FIA Karting – The competition starts in Sweden
After free training sessions characterized by rain showers, Åsumringen was dry before the qualifying sessions for the third round of the FIA Karting European Championship – OK and OK-Junior on Friday at noon in Kristianstad. The gaps were extremely small in both categories and it was Guillaume Bouzar (LUX) who in the end proved to be the fastest in OK-Junior while Kean Nakamura-Berta (GBR) set the fastest time in OK.
Kristianstadsbanan was overcast with temperatures around 13 °, but rain refrained from visiting Sweden. The conditions were good to get the most out of the Vega tires in OK-Junior and MG in OK. The most important strategic options were to choose the right moment to start and find a favorable position in the herd. The gaps were often measured in hundredths of a second, sometimes even in thousandths.
Bouzar continues his series of appearances in OK-Junior
Guillaume Bouzar from Luxembourg took pole position in the last round of the FIA Karting European Championship – OK-Junior in Spain and was also a poleman in Belgium in the FIA Karting Academy Trophy. He repeated the feat in Sweden with a time of 51,590 on the third lap. He was 5 thousandths ahead of Anatholy Kavalkhin, the leader of the second session and 45 thousandths ahead of the Frenchman Jimmy Helias, who completed his best performance at this level in the first session. Provisional leader Nathan Tye (GBR) finished 14th, just ahead of his direct pursuer Dmitry Matveev. Third in the championship René Lammers (NLD) was only 28th, fourth Jules Caranta (FRA) 18th and fifth Enzo Tarnvanichkul (THA) eighth. Some outsiders like Kirill Kutskov, Lewis Wherrell (GBR) and Emanuele Olivieri (ITA) had a good position among the top ten in qualifying.
Guillaume Bouzar explained how he managed to take his third pole position:
“As usual, I tried to make sure I had enough space for the drivers in front of me. I was able to catch them on my fast lap without getting blocked. The equipment was top notch. Thanks to my team Koski Motorsport and to One Engines, the tuner for my Vortex. This is my third pole position in a row, after Zuera in OK-Junior and Genk in the FIA Karting Academy Trophy. I intend to use this advantage to aim for victory here in Sweden. “
Nakamura-Berta fastest in OK
It was also during the third time trial that the British Kean Nakamura-Berta achieved the best time in the qualifying session for the FIA Karting European Championship – OK in Kristianstad. With a time of 50”314, the third driver in the preliminary classification of the championship was 22 thousandths ahead of German Maxim Rehm, fastest in session 1 and 1.5 tenths ahead of Jamaican Alex Powell, fastest in session 3 The top 20 were grouped within three tenths apart. Championship leader Joe Turney (GBR) was only 30, but his ability to regain ground in the qualifying heat is legendary. Among the other top five European drivers in the class, Enzo Deligny (FRA) finished 25th in qualifying, Evan Giltaire (FRA) 20th and Ean Eyckmans (BEL) 18th.
Poleman Kean Nakamura-Berta said at the press conference:
“I can only be happy with how the qualification went. Thanks to this pole position, I will be in 1st place at the start of all qualifying heats, which gives me a clear advantage. I had a very good grip during my workout, the IAME engine did the job. I would like to thank KR Motorsport and the IAME factory for this excellent package.“
Friday continued with five qualifying heats in each category. Another 10 heats will be run on Saturday, June 4 before the intermediate rankings are revealed to determine the starting order for the superheat on Sunday morning.
Preliminary program for the Kristianstad event
Saturday 4 June
09:00 – 10:13: Heating
10:20 – 17:55: Kvalheat
Sunday 5 June
09:00 – 10:05: Heating
10:10 – 11:45: Superheats
13:15 – 14:40: Finals
The Kristianstad event can be followed on the official FIA Karting Championship app for mobile devices and on the website www.fiakarting.com.