Lonato (Brescia, Italy), 3rd February 2010. Entries for the 2010 edition of the WSK Euro Series have reached the 200 participants. The Series will start from the International Circuit La Conca at Muro Leccese next 7th March and it will be the first of the five European meetings.

A good success which confirms the leadership gained in karting by this championship at international level, both for the competitive quality of its participants and for the first rate technical challenge. CRG and Maxter will participate with their official team in the 2010 WSK Euro Series together with other top constructors, such as Birel and Tony Kart; with them they will also take part in the new, fascinating world challenge of the WSK World Series. CRG and Maxter have supported the WSK Euro series since the beginning, because of their organizing and promoting capacities which, during these last few years, have been meeting the sports expectations of constructors and teams.

The continental series of the WSK Euro Series 2010 will be contested in five meetings: after the opening race at Muro Leccese the other meetings will be at Lonato (28th March), Zuera (18th April), Genk (9th May) and Sarno (6th June). The new WSK World Series will be contested on three continents, with meetings in Europe (Portimao, Portugal, 3rd July), United States (Millville, New Jersey, 1st August) and Africa (Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh, 31st October). The programme of the WSK 2010 is completed by the new national series WSK Master, structured in three meetings in Italy (Siena 29th August, Val Vibrata 26th September, Castelletto 10th October) and in the WSK Nations Cup event at Muro Leccese on 28th November.

The complete programmes of the WSK 2010 are available on the website www.wskarting.com

Press Office

CRG SpA

 

 

Lonato (Brescia - Italy), 25th January 2010. F1 drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who used to race together for CRG and Dino Chiesa's team a few years ago, went back on a kart last Friday, both to get some fun and for a small training session for next F1 season. The two drivers met on the 'South Garda Karting Circuit', welcomed by their former team manager Dino Chiesa, for a full immersion day in karting.
Both Hamilton and Rosberg, before their début in car-racing, used to race together for the MBM team (acronym of Mercedes Benz McLaren) in 2000 and 2001, with CRG chassis; in those years they even took part in the Italian Championship Open Masters. With Dino Chiesa and CRG, Hamilton became Formula A European Champion in 2000, with Rosberg crossing the line for second.

Hamilton, who turned 25 few days ago and is about to race for McLaren for the 4th season, could test the 'LH' chassis, recently developed by CRG thanks to 2008 F1 World Champion's advice and technical specs.
Rosberg, who is racing for Mercedes this year, raced on a 'Zanardi' chassis; he already had the occasion to appreciate it last November, on the very same circuit of Lonato together with Michael Schumacher and the young Dutch star Nyck De Vries. De Vries, who was together with the two F1 drivers on this occasion too, has recently been included in the McLaren young driver development programme.

Also Lewis Hamilton's brother, Nicholas, got on a kart: he had lot of fun testing a CRG-Rotax Max.
Lewis Hamilton concentrated on the driving of his 'LH', both in the KF and KZ version - with gears and Maxter engine. "I really had lot of fun - said Hamilton after racing for almost a whole day -. Above all, I enjoyed the kart with gears, which I had never tried before. I've always raced on a 100cc without gears, and it's been hard for me to adjust to the driving style the KZ requires. I need to get the knack of it, but I've already seen that it's total fun. I obviously felt at ease with the KF, quite similar to my old 100cc. Anyway, it was wonderful to meet again with my old team, my brother and all my Italian friends."

Dino Chiesa was very satisfied too: "Meeting again on a track after almost ten years was a great experience. First of all, both Hamilton and Rosberg wanted to have fun, without trying to get first rate performances, even though they raced at full throttle. Nicholas Hamilton had lots of fun too: he didn't want to get down of the kart. I think he completed almost 200 laps… I hope to repeat this experience in a few months."

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Photo: Spotinphoto and Chiesa Corse

 

 

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia – Italy), 22th December 2009.

The opening of the brand-new C.R.G. plant and the year-end prize-giving ceremony for the important 2009 achievements of the Italian manufacturing firm were an ideal occasion to draw a sketch of the current situation of karting with the chairman of C.R.G. S.p.a., Giancarlo Tinini.

The spotlights are definitely on the appalling situation of the KF engines after three years from their introduction. It is not the engine to be under accusation, on the contrary: it has been performing at excellent technical levels so far, but the complex regulation hinders its usage and spread.

“KF Class is in troubled waters – says Mr Tinini – and this situation has nothing to do with the product, which is of excellent quality. It is rather a matter of regulation, because it is far too strict. If we want to keep on going steadily towards the KF failure, we just need to keep on with this system. If we won’t make it simpler we won’t get anything good out of it. We need to simplify.”

For example?

“It is necessary to make simpler regulations, which means giving the possibility to racers to spend more time on the tracks rather than on the trolleys for the technical tests. With today’s regulation you spend a lot of time in tests instead of running on tracks, which is what people want. This is the direct consequence of the stubbornness of many people. We should be more sensible and go back to the well-tested technical and sports rules we had had for so many years, starting all over, but always with KF. Because the problem is not in the product but in the rules. I make an example: when a 100cc engine undergoes a technical inspection, scrutineers use a homologation paper of three pages. Well, in KF the same homologation paper is of twenty-seven pages. For me the product (the engine) is a good one. All the manufacturing firms have reached good quality standards: if they fix up the rules we will not regret the old 100cc. I think that all the ASNs of the world should use the new KF engine and provide for their own control regulation, using the same method that we adopted in the ICA or in the Junior (where you just had to check the volume of the combustion chamber, the exhaust timing, the diameter of the carburettor and the measure of the reed valve): in a short time KF could soar without troubles. Unfortunately, sticking to these strict rules gives only big problems.”

Is this the reason why many drivers are more attracted by the KZ?

“Sure. Drivers are more and more attracted by KZ and by ‘single-brand’ championships, where rules are so much less strict. It is normal. This is a situation created by this regulation issued by KF. We immediately pointed out that regulations made in such a way couldn’t work. They are just absurd. They’re unfit for this kind of categories, but they might be fit for a ‘single-brand’ category which wants to remain static. Taking CIK races – where a lot of money has been spent on testing and equipment - as grounds for the regulation isn’t practicable for all the regional and national races taking place on Saturdays and Sundays on the circuits all over the world. The regulation that we need to outline should be tested in the races it refers to and then applied as a unique world regulation.”

Is the participation in the CIK-FIA races put in question by major constructors for this reason too?

