MARANELLO KART 2013 MARANELLO KART AND MARCO ZANCHETTA ARE THE PROTAGONISTS IN GENK, EVEN THOUGH THEY MISS THE KZ2 EUROPEAN TITLE AN UNLUCKY DOUBLE ACCIDENT IN THE PRE-FINAL AND IN THE FINAL PREVENTED MARCO ZANCHETTA FROM BATTLING FOR THE KZ2 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP. ALSO LUCA TILLOCA (KZ2) AND YANNICK DE BRABANDER (KZ1) GOT STOPPED BY ACCIDENTS. Genk (Belgium). On the circuit of Genk, Maranello Kart expressed once again all its competitiveness in the second and decisive round of the KZ and KZ2 European Championship. Maranello battled for the CIK-FIA KZ2 title until the end with Marco Zanchetta, but two accidents - one in the Pre-final, the second in the Final - prevented the driver from laying his hands on a title which seemed within his reach. The two favourite drivers for the victory of the KZ2 European title, in Genk, got soon kicked out of the competition. Riccardo Negro (DR) and Marco Zanchetta - namely the first two placed in the round of Wackersdorf - here in Belgium were bound to challenge each other in a kind of repetition of the WSK Euro Series showdown.
Things did not go as expected: Negro was out of the game in the Pre-final for an engine issue, while Zanchetta, in the very same Pre-final, saw his race spoilt when he got hit from behind during lap three, right at the end of the main straight, when he was second. Qualifying did not start well for Zanchetta in Genk, but in the heats his performance got better and he managed to win three times and to gain the first row of the starting grid in his Pre-final. Then, the accident spoilt his whole race, even though the Italian driver managed to recover and to finish tenth. Our driver, anyway, still stood the chance to aim at a great result in the Final, but starting from the back rows is always risky. He got involved in another accident which definitely kicked him out of the race. In the final ranking of the Championship, Marco Zanchetta placed fifth, while the title went to the Norwegian Emil Antonsen, fourth in Wackersdorf and second in this Belgian round behind the winner, the Italian Felice Tiene. Apart from the disappointment for the Championship - which was definitily within reach of the Italian driver -, Marco Zanchetta and Maranello Kart showed excellent performing qualities throughout the whole season. The Italian factory's performance was outstanding both in the CIK- FIA European Championship and in the WSK Euro Series. Also the qualities of the Maranello Kart
RS10 chassis were outstanding: it was always quick and reliable on every racetrack all around Europe. Among the other Maranello Kart drivers, Luca Tilloca also showed great competitiveness: he placed eighth in Wackersdorf, but in Genk he did not take part in the Final after he got involved in a crash in the Pre-final. The same can be said for the Swedish Douglas Lundberg, who had to surrender in the Pre-final after a streak of good results in the heats. Several issues prevented the Danish Jonas Hansen and the Greek Serkos Movsesian from qualifying for the final phase. The weekend was rather unlucky also for the Belgian Yannick De Brabander. The Belgian driver, on his home circuit, raced in the top category, the KZ1, assisted by the EGP team. After achieving the fourteenth slot on the starting grid of the Pre-final, the Belgian driver got involved in a crash right during the first lap of the race and was obliged to retire. A real shame, because De Brabander stood the chance to achieve a very good result on the very same track on which he placed second in the 2011 KZ1 World Championship. For Maranello Kart and its drivers there is another international appointment on schedule: the World Championship on 22nd September, in Varennes. That will be the occasion where they will be able to redeem themselves from the unlucky finale of this European Championship.
