery in the wet, finishing then behind his unstoppable countryman Nyck De Vries (ZanardiParillaDunlop). The latter seemed to be destined for victory also in the Final, but he was forced to stop due to an impact caused during the heated duel for the lead by American Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart/Vortex/Dunlop) who was then penalized. It was a real tragedy for the young Dutch driver who lost that way both the Final and the opportunity to take the lead over Russian Daniil Kvyat (Tony Kart/Vortex/Dunlop). The latter, looking in big trouble today, failed to score well, but he anyway holds on to his leadership in KF3 ranking, though with a lead narrowed to 15 points over De Vries. Hoevenaars, on the contrary, established himself as an excellent driver also in the Final, winning a duel against Brasilian Guilherme Silva (Tony Kart/Vortex/Dunlop) and achieving success at last. A mention to the good performance of English Jordan King (Maranello/Maxter/Dunlop) who finished third in the Final and is ranked fourth in the championship, below an unlucky Carlos Sainz (Tony Kart/Vortex/Dunlop) slowing down today, owing to a power breakdown.
Awaiting next round in Salbris (F), from July 23-26, the forthcoming meeting with the WSK International Series is on TV, on Friday June 19, with the usual special report on RaiSport Più from Genk’s Horensbergdam. |
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