“Our firm has got clear ideas: we know karting better than others and we know that the direction we are following for the regulations is not the right one. Just keep in mind that a driver doesn’t go on the track by himself. Together with him there’s a group of people: mechanics, technicians and all those who cooperate in the setting of the chassis and of the engine. All these people work together to get better and better results. If we take away this opportunity from them, they will lack in adrenalin and people will prefer …to go fishing, because we have denied them the possibility to do their best . This is the most stupid thing we can do. In these last three years we have been making a lot of fuss and now I can say that we have often denounced how unfit these regulations were, in particular those rules that oblige the constructors to work on projects which are much more complex and, consequently, much more expensive too. Today I’m happy, because the other firms which had initially supported these regulations are now beginning to understand that things can’t go on like that. If, even today, many ASNs refuse to introduce KF in their countries, it’s because it is a ‘scary’ product, but not because of the way the engine is made. We all know that this is a concept very similar to the Rotax ‘single-brand’, which is the number one in the world as a product: still, it is a ‘single-brand’.”

So, what do we need to do?

“A very simple thing. Last year - and two years ago too – we had already proposed it: we just need to go back to the rules of the old ICA and Junior. However, always with the KF engine as it is now. Remaining still and unwilling to change is wrong.”

Which is the message for the Federation which makes the rules?

“We should be honest and take a step back in the regulations, for the sake of karting. The engine, as it is now, is perfect. We are in contact with many ASNs and together we are trying to lay the foundations for a specific set of rules which, probably, could mend the situation.”

Press Office

C.R.G. S.p.A.

 

 

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia – Italy) 21st December 2009. Last 18th December, CRG, the prestigious Italian manufacturing firm, completed its project of widening and modernization of its structure with the opening ceremony of its very advanced brand-new factory at Desenzano del Garda. In the same area, during the last two years, the CRG group had already opened the two new factories of Maxter Engines and Maranello. All the most important representatives of karting were invited at the party given for the occasion.

The new plant, with its innovating architecture and its accurate and refined design of the rooms, has three stories and an overall surface of 10,000 square meters. Together with the nearby Maxter and Maranello plants – respectively 1,450 and 1,350 square meters – the new complex is now a top industrial hub for karting.

The old CRG factory, not far away from the new one, will keep on working and will house the CRG Racing Team structure and Primatist, one of the brands of the group specialized in the production and selling of connecting rods, drive shafts and other accessories for karting.

All the major dealers for CRG from all over the world with all the members of the official racing team – drivers, mechanics, technicians - took part in the opening ceremony, together with karting VIPs and several representatives of the national and international press.

This important event was the occasion for the traditional CRG prize-giving ceremony, during which prizes for the 2009 season were given to CRG drivers and dealers. A season full of crucial achievements: CRG excelled in the most important world championships: from the win of “Koko” Arnaud Kozlinski in the Super KF World Championship and in the WSK International Series, to the third win in a row of Jonthan Thonon in the KZ1 World Cup.

Among the CRG dealers, the Best Dealer Award went to Christian Marchandise’s French firm KCM. Further prizes for this particular ranking went to Dominique Labreque’s Canadian firm PSL and to the German Prespo of Manfred Brandl. This is Giancarlo Tinini’s comment, chairman of C.R.G. S.p.a.: “It was a great celebration for CRG. All our friends and major dealers of our brand took part in it, coming from all over the world. It’s been two years since our last ceremony before Christmas, since we suspended it because of my father’s death. He was a great supporter of this annual appointment and he was always so pleased to represent our brand. Without him I felt it was pointless to keep on organizing the event. But the achievements of this year – the opening of the factory and the wins in the championships - pushed me to resume the tradition.

 

I was pleased to realize how happy our guests were and it is always great to see such an enthusiasm surrounding our brand. The opening of our new factory is a crucial moment in our business enterprise. The new structure is essential to increase the production and to simplify the goods handling, with the possibility of adding new equipment. Our aim was to work better.

Everything seems so big, but in the end you always need more room. Anyway, we definitely took a big step forward. Now our commitment is to step up the production. We are quite satisfied for the achievements of the year at the moment.

Our production is at the same level of last year production: good news considering the general conditions of the world’s economy. We got excellent selling results in France, followed by Canada and Germany. We recorded a light increase in Japan but a worrying downward trend in America that we will try to recover. In 2010 we think we can increase our sales, even though it won’t be easy.

Regarding the racing we are about to complete our official team: our goal is to get as many trophies as possible, according to our tradition. Jonathan Thonon will take part in KZ1 and KZ2 competitions together with Gary Carlton, while “Koko”, Davide Forè and Eddy Tinini will compete in Super KF. In this class we will have Felice Tiene’s comeback, the winner of this year KF2 Asia-Pacific Championship. Giovanni Martinez will compete in KF2, Luca Tilloca in KZ2. In KF3 we will have the début of the promising young kating driver Max Verstappen, son of the F1 champion Jos Verstappen.

Soon we will have the names of the drivers of our new junior team, besides probable new drivers in KF2 and KF3”.

Jonathan Thonon: “ I want to thank Giancarlo Tinini for his confidence. I have been racing for CRG for nine years, with the VDK Team first and then with CRG Official Team. This is something I’m so proud of because it’s a continuity that is hard to get in the world of sports; it is based on a great and mutual respect, and this is fundamental for me. It makes me very self-confident.

My season will be focused on KZ1 in the WSK World series and in KZ2 in the WSK Euro Series. The only exception will be the Winter Cup, where I will compete in Super KF. For 2010 we have lots of novelties, starting from the engine, and I’m sure we’ll have a top level season”.

Arnaud Kozlinski: “It is the first time I take part in a CRG celebration and I had the feeling to be a member of a big family. A beautiful feeling.

Concerning my racing activity, in these last weeks I have been following the development of the new engine, and I must say that we are at a satisfactory stage.

We are all happy with the equipment, for the power and the reliability at top levels. My season will be focused on Super KF in the WSK, both in the World Series and in the Euro Series, besides the opening race in the Winter Cup”.

Davide Forè: “I’m expecting much from 2010. I have tested the new Maxter KF engine and I noticed it has been greatly enhanced. It offers excellent reliability, it is much smaller than the previous one and this is the reason why the chassis offers a better efficiency. It’s given me positive emotions, that’s why I’m so confident.”

Press Office

C.R.G. S.p.A.

CRG 2010 OFFICIAL TEAM (temporary list)

KZ1 (e KZ2)

Jonathan Thonon (B)

Gary Carlton (USA)

Super KF

“Koko” Arnaud Kozlinski (F)

Davide Forè (I)

Eddy Tinini (I)

Felice Tiene (I)

KZ2

Luca Tilloca (I)

KF2

Giovanni Martinez (I)

KF3

Max Verstappen (NL)

 

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), 9th December 2009. Great celebrations for CRG and Arnaud Kozlinski at 2009 WSK “Gran Galà” - at Monza Sporting Club – for the season final prize-giving ceremony. The constructors’ championship, won by CRG with Maxter engines in the WSK most professional class – the Super KF -, and the drivers’ championship – won by Arnaud Kozlinski, driver for CRG – were the further season achievements of the Italian manufacturing firm, after the World Championships won by Jonathan Thonon in the KZ1 World Cup at Sarno and by Kozlinski himself in the Super KF World Championship in Macao.