THE INTERVIEWS Luca Iannaccone, Maranello Kart responsible: Despite a little bit of disappointment for this bitter finale, I definitely feel completely satisfied for how the team behaved and for how the season went after we got back in the game of the International Championships. We are particularly satisfied for Marco Zanchetta's performance, who battled for the title until the end. Also Luca Tilloca behaved well: despite the fact he did take part in very few races this year, he showed to be a very skilful driver." Marco Zanchetta: I got hit from behind in the Pre-final, and this accident prevented me from battling for the title in the Final. That's a shame, also because my speed was very good. In Finals, when you start from the back rows, it is very easy to get involved in accidents. That's exactly what happened. I restarted, even though I was in last position, because I wanted to test the new solutions in view of the forthcoming races. The title went to Antonse. He drove well, but here in Genk I was even more competitive than I was in Wackersdorf and I'm sure that without the accident I would have been able to win the title. I was very quick in the heats, and I had no trouble at all from the point of view of my technical equipment. We have taken important steps forward with the chassis, and it works better and better as well as the engine. Let's hope to do better in the World Championship of Varennes.
Luca Tilloca: After a terrible qualifying on wet track where I placed 62nd, in the heats I closed the gap and in the Pre-final I started from the 8th slot. Then, at the first bend, I got hit from behind while I was already fifth. So, I didn't mange to enter the Final. I'm sorry, but that's the way it went..." THE FINAL STANDINGS OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: KZ: 1. Verstappen (CRG-Tm) 50 points; 2. Ardigò (Tony Kart-Vortex) 16; 3. Abbasse (Sodi-Tm) 23; 4. Thonon (CRG-Maxter) 22; 5. Lammers (Intrepid-Tm) 20; 6. Leclerc (Art-Tm) 20; 7. Jorrit Pex (CRG-Tm) 19; 8. De Conto (Birel-Tm) 18; 9. Forè (CRG-Tm) 16; 10. Toninelli (Birel-Tm) 12; 11. Lennox (CRG-Parilla) 11; 12. Di Martino (Energy-Tm) 9; 13. Dreezen (Tony Kart-Vortex) 7; 14. Hajek (Praga-Parilla) 7; 15. Torsellini (Tony Kart-Vortex) 5; 16. Cesetti (Top Kart-Tm) 4; 17. Van Der Raad (CRG-Tm) 3; 18. Camplese (Intrepid-Parilla) 3; 19. Fasberg (Tony Kart-Vortex) 2; 20. Davies (First-Tm) 2. KZ2. 1. Antonsen (DR-Tm) 33 points; 2. Johansson (Energy-Tm) 32; 3. Tiene (CRG-Maxter) 25; 4. Negro (DR-Tm) 25; 5. Marcon Tony Kart-Vortex) 22; 6. Zanchetta (Maranello-Tm) 20; 7. Schmidt (CRG-Tm) 11; 8. Schmitz (Tony Kart-Vortex) 11; 9. Lundberg (Maranello-Tm) 10; 10. Midrla (Birel- Tm) 10; 11. Yard Pex (CRG-Tm) 9; 12. Manetti (Praga-Parilla) 8; 13. Tilloca (Maranello-Tm) 8; 14. Habulin (CRG-Modena) 7; 15. Specken (Birel-Tm) 7; 16. Hays (Energy-Tm) 6; 17. Fiault (Sodi- Parilla) 6; 18. Marconi (First-Tm) 5; 19. Brenna (TB Kart-Modena) 5; 20. Paauwe (Birel-Tm) 5; 21. Illgen (CRG-Tm) e Oberg (Gillard-Tm) 4; 23. Van Meever (Lenzokart-Tm) 3; 24. Da Silva (Birel- Tm) 2; 25. Piccini Alessio (Tony Kart-Vortex); 26. Kooijman (CRG-Tm) 1. All the results on www.cikfia.com and www.cikfiachampionship.com. Press Office Maranello Kart 30th June 2013 www.maranellokart.com In the pictures: first page, Marco Zanchetta ahead of Douglas Lundberg. In the other pictures: Marco Zanchetta (130), Luca Tilloca (124), Yannick De Brabander (29). Above, from left Luca Tilloca, Douglas Lundberg, Yannick De Brabander and Marco Zanchetta (Maranello Press).