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| April 30, 2012 News |
| Ferrucci Earns Top-Five at CIK-FIA European KF3 Championship Event in France |
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A familiar name in the United States karting scene is now taking his talents across to Europe and this weekend Santino Ferrucci earned his best finish yet. The New York driver finished in the top-10 in both Final events for the opening round of the CIK-FIA European KF3 Championships on the April 27-29 weekend at the Circuit International Jean Brun in Varennes, France. Joining him on the weekend was Canadian Lance Stroll and Florida driver Dalton Sargeant with over 100 drivers in total competing in the category.
Ferrucci was in the hunt all weekend long aboard his Energy/TM entry. Battling changing weather conditions on Friday, Ferrucci was fast in the wet and in the dry when qualifying it. Running in the final group of four, their session was the quickest on a drying track. Ferrucci placed third in the session but due to the reformatting because of the weather was classified ninth overall and second row for all six heat races. Ferrucci finished each heat inside the top-four with a win in his final race. In heat B-E, Santino crossed the line in the second position but a 10-second penalty for contact dropped him down to 17th. Had the penalty not been assessed, Ferrucci would have started on the pole position. Unfortunately, the end result placed him eighth on the start grid for Final 1.
Running as high as third, he was shuffled off the track. Working his way back to fifth, he was sent off again and back to 17th. By the end, he fought his way up to ninth. Final 2 faired much better for the New Yorker as he jumped from ninth to the lead in the opening circuit. Engaged in a heated battle that included a number of talented drivers, Ferrucci led for a number of laps before he settled into the fifth position at the checkered flag. His results put him fifth in the championship chase with 18 points, just 20 points out of the lead.
Canadian Stroll battled his way forward the entire event in his Chiesa Corse Zanardi/Parilla package. After classified 67th in qualifying, he placed in the top-10 four times of his six heat races to end up 26th in the final standings and into the main events. In Final 1, Stroll gained 12 positions to finish 14th while recording the second fastest lap of the race. Continuing his move forward in Final 2, Stroll broke into the top-10 with a tenth place run as he once again was among the quickest karts on the track.
Sargeant continued his campaign in Europe, having competed in a number of events through the first four months of the year. Classified 71st in qualifying, Sargeant had a much tougher path to reach the show. His first three heat races had him finishing outside the top-10 but a string of 10th, ninth, and ninth helped him move up the standings, but it was not enough. The final tally had the Ward Racing Tony Kart/Vortex driver 41st overall, putting him in the B-Main. Starting seventh, he was shuffled back to the 15th position when the checkered flag waved.
The second and final round of the CIK-FIA European KF3 Championships will take place at the PF International Kart Circuit in Lincolnshire, Great Britain on the July 20-22 weekend.
For videos of the two Final races, see the TKart Magazine videos
Final 1
Final 2 |
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