For CRG-Maxter the 2009 season ended in the best possible way, with the win of the most prestigious karting championships. At the WSK prize-giving ceremony Mr Giancarlo Tinini, chairman of C.R.G. S.p.a., and his driver Arnaud Kozlinski were greatly satisfied with their results.

The 2009 season has just finished, but the team is already focused on the next season, as Mr Giancarlo Tinini points out: “We are absolutely happy for our achievements in 2009. Our drivers’ performances showed the excellent quality of CRG chassis and Maxter engines, besides the brilliant results of LH chassis and the trophies won by the other brands of our group, Maranello and Zanardi. The next season is approaching and we are already defining a schedule with our official participation in the Euro Series and in the World Series of the WSK, as well as in the season opening race in the Winter Cup of Lonato. As official team, we won’t fail to provide for assistance to our drivers in the CIK-FIA Championships in all the classes. We are arranging the team for our official CRG-Maxter drivers for the next season, even if the team is not completely defined yet. Anyway we have several novelties, such as Felice Tiene’s comeback to our team. He will compete in Super KF with a CRG chassis, together with Arnaud Kozlinski, Davide Forè and Eddy Tinini, whereas Jonathan Thonon will compete in KZ together with the American driver Gary Carlton. The French driver Brandon Maisano and the English driver Oliver Rowland will compete in Super KF too, with a LH chassis. The promising Max Verstappen, son of the F1 driver Jos Verstappen, will be our driver in KF3, but there are negotiations pending for other interesting young drivers. In our team there are also two drivers from Sardinia: Giovanni Martinez in KF2 and Luca Tilloca in KZ2. In the following weeks we will be able to give a full account of the list of our drivers.”

Arnaud Kozlinski, the protagonist of the celebrations for the Super KF drivers’ championship, was very happy too: “Winning the championship was just like winning a European championship for me. It was a great pleasure getting the trophy just two weeks after the win in the World Championship in Macao. Maybe, winning the World Championship 15 days before this tough trophy was the ‘psychological push’ I needed. In the last race I gave everything and I made it. Last year I had lost the championship in the last lap of the last race against Cesetti: this year I had my revenge. I could even have had a better end of season in the last race of Las Vegas, but a problem with my shift gear didn’t allow me to try to win and I was obliged to be content with a fourth place. In 2010 I hope I will be able to have another terrific season like this.”

C.R.G. S.p.a.

Press Office

(Photo Press.net)

 

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), November 9th 2009. The official CRG team is defining its structure for 2010 and we officially have the first driver name for next season.
The Italian company is glad to announce the agreement with the very young driver Max Verstappen, a new talented driver who's following in his father footsteps.
In fact, his father is the Dutch Jos Verstappen, a sublime kart driver who then has run over 107 Grand Prix in F1 from 1994 to 2003 (with Benetton, Arrows, Tyrrell, Stewart, and Minardi) and who has also recently been a protagonist in the A1 Grand Prix and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Max Verstappen will make his debut in KF3 in 2010 with the official CRG team.
Max is 12 years old, he was born in Hasselt, Belgium and has already conquered an important series of victories: he was twice Belgian Champion in the Junior category, twice champion of Benelux in the Rotax Minimax, twice Belgian champion in the Mini and Dutch champion of Rotax Minimax.
Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), November 9th 2009

 

Giancarlo Tinini, president of C.R.G. S.p.A., announces an agreement which concerns the creation of a new "CRG Junior Team": "An agreement has been reached between CRG and VDK for the creation of a Junior Team which will have the task to let the young drivers grow in competitions. The selection of the best drivers it's up to VDK, then they will be proposed to the factory team for the continuation of their activity at the highest levels".
The CRG Group is going to extend its racing engagement in karting and will have a new "CRG Junior Team" that will be side by side with the head office, with the main goal to let the new karting talents grow. The "CRG Junior Team" will therefore have the mission to favour above all the young drivers competitive activity towards the most important sports goals. It's a clear sign of trust in the future, starting from the youngest drivers, which involves an important brand such as the CRG Group, that confirmed itself also this year as the most winning brand in World Championship titles.
The new "CRG Junior Team" will be managed by the two Belgian brothers Alain and Eric Verdaasdonk, appreciated owners of the VDK Team and clever talent-scout like in the case of Jonathan Thonon, world champion now for the third consecutive time with CRG-Maxter after having started his karting career in 1996 in the "mini" class of the Belgian Championship with the VDK Team. Among the drivers who are followed at the moment by the VDK Team we need to mention the 17-years-old Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne who is successfully racing in the WSK International Series.
The "CRG Junior Team" will take part in the international races of the KF3 and KF2 categories, in the Belgian and French Championships and will avail itself of a suitable operating structure on the race tracks.
Press Office C.R.G. S.p.A.

Lonato (Brescia), November 6th 2009

 

Lonato (Brescia), November 1st 2009. Another sensational success for CRG and Maxter, even better it was a double success the one conquered in Lonato by the Italian company in the final race of the WSK International Series. The seventh and last act of the season took place on the South Garda Karting circuit and the French Arnaud Kozlinski of CRG-Maxter won the prestigious title of the Super KF “queen” category, celebrating in the best possible way the recent World title obtained two weeks before in Macao. It was a double success indeed because further to the drivers title, CRG also won the prestigious Team title thanks to the second position of Kozlinski and the fourth place of Brandon Maisano in addition to the tenth place of Davide Forè.

In order to mathematically win the title, Kozlinski had absolutely to conquer at least the second place and so he did, with a race full of unexpected events and great suspense.

His opponents for the title were the classification leader Cesetti and Gary Catt: both drivers were anyway forced to withdraw before the finish of the long 38 laps final. Cesetti in spite of the withdrawal could anyway compete for the title forcing “Koko” to gain at least 30 points with a second place. After an initial duel with Ardigò and later on also with the Zcech Maranello driver Groman and Catt, since the second half of the race “Koko” succeeded in keeping the second position behind Ardigò till the end of the race. Thanks to this good performance the French driver well deserved to win the Super KF title, confirming at the same time the great reliability of the Maxter engine and the perfect set up of the CRG chassis. At a certain point “Koko” could have been able to even attack Ardigò’s first position but he preferred to avoid any risk giving this way as a present to CRG-Maxter the third title of the season, after the World Cup title conquered by Jonathan Thonon in KZ1 and his victory in the Super KF World Championship.

As for the other CRG drivers, the French Brandon Maisano with LH chassis finished fourth after having been in the third position and having made a wonderful recovery, while Thonon was forced to withdraw at half race just when he was producing his attack. Just before that Eddy Tinini and Oliver Rowland (LH) had to give up because of an accident.

Kozlinski was obviously very happy, rightly proud for having reached a very difficult goal: “I started well this race with my best timing in the Superpole, then in the heats it was difficult to find the right set-up of my kart. Before the Final I wanted to risk everything and together with my mechanic and my team we made a series of important technical changes. During the warm-up these changes proved to be okay, everything went very well so I could start the final in the best possible conditions. After the battles at the beginning, when I overtook Catt and Groman and got the second position, the last 10 laps made me understand that the title was very close. For this reason I tried to control the position without forcing, I calmed down and ended with that second place which made me win the title. I really wish to thank all my team and of course my mechanics for the great work done before the Final.”

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: “Excellent result. Last year we had lost both the WSK and the Super KF titles, but this year we have won both of them, further to the World title of Thonon in KZ1. This was a difficult race for us because we were forced to make a result at any cost to be able to win the title, so we had to avoid any mistake and so we did. In the future we will also work on the younger categories and we will invest on drivers who might give us the result. I think we will do very well also in KF3 and KF2”.

RESULTS

Lonato (Brescia), WSK – 7th round, November 1st 2009

Super KF: 1. Ardigò (I) 38 laps; 2. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) +1.151; 3. Groman (CZ) +5.138; 4. Maisano (F) (LH-Maxter) +5.390; 5. Convers (F) +5.473; 6. Puhakka (FIN) +6.667; 7. Camponeschi (I) +7.522; 8. Renaudie (F) +11.879; 9. De Brabander (B) +13.511; 10. Forè (CRG-Maxter) +14.353.

WSK Championship, Super KF: 1. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) points 86; 2. Cesetti (I) 80; 3. Ardigò (I) 55; 4. Maisano (F) (LH-Maxter) 47; 5. Toman (CZ) 45.

Eurocup WSK: 1. CRG SpA points 158; 2. Birel Motorsport 126; 3. Tony Kart Racing Team 106; 4. Maranello Kart 67; 5. Kosmic Racing Dept. 52; 6. Pcr Srl 28.

Press Office

C.R.G. S.p.A.

Lonato (Brescia), November 1st 2009

Lonato (Brescia), October 31st 2009. CRG and Maxter, together with the new World Champion "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski, are ready to face the last battle of the season in the final event of the WSK International Series in Lonato that will take place on the South Garda Karting circuit, where a record number of 194 drivers will compete in the Super KF, KF3 and KF2 categories.
The title is still to be assigned in the "queen" Super KF category and CRG-Maxter which together with Kozlinski have just made a great performance winning the World Championship of Macao, have now to turn to their favour the championship classification in order to recover the disadvantage from the leader Sauro Cesetti.
The good winning moment of CRG Maxter was clear enough since the official heats of Saturday, when Kozlinski was first able to be among the top ten fastest drivers then he conquered for the second time this year a sensational Superpole: the French driver gained therefore 3 points which allowed him, according to the differences, to shorten up to 9 points his delay from Cesetti.

The two qualification heats of Saturday highlighted another great performance of CRG-Maxter and Kozlinski, who got a brilliant third place in both races while Cesetti, after an 8th position of the first heat, was forced to withdraw in the second race. The last heat on Sunday morning will be decisive for the starting grid of the Final of Sunday afternoon, in a race final stage which seems to be quite uncertain and of great suspense.
The CRG-Maxter official team will support Kozlinski thanks to its other 2009 World Champion in KZ1 Jonathan Thonon, who was able to well recover in the two heats with a 10th and 6th places but also thanks to Davide Forè and Eddy Tinini who are at the moment slightly lingered because of some troubled episodes.
With regards to the LH chassis and Maxter engines, this time assisted on track by Dino Chiesa, also Oliver Rowland and Brandon Maisano will compete, being the second in great evidence since the beginning of this event.
CRG will also line up the Spanish Antonio Alarcon and Giovanni Martinez in KF2 and the Rumenian Robert Visoiu in KF3.

WSK Super KF Championship classification after the Superpole of Lonato won by Kozlinski: 1. Cesetti 65 (80 - 15 of difference); 2. Kozlinski 56 (68 - 12 of difference).

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Lonato (Brescia), October 31st 2009

In the closing event of the season of the Rok international one brand championship a good number of 298 drivers were present on the starting grid and the fast, young 18-years-old driver from Milan literally dominated the final after having been the fastest even in the official heats where he got a great pole position.
"Last year I wasn't able to conquer the pole - said Vantini just after his good performance - so I think this is a good start that gives me the chance to defend my title".
And so it was. Vantini has been shining since the qualification heats gaining a third place for the starting grid of the final, then two bends were enough for him to show himself as the leader until the end of the race, driving a CRG chassis which proved to be perfect in all circumstances.
This is what Vantini said after his victory: "I think I've done a good set-up job of my kart, therefore I didn't have any kind of problem. I was quite immediately the leader of the race in the Final so that my competitors couldn't catch me up me anymore. I've had some advantage in the first laps and I won with about 4 seconds of time over them".
This was the best possible way for Vantini to finish his season, considering his second place in the Super Rok National Championship and his brilliant qualification at the selection round of the European KF2 Championship run in Sosnova in the Czech Republic.
"Unfortunately I couldn't take part in the KF2 European Final - said Vantini with a bit of regret - but it is a priority for me next year. In fact I would like to repeat this experience and maybe to obtain a good result in the KF2 European of 2010. I am anyway really happy for this second Super Rok international title".
Vantini's team manager, Alessandro Marrapese, was of course very satisfied: "I am very happy for this second international title on Super Rok won by Vantini. I've been following him for two years and now I am fully satisfied with his results. He is a very fast driver who is also very keen to the set-up of his kart so he is then very focused on the track. We will first of all point to the KF2 European Championship next year, but Alessandro might also look for his third victory in the international Super Rok".

RESULTS

Lonato (Brescia), October 22nd-25th 2009
2009 Super Rok International Final
Super Rok
1. Alessandro Vantini (CRG-Super Rok-Bridgestone) - Italy
2. Lorenzo Caponi - Italy
3. Martin Acosta - Argentina
Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Lonato (Brescia), October 25th 2009

 

Macao (China), the 11th of October 2009. Another great world success for CRG and Maxter motors in the Karting World Championship. After the recent success of Thonon in the KZ1 World Cup it was this time the French Arnaud Kozlinski to win for CRG-Maxter and to jump on the highest step of the podium in the Super KF World Championship referring to the queen category of karting without gear during the event of a sole round which was run for the first time in Asia on the circuit of Macao.
A victory which was built with great determination: that's what "Koko" got in the difficult Chinese weekend where the 28-years-old driver from Bordeaux was a protagonist since the beginning of the race, mastering the scene and well deserving to become World Champion 2009.
CRG wins therefore the "big slam" title of the season with a sensational second year of victories which seals indeed a fabulous end of season for the whole Italian team. A great result that confirms the competitiveness of CRG chassis further to the power and to the reliability of Maxter motors.

