The first round of the WSK Super Master Series was affected by extremely bad weather on Saturday, which led to the Heats being cancelled, so that the Prefinal grids were based on the times set in qualifying.

In OK, Lucas Légeret made it to the top 10 in the Final. Starting ninth, he finished the first race in fourth place. The Swiss driver then showed good race pace and took the chequered flag in tenth. Lucas also made a great start in the Prefinal: having started from the seventh row, he passed several drivers on the opening lap to finish ninth.

Martijn van Leeuwen was unlucky in the Final when, after starting from fourth, he had to retire at the first corner with a technical problem. However, Van Leeuwen showed how competitive he was in the Prefinal: starting fifth, he dropped to eighth on the opening laps, before moving up to fourth thanks to a very good race pace, which saw him set the race fastest lap.

Fastest of all in qualifying for OKJ, Ulysse De Pauw started Prefinal A from pole, but came round at the end of the first lap in third spot, having made a small mistake at the first corner. But he ran a strong pace, good enough to keep that position all the way to the flag. He was given a 5 second penalty for losing a front spoiler during a scrap, which dropped him to eighth. He therefore started from 16th place in the Final, after which he dropped back to 21st on the opening lap, but with a lot of passing moves, the Belgian managed to climb back up to eleventh. However, with four laps remaining, De Pauw had to retire following a collision.

After an unlucky qualifying session, Caio Collet was forced to start from twenty-second on the grid in Pre-final B. On his Super Master debut, Collet had a great start and posted some very fast lap times: thanks to some quick overtaking, he took the chequered flag in sixteenth position. Starting the Final from thirty-second place on the grid, Caio managed to climb up to twenty-fourth place, once again proving his potential. After the race, the Brazilian driver was awarded a 5 second penalty because the spoiler came off during the race, so his final position was twenty-ninth.

In the KZ Final, Jordon Lennox-Lamb finished ninth. Starting from the fifth row of the grid, the British driver was able to make up a few positions immediately. Despite not being in perfect physical condition, he managed to post some good lap times and took the chequered flag in ninth position. At the end of the race Lennox-Lamb was awarded a 5 second penalty because his front spoiler came off during the race. Nevertheless, Jordon was competitive in qualifying, posting the fourth fastest time in his session, 87 thousandths off the fastest time.

Gianluca Beggio, Technical Director: “It was a difficult weekend because of the rain, the snow and the cold that upset the smooth running of the event. Weather conditions aside, we were always very competitive.

In the OKJ class, De Pauw took pole and we were in the top positions throughout the weekend. Collet’s weekend was affected by the results of the qualifying session and when you start at the back you lose any chance of success. Nevertheless, he managed to qualify for the Final and recovered well.

In the OK class, Van Leeuwen was very competitive because he posted the fifth fastest time in qualifying, the fastest lap and finished fourth in the Pre-final. Without the technical problem at the start of the race, he could have aimed for a podium finish.

Légeret was exceptional in both the Pre-final and Final. He was very competitive despite being up against drivers who have won World Championships. He is developing quickly and feels at ease in the new category. I think he’ll do very well indeed this year.”

Lucas Légeret, #216: “We worked well throughout the weekend, but the heats were cancelled. In the Final, I was fifth after a good start, then the rear started to slide and I finished tenth. I am proud of the work we did.”

Martijn van Leeuwen, #215: “Our speed was good throughout the weekend. Qualifying was good, but I was unable to exploit all our potential because of a small mistake on my qualifying lap. I had a poor start in the Pre-final, but I managed to recover and post the fastest lap. Unfortunately, I had to retire on the first lap of the Final due to a technical problem. Another unlucky weekend. I hope to have better luck at Sarno.”

Ulysse De Pauw, #308: “Our speed was very good. I need to start near the front, because it’s very difficult to recover when we start halfway down the grid. We are always very competitive and fast, which is a big positive.”

Caio Collet, #307: “The weather conditions were very difficult due to the rain, the cold and snow. It was difficult to find the right set-up, as well as not being accustomed to these conditions. The weekend was useful to accumulate experience. I hope that the weather at Sarno is better, so that we can continue to improve and develop the kart together with the team in order to achieve a good result.”

Jordon Lennox-Lamb, #7: “Given the speed shown in last week’s practice sessions, we expected a better result. Unfortunately, we struggled a bit on the Sunday and were unable to achieve the results we wanted. We were very fast in the early laps of the Final, but unfortunately we slowed down and I was unable to keep in touch with the leading group.”

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