UROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERKART ROUND 2/3

After the French Magny-Cours circuit, the 2009 CIK-FIA European Superkart Championship will visit the Most Autodrom in the Czech Republic on 5-7 June. Recently resurfaced, the 4.2 km long track should prove even quicker than in 2006 when the Championship was last held on the Czech circuit.

From the results of the first event, two favourites are a priori emerging, who happen to be the last two prize-winners, namely the 2007 Champion, Gavin Bennett and the 2008 Champion, Peter Elkmann. The Briton Bennett (Anderson-FPE) won both races in Magny-Cours, which will give him a psychological advantage when he gets to Most, even though from his initial experience of the Czech circuit, in 2006, he does not particularly have a great memory. Classified third and second at Magny-Cours last April, the German Elkmann (MS Kart-Yamaha) probably knows the track better than him and will be very keen to put to the fore his locally-produced MS Kart chassis! If they race neck and neck like in Magny-Cours, the German will be well advised to prevail so as to close the 14-point gap which already separates him from Bennett and to keep his chances alive before the final event, scheduled for August at Assen, in the Netherlands.

Although they already look distanced in the Championship, nothing is yet lost for drivers such as Britain’s Lee Harpham (Anderson-FPE), Mark Owens (ADE-DEA) and John Riley (Anderson-Rotax). They were very fast in France but each had to retire once so they already no longer have any joker to play (at the end of the Championship, for each driver, only the best 5 results out of a total of 6 races are retained). To reassure themselves, they can always remember that a low-key start to the season had not prevented Peter Elkmann from landing the title last year. Everything therefore remains possible for Harpham, Riley and Owens, as well as for France’s Damien Payart (PVP-FPE), Germany’s Guido Kleinemeyer (PVP-BRC) and the driver from the Jersey island, Malcolm Crowe (Anderson-FPE). A podium in Most could also be within reach of some drivers who did not achieve the expected results at Magny-Cours, in particular the Frenchman Emmanuel Vinualès (PVP-FPE), the Brit Trevor Roberts (Anderson-BRC), the German Peter Kruse (Anderson-DEA) and the competitor towards whom all the local spectators’ eyes will be turned, the Czech Michal Bartak, whose chassis and engine are built in his country, only his tyres not being from the Czech Republic as no kart tyres are!

In all, 45 drivers (representing 11 nationalities) have entered the Most event, for a programme composed of two qualifying practice sessions (on Friday and Saturday) and of two races of 50 km each (on Saturday at 13h30 and Sunday at 10h50).

For additional information, please consult:CIK . The results of the event will be published in real time www.mediasuperkart.com front page

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