"Koko" was able to reach this result in Macao after his victories in the qualification heats and in the pre-final. On the contrary, there was quite an uncertainty as to the result in the Final which was one of the most uncertain and hard fought race of these last years, influenced furthermore by the rain which started to fall from the 6th of the 25 laps in programme.

In fact the asphalt was already particularly slippery due to problems of the day before which were solved during the night using concrete and resin, and from the 6th lap of the Final also the rain came to create confusion, so that the leadership of the race was passing from "Koko" to Renaudie then to Ardigò and later to Vainio. But in the topic moment of the race, at 6 laps from finish, it was "Koko" to get again the leader just in time before the end with red flag when it was clearly dangerous to continue the race which was anyway considered valid because 80% of the total laps were run until stop. Vainio and Hanley got the podium together with "Koko" and the fourth place went to Thonon who made an excellent recovery from the 9th position.

Unfortunately the French Brandon Maisano on LH-Maxter wasn't able to put into practice the good things done during the whole weekend and even starting from the first line with "Koko", he was immediately out of the race due to an accident just after the start. The other driver with LH chassis, the British Oliver Rowland, who was assisted on track by Dino Chiesa as well as Maisano, hardly fought for the leadership but had then to be satisfied with his 12th place just ahead of Davide Forè who was lingered by some contacts. Among the CRG drivers, finally we need to mention Eddy Tinini who was really unlucky being involved in a couple of accidents in the heats so to loose the access to the Final which he was well deserving.

A great celebration at the end for the whole CRG team but also emotion for the umpteenth World Title which further enriched the yet fantastic international palmarès-prizewinners of the Italian company. "Everything was OK - said just after the race Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A. - and it was a nice result for CRG and of course for "Koko" who was chasing this title since a long time. He made an excellent race and proved what a good driver he is. It was a good result which came at the end of a season I which "Koko", Thonon and Forè have been committing themselves to the development and research.

Here in Macao we also had a good fourth place with Jonathan who recovered very well after the qualification heats. I'm also happy for Aaro Vainio and Ben Hanley of Maranello who complete the success of Tinini Group together with Maxter motors which reach the first four places of the Super KF World Championship. It was anyway a pity for Eddy because he couldn't reach the Final due to a couple of accidents. It was an important season full of successes so this is the right occasion to thank all the mechanics and the staff who gave a great contribution to our victories."

Obviously very happy Arnaud Kozlinski: "It's my first victory in a World Championship and of course I am happy indeed. I had a rather bad start at the beginning of the year but I kept on having trust so after a lot of work on the development of the motors we had at the end a brilliant result. This title is a reward for previous disappointments and above all for the misfortune of last year after an accident in Las Vegas. This is my third year with CRG and I wish to thank the whole team which supported me in every moment. Running in Asia brings me good luck considering also that I was third in the SFK World Cup in Suzuka and always in Suzuka I won the 2006 World Cup in Formula A. With this success in Macao I have also won a bet with Nico, who is the Maxter responsible manager. The prize was a Rolex which is now my watch!".

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sportive Director: "After the problems the day before due to the crumbling asphalt the event could have a regular ending and we had Kozlinski's important victory. It was marvellous also because our driver was chasing this result since a long time. My congratulations to "Koko" who made me move for what he could realize. We also had a great performance from Thonon while Forè suffered for a few accidents. Excellent was Maisano who was in great shape but also quite unlucky for the accident at the start. We are closing this year with two Championship titles in Super KF and KZ1, further to a third place at the European KZ1. We really have very good equipment either CRG or Maxter and this is so encouraging to be able to reach other goals in the future".

Nico Carigiet, Responsible for Maxter engines: "Really a fantastic result for us as we had four Maxter motors at the first four places which is proving our superiority on a dry and also on a wet track. We had a splendid growth trend in our results this year with a series of good victories especially at the end of the season".

Jonathan Thonon: "I am very happy for Koko's victory and for CRG which wins this way both the World Titles of KZ1 and Super KF. In the Final I had a good start and was just following Koko but I preferred to support my team avoiding therefore to pass him. I think I did the right thing as it was very important for CRG to win the World title and I am satisfied for my contribution".

Davide Forè: "I had an accident in the pre-final which forced me to start the final from the 17th position. Just before the rain I was among the leaders then after that I had to slow down because it was becoming a real dangerous situation. I am anyway very happy for Koko's result and for CRG".

Eddy Tinini: "I am very satisfied with the result of the whole team. I wished to run the Final too so to be able to give my contribution but unfortunately it was impossible because two accidents during the heats stopped me".

RESULTS

Macao (China), 9th-11th October 2009 - 46th CIK-FIA World Karting Championship of Super KF

SUPER KF - Final: 1. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) 18 laps; 2. Vainio (FIN) +1.008; 3. Hanley (GB) +6.103; 4. Thonon (CRG-Maxter) +7.376; 5. Camponeschi (I) +9.255; 6. De Brabander (B) +12.612; 7. Renaudie (F) +13.832; 8. Bressan (I) +15.379; 9. Ardigò (I) +15.841; 10. Puhakka (FIN) +16.917; 11. Convers (F) +17.992; 12. Rowland (LH-Maxter) +19.703; 13. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) +20.559; 14. Cesetti (I) +22.923; 15. Kunranta (FIN) +24.517.

All results on website www.cikfia.com

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Macao (China), 11th October 2009

 

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), October 2nd 2009. The International Karting is about to land in Macao for the last, important rendez-vous of the season referring to the CIK-FIA Championship titles. On this ex-Portuguese colony the Super KF World Championship of Karting it's in fact on stage from the 8th to the 11th of October, just when they are about to celebrate the tenth year since the ex-colony has entered in the Chinese Popular Republic in 1999. The top kart category without gear will see on stage all the major manufacturers and the best drivers worldwide.
The World Championship will therefore land for the first time in Asia on the permanent circuit of 1.203 mt. on the Island of Coloane, just in front of Hong Kong, where in the last years we saw an intense international activity.
Among the protagonists of this historical event we can find CRG-Maxter with all its technical equipment, its complete team led by the Belgian Jonathan Thonon who is the holder, for the third consecutive year, of the KZ1 World Cup Title. With him the five-time World Champion Davide Forè who is also the winner of the World Championships of 2004 and 2006, the French Arnaud Kozlinski who was third in the last edition of the World Cup in Suzuka and the fast driver Eddy Tinini who was also in great evidence there.

