Hiltbrand wins second European Championship round amid last-lap chaos
CRG's Pedro Hiltbrand was victorious in Round 2 of the CIK-FIA OK European Championship at Adria despite having started the final lap in fourth place.
Pedro Hiltbrand
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Lining up on pole, the Spaniard was the early leader of the final but class rookie Logan Sargeant overtook him on Lap 4.
Hiltbrand then came under pressure from Karol Basz and the latter eventually passed him but not before Tom Joyner had gone past the duo to claim second.
Despite leading by 3.6s at that point, Sargeant slowly but surely let his gap evaporate and Joyner was all over the 15-year-old for the final stages.
The Bri timed his overtake for the last lap with Basz following through at the penultimate corner.
However, Sargeant was on the throttle a bit too early on the exit and pushed Basz's kart into Joyner, the trio losing enough momentum to allow Hiltbrand to sneak past.
Sargeant ended up second with Christian Lundgaard also demoting Joyner and Basz only to receive a post-race time penalty for causing a collision.
Joyner was the second CRG driver on the podium as a result, with teammates Felice Tiene and Paavo Tonteri completing the top six.
At halfway point of the championship, Round 1 winner Basz is leading the championship by eight and 15 points over Sargeant and Joyner.
OK class top 10:
Pos. | Driver | Team | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pedro Hiltbrand | CRG | |
2 | Logan Sargeant | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | +1.229s |
3 | Tom Joyner | CRG | +2.339s |
4 | Karol Basz | Kosmic Racing | +2.570s |
5 | Felice Tiene | CRG | +7.854s |
6 | Paavo Tonteri | CRG | +8.655s |
7 | Christian Lundgaard | Ricciardo Kart | +11.649s |
8 | Clement Novalak | Tony Kart Racing Team | +14.428s |
9 | Francois Becamel | VDK Racing | +16.094s |
10 | Lucas Legeret | Birel ART | +16.186s |
Vidales rebounds from opener disaster with win
David Vidales, 14, put himself back in contention for the OKJ European Championship title by winning Round 2 after missing the showdown in the opener due to a pre-final retirement.
Fourth in the starting order, he aggressively took the lead in just two corners.
Despite quickly establishing a lead of two seconds, Vidales then lost his advantage just as fast as Kiern Jewiss took over on Lap 4.
The latter was then passed by Isac Blomqvist, the Swede also temporarily maintaining a safe lead.
Vidales and Jewiss, both shuffling down to the lower parts of the top five, recovered to second and third at halfway point.
The duo soon passed Blomqvist as well and spent the rest of the race close to each other, with Vidales crossing the line first.
Blomqvist repeated his Round 1 result by taking an impressive third from 16th on the grid, followed by Ricky Flynn Motorsport's Dmitrii Bogdanov and Birel ART's Ulysse de Pauw.
Noah Watt, who dominated the first round but only finished 11th this time around, continues to lead the championship, just four points ahead of Blomqvist.
OKJ class top 10:
Pos. | Driver | Team | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | David Vidales | Tony Kart Racing Team | |
2 | Kiern Jewiss | Forza Racing | +0.446s |
3 | Isac Blomqvist | Ward Racing | +2.617s |
4 | Dmitrii Bogdanov | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | +5.571s |
5 | Ulysse de Pauw | Birel ART Racing | +7.042s |
6 | Dennis Hauger | CRG | +7.133s |
7 | Muizzuddin Gafar | DR | +8.616s |
8 | Fin Kenneally | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | +9.237s |
9 | Sami Taoufik | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | +9.292s |
10 | Theo Pourchaire | Kosmic Racing Dpt | +9.557s |
Federer wins shortened KZ2 affair
Front row starter Fabian Federer was the winner of the KZ2 race, which was red-flagged due to rain five laps before the finish.
The 2011 CIK-FIA European KZ2 Champion went past pole-sitter Alex Irlando on Lap 2 but was largely unable to extend his lead to over a second for the rest of the race.
Still, he stayed ahead untroubled, with Dutch duo Stan Pex and Dylan Davies passing Irlando for the other two podium spots.
With one more round to go, Federer leads Pex in the standings by three points with Irlando sitting third.
KZ2 class top 10:
Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Fabian Federer | SRP Racing Team | |
2 | Stan Pex | CRG Holland | +0.252s |
3 | Dylan Davies | CRG Keijzer Racing | +2.942s |
4 | Alessandro Irlando | Energy Corse | +5.323s |
5 | Matteo Vigano | Comer | +6.738s |
6 | Tom Leuillet | Privateer | +7.456s |
7 | Persson Tornqvist | CRG Holland | +8.940s |
8 | Tommaso Mosca | Maranello Kart | +15.191s |
9 | John Norris | KSM Schumacher Racing | +16.584s |
10 | Alexander Dahlberg | Ward Racing |
+16.843s |
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