Together with the big champions of karting CRG will draw up two young and promising drivers in Macao who will compete with the new LH chassis manufactured by the Italian company and designed by the F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, assisted on track by Dino Chiesa.
The 16-years-old French driver Brandon Maisano, coming from Vallauris near Cannes, who was surprisingly but immediately winning at his debut in Super KF in the last WSK race of Zuera in Spain, and the 17-years-old British driver Oliver Rowland, from Sheffield, already holder of a KF2 World Title in 2008 will compete with the LH branded yellow-black chassis.
CRG is one of the most titled companies ever in the Roll of Honour of the World Championship of karting. The most titled driver of CRG was Danilo Rossi with 5 World titles (1990,1992 in FK and FC, 1997 and 1999). Among the drivers now competing in F1 we shall underline how Tonio Liuzzi won the 2001 World Championship with CRG.
The long weekend of Macao will start on the 8th of October with the free practices. Then on Friday free practices again, on Saturday qualification heats and on Sunday 11th the Final phase live on Eurosport TV at 2:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. in Europe).

CRG-MAXTER OFFICIAL DRIVERS
Macao, October 8th-11th 2009 - CIK-FIA World Karting Championship

5 - Davide Forè (I) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone
Brescia (I), 16/07/74. Winner of the 2008 World Cup for KF1. 1998 (FSA), 2000 (FSA), 2004 (FA) and 2006 (FA) World Karting Champion. Winner of the 2006 World Cup Super-Icc. 1994 European Formula A Champion.

15 - Oliver Rowland (GB) - LH-Maxter-Bridgestone
Sheffield (GB), 10/08/92. Winner of the 2008 World Cup for KZ2. 5th in the 2008 European KF2 Championship. 3rd in the 2008 KF2 WSK Series. 2007 British Junior Champion. 2003 and 2004 British Cadet Champion.

18 - Jonathan Thonon (B) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone
Waterloo (B), 22/10/86. Winner of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 KZ1 World Cup. 3rd in the 2009 European KZ1 Championship. 2008 European KZ1 Champion. 2002 European ICA Champion.

20 - Arnaud Kozlinski (F) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone
Bordeaux (F), 8/10/81. 3rd in the 2009 World Cup for Super KF. 2nd in the 2008 European KF1 Championship. Winner of the 2006 World Cup for FA. 2nd in the 2003 and 2004 World Championship.

43 - Brandon Maisano (F) - LH-Maxter-Bridgestone
Vallauris (F), 24/6/93. 6th in the 2009 CIK-FIA World Cup for KF2. Winner of the 2008 CIK-FIA Monaco Kart Cup for KF3. 2008 French KF3 Champion.

50 - Eddy Tinini (I) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone
Lonato (I), 14/12/85. Finalist in the 2009 CIK-FIA World Cup for Super KF at Suzuka.

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Desenzano del Garda (BS), 2nd October 2009

 

Junior Max star Ed Brand completed a double at Shenington, near Banbury last weekend (26/27 September), by adding the British Open title to his Super 1 championship victory completed earlier in the month. The event, known simply as the 'O' Plate - after the number plate bearing the letter O that is awarded to the winner - is one of British karting's most prestigious and therefore hard fought for titles."It was a dogfight all weekend," said the HRS Motorsport driver. "I really had to work hard for the win, and I did think it would end in tears a few times - but that's what makes it all the sweeter. To add the British Open to my Super 1 title is just fantastic".

The weekend had begun well for Ed - who competes on the HRS-designed CRG Dark Knight - chassis when he carved his way from 21st on the grid up to 6th place at the finish, setting the fastest lap of the race. In the following encounter, he finished 2nd but suffered a small reversal of fortune in his next two races, when he crossed the finishing line in 9th and 15th positions. Albeit that he again recorded the quickest lap in the third heat and powered his way up the order from 21st place in his last encounter.

These results were good enough to give Brand fourth place on the grid for the winner-takes-all final. A steady start saw him maintain his starting place for the first two laps, before he saw a gap and was able to move into 2nd. He trailed the leader for a further tour and briefly assumed the lead before dropping back a place. On lap 8, Ed launched his bid to put the victory beyond doubt. With a furious scrap for the remaining podium places developing behind him, Brand was able to open a gap over his nearest rival and maintain it for the rest of the race, taking the chequered flag over a second clear of the runner-up. The victory has further boosted Ed prior to his appearance at the Rotax World Finals at Sharm el-Sheik in December, where he is hoping to add the international season's biggest victory to his domestic triumphs. "I came second in the Euro Max championship and by doing so, earned my place at the World Finals. It will be the biggest race of my life so far but with the team I have behind me and the form I'm currently in, I'm going to Egypt with the aim of winning, not to make up the numbers."

 

Zuera (Spain), September 28th 2009. The sixth and second-last round of the WSK International Series was held on the International Circuit of Zuera - Spain where in the Super KF, the most performing category, we have been watching one of the most fascinating races of the season with the victory of the young French driver Brandon Maisano who has given the first success to the new LH chassis, produced by CRG and designed by the F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

All the best specialists were present on this Spanish circuit and in Super KF a young and promising driver of the International karting came into the limelight. His name is Maisano, a sixteen-years-old driver from Cannes who was at his debut in the top category. He came close to the KF2 World Championship title last week on the circuit of Alcaniz. On the same day when Hamilton dominated the F1 race in Singapore, Maisano brought for the first time to success the chassis which was born from the collaboration with the F1 Champion that also here in Spain was Maxter motorized and assisted on track by Dino Chiesa.

It was really an exciting end of the season for Maisano who is now getting ready to face the next event of the World Championship in Macao with great determination and the real chance to win the Super KF World Title too. Maisano won the race in Zuera after having been very fast during the official tests and in the Superpole where he got a sensational second best final time after excellent qualification heats where he ran as a protagonist. Maisano's success was then confirmed in the Final when the French driver was the creator of a great competitive show and finally won the battle with Gary Catt for the very first position.

To confirm the competitiveness of CRG-Maxter, which recently won the KZ1 World Cup with Jonathan Thonon, the colors of the Italian Company were completed, on the Super KF podium of Zuera, with the third place of the French Arnaud Kozlinski who made a very good race with a recovery from his initial 6th position. Thanks to this result he is now one of the major competitors of Cesetti for conquering the Super KF title in the WSK Championship which will end on November 1st in Lonato (Italy).

The new KZ1 World Champion Jonathan Thonon was among the other CRG protagonists but he made the most part of this event in Zuera in order to develop the equipment for the Super KF World Championship which will take place in Macao from October 11th. The Belgian driver was 12th at the end while Davide Forè was forced to withdraw at three laps from the finishing line when he was fighting for the first positions. The British Oliver Rowland with the other LH-Maxter kart finished 16th after having been involved in an accident at the beginning of the race.
At the same time CRG took the lead of the championship for teams and as to the special list of the Super KF Eurocup it is now leader with 132 points.

Here in Zuera the CRG colors could also celebrate the podium of KZ2 with the Belgian Rick Dreezen of CRG Holland who was third on the finish line after a long race ahead. The other CRG-Holland driver, the Dutch Jorrit Pex placed behind him. In this category Mirko Torsellini with the LH chassis of Elto Racing Team was afflicted with a series of problems and couldn't therefore express himself at his best.

In KF2 Antonio Alarcon on CRG-Maxter made a very good performance: the driver from Mallorca got a victory at the repechage race after having had a technical problem during one of the heats and in the Final he recovered up to the 20th position having started from the back lines. This foreign race was on the contrary unlucky for the Sardinian driver Giovanni Martinez who was distressed with set-up problems which stopped him from entering the final phase.

In KF3 the Rumenian Robert Visoiu has confirmed his positive trend proving to be also in this race one of the best of this category. He was forced to make the repechage due to a penalization for an early start in one of the heats but he come back easily among the finalists even having to start from the back lines, he had to be satisfied with his 29th place and couldn't therefore do better.

THE INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: "I am very happy for the first victory of our LH chassis and of course for Maisano. His race was important to gain experience with our special tires but the result came nevertheless. This is a result that shall let think over on all levels. This Super KF race was the demonstration of how even a young driver may get the maximum result, especially if he is in the condition of running at best with a good equipment. So the WSK race in Spain proved that even a young driver may win in Super KF. If a driver runs fast he will stand out immediately and it's not a question of age".

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sportive Director: "It was a great success for the CRG Group with LH chassis. We obtained a nice victory with Maisano who in spite of his young age proved to be an excellent driver with great driving skills. The LH chassis and Maxter engine have been very competitive and Maisano was able to exploit their potentialities. Good result also for Kozlinski, who could manage the result and won the third place. We are also very satisfied with what we gained in the other categories. The Super KF race was for us very useful to further develop the set-up of the equipment before the next World Championship in Macao, where we will be for sure very competitive".

Nico Carigiet, Responsible for Maxter engines: "It was a great success indeed. We came very close to the victory in the KF2 world championship last week with Maisano and there we showed the winning quality of our motors. Here in Zuera we have dominated with the same driver and the same equipment but in another category and this victory proves our competitiveness. Now we hope to be able to pick up the fruits of our work also in the World Championship in Macao".

Brandon Maisano: "I am very happy with this result which came after a good job done on the chassis and engine set-up. It's my first victory in Super KF and I'm very satisfied with the nice result that was important also for our LH chassis and our Maxter engine which were perfect in any circumstance. Last week in Alcaniz I came very close to success but then I had an accident at the last bend but this weekend everything went well. I wish to thank our team and all the CRG-Maxter staff who gave me a lot of trust. I am now very optimistic for the race in Macao but I know that there I shall give my best to be able to get a good result".

Arnaud Kozlinski: "We had a difficult start at the beginning of this Spanish weekend but we managed to tune the kart very well and in the end we have obtained the result. I wish to thank my staff therefore as they gave their best and made an excellent job. I have been gaining important points over Cesetti and the race in Lonato will be decisive for the Title. I think in fact that we both shall only fight for the title during the last WSK race".

RESULTS

Zuera (Spagna) - September 24th-27th 2009 - WSK International Series, 6th round

SUPER KF - Final: 1. Maisano (F) (LH-Maxter) 23 laps; 2. Catt (GB) +1.413; 3. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) +2.272; 4. Cesetti (I) +3.746; 5. Foster-Jones (GB) +4.741; 6. Convers (F) +4.901; 7. Bressan (I) +5.439: 8. Groman (CZ) +8.735; 9. Camponeschi (I) +12.200; 10. Domenech (E) +12.527.
Championship: 1. Cesetti points 80; 2. Kozlinski 65; 3. Maisano 47; 4. Toman 45; 5. Catt 37.
Team Championship: 1. CRG points 132; 2. Birel 126; 3. Maranello 54; 4. Tony Kart 52; 5. Kosmic 40.

KZ2 - Final: 1. Lammers (NL) 15 laps; 2. Iglesias (F) +0.090; 3. Dreezen (B) (CRG-Maxter) +0.328; 4. Pex Jorrit (NL) +3.258; 5. Jeleniowski (D) +4.018; 6. Piccioni (I) +4.551; 7. Annunziata (I) +4.567; 8. Renaudie (F) +7.550; 8. Mich (F) +9.087; 9. Ryall (GB) +9.558; 10. Puhakka (FIN) +10.866.
Championship: 1. Lammers points 152; 2. Ardigò 131; 3. Iglesias 85; 4. Dreezen 74; 5. Thonon 69.

KF2 - Final: 1. Kanamaru (J) 15 laps; 2. Lock (GB) +0.451; 3. Moller (DK) +1.165; 4. Cooper (GB) +1.489; 5. D'Agosto (I) +3.145; 6. Johansson (S) +4.370; 7. Da Luz (P) +6.793; 8. Suarez (E) +7.533; 9. Pescador (E) +8.124; 10. Curia (RA) +9.992.
Championship: 1. Cooper points 219; 2. Johansson 130; 3. Lock 127; 4. Viganò 115; 5. Grenhagen 97.

KF3 - Final: 1. De Vries (NL) 12 laps; 2. Albon (GB) +1.839; 3. Sainz (E) +3.490; 4. Machunskas (NL) +4.430; 5. Klinsby-Silver (DK) +4.830; 6. Silva (BR) +4.876; 7. Kvyat (RUS) +4.982; 8. Fioravanti (I) +5.156; 9. Gil (E) +5.700; 10. Marciello (I) +7.252.
Championship: 1. De Vries points 253; 2. Kvyat 176; 3. Sainz 175; 4. Albon 104; 5. Marciello 93.

All the results are available on the website www.wskarting.it

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Zuera (Spain), 28th September 2009

 

 

 

Alcaniz (Spain), 20th of September 2009. There is a moral winner of the KF2 World Cup that took place in Alcaniz (Spain). His name is Brandon Maisano, he is sixteen years old and he comes from Cannes. He made a great performance in Spain racing with the LH "Lewis Hamilton" chassis and the always more performing Maxter engine.
This very young French driver was the leading actor of this world event, unfortunately just till the last bend. He has been then forced to leave due to an accident caused by one of his competitors.
The excellence of Maisano and the new "LH" chassis has been shown during the whole weekend. This chassis is manufactured by CRG, the KZ1 world champion team. Moreover, Maisano has been able to conquer the pole position and to arrive first and second (twice) during the qualifying heats. Starting from the 12th position, he has been able to obtain the success in the Pre-final and to get the pole position in the Final. Maisano was the leader until one of his competitors spoiled his race causing an accident when they were close to the last bend. On top of that, this competitor was not able to win because of the three seconds of penalization that he got at the beginning of his race. What a shame! Maisano concluded with a sixth position, while he would have deserved the World title on his category together with the LH chassis that confirmed its excellent performance. The LH chassis' development and growth have been obtained thanks also to the great work made by Dino Chiesa.

The Portuguese David Da Luz with the Zanardi chassis was the winner of this extraordinary Final. This chassis is part of the CRG group, so this success could alleviate the team's regret due to the missing victory of Maisano and LH chassis. The second place on the podium has been achieved by the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne (VDK Racing team) who was racing with CRG-Maxter. His great performance in the end let him recover from the 15th position of the Prefinal.

INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: "I am very sorry for what happened during the Final, the accident that spoiled the performance of Maisano before the finishing line, when we were close to the victory. Another deserved World Championship title could have been added to the one we obtained with Thonon in KZ1 this year. We had anyway another confirmation about our new LH chassis good performances. It is extremely competitive and very fast thanks to the development achieved during its first racing season. Congratulations to Da Luz who brought our Zanardi chassis to the victory and to Vandoorne who achieved a great second place racing with CRG-Maxter for the VDK team."

RESULTS

Alcaniz (Spain) -September 17th-20th 2009
KF2 World Cup - Final:
1. Da Luz (P) 18 laps; 2. Vandoorne (B) (CRG-Maxter) +1.942; 3. Mitchell (I) +2.049; 4. Oberg (S) +2.493; 5. Tiene (I) +3.168; 6. Maisano (F) (LH-Maxter) +4.490; 7. Nortoft (DK) +4.867; 8. Chamberlain (GB) +6.222; 9. Luciani (I) +6.775; 10. Basz (PL) +8.777.

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Alcaniz (Spain), September 20th 2009

 

 

The HRS Motorsport driver had headed to Salbris fifteen points off the championship lead, knowing that he needed to produce something special if he was to stand a chance of lifting the European Junior Max title. The first glimpse he gave of what would be a dominant performance throughout the weekend, was his fastest lap in timed qualifying, when he was comfortably the quickest of the thirty-strong field. And a glimpse was all that most of his rivals would see of him for much of the event. Ed won all three of the heats to secure pole position for Sunday's pre-final.

Shortly after the start of the first race, he was leading - but suddenly found a wasp had flown up the underside of his helmet and was now trapped. Unaware of what was happening, Ed's team looked on, baffled by his desperate attempts to free the increasingly angry insect by "fiddling with his visor", as his father Mark, somewhat prosaically put it. After three nerve-wracking laps, he managed to release it and suffered no further dramas as he recovered his composure, drove to the chequered flag and take his fourth win of the weekend. Having successfully completed this first objective, the CRG driver had it all to do again in the following race. Another faultless drive saw Ed comfortably win by over two seconds - but it was just not enough for him to pip fellow Englishman Josh Webster to the title.

"I knew beforehand that I needed something of a miracle and had to win both finals, if I was to stand any chance of beating Josh in the points. I did everything that was asked of me, but it just wasn't enough," he said phlegmatically before adding, "But I'm very happy. We showed what we can do today and my other main objective was to qualify for the Rotax World Finals [at Sharm el-Sheik in December]. I've now done that, so we have a happy team, mechanic and driver." Before he can pack for the superb Ghibli Race, located near the Red Sea, Ed is bidding for victory in the final round of the British Super 1 series at PFi in Lincolnshire, this weekend [19/20 September]. "I'm leading the championship, but it will be a very close thing. The nature of the circuit [two very tight hairpins in succession] means that you have to stay out of trouble during the opening lap. My job will be to keep the kart on the tarmac and shiny side up. But after Salbris, I feel like I'm in great form, so we'll just have to see."

Sarno (Salerno), September 6th 2009. For the third consecutive CRG conquered the triumph in the KZ1 World Cup, the "queen" category of karting. The great interpreter of the most powerful shifter category was once again the top driver CRG, the Belgian Jonathan Thonon. Jonathan and CRG have once again confirmed themselves to be on the top of the karting world thanks also to the performances of the CRG engines: in fact CRG-Maxter has won the most important event of the year in the single event which took place on the Circuito Internazionale Napoli in Sarno , from the 3rd to the 6th of September 2009. It was a great demonstration of power the one carried out by Thonon and his team-mates together with all the technicians of the Italian Company who well deserved to celebrate the World title which was strongly chased and desired. Thonon’s weekend improved always more till the final apotheosis, and the Belgian driver showed his great determination and his fantastic driving ability especially with the decisive overtakings on the difficult track of Sarno where he furthermore displayed his great professionalism.

Thonon in the end conquered a well deserved success to which all his competitors had to bow. He first started the prefinal from the 9th place, then he reached the 4t place with a great comeback. Then there was a further excellent recovery in the Final where Thonon has also won with the fastest lap of the race. His team-mates made very good performances too, in spite of the final result which didn't award them for the hard work done during the weekend.

The French "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski finished 5th after having suffered for two days a strong physical debilitation, while Davide Forè and the American Gary Carlton were forced to withdraw: they were anyway protagonists since the qualifying heats including the qualification heats and the Pre-final.

The only one who wasn't able to reach the Final was Luca Tilloca, at his very first important race, due to several competitive troubles in the heats even after his brilliant qualifying heats where he reached a good 13th best time.

Unlucky race also for the British Oliver Rowland, world champion 2008 of the KF2 category, at his debut in the shifter class with the LH chassis produced by CRG. Rowland wasn't able to find the right feeling, he couldn't carry on a good qualifying session which meant always starting from the backrow, he missed the final phase only by an hair's breadth.

The KF3 World Cup which took place during the same weekend was excellent and beyond any expectation. The young Rumanian Robert Visoiu who definitely reached a very competitive level after a year of apprenticeship made a sensational performance. He started with the 8th time in the qualifying then he launched himself into the qualification heats always fighting for the first positions and he also lead the group several times. Visoiu had then an accident in Pre-final when he was among the leaders and this stopped his hopes for the victory. He ran very well in the Final recovering up to the 18th place being at the beginning in the last position. The young Finnish Matias Koykka raced very well too reaching the 16th place after recovering the 11 positions lost during the initial row which is quite common in this category.

Among the private drivers with CRG chassis in KZ1 the best results were gained by the Dutch Jorrit Pex from CRG Holland who conquered the 9th position in the final. The other Dutch Danny Bleek of Renda Motorsport arrived 17th while the Croat Kristijan Habulin of KK1 Team ended at place 22nd.

THE INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: "Thonon showed all his competitive force at the right moment. We knew we had some more margin and everything went according to our expectations. We won a World Title once again, the most important event of the season, thanks to everybody's work and to Thonon himself who made a great performance. Forè could have conquered the podium too but he had a technical problem in the Final. "Koko" raced OK but he had a physical problem on Saturday that prevented him to drive at his best. His season had started with a different engine solution, then there was the passage to the current one which is winning at the moment with the engine tuner Savard. Of course the fact of not having prepared the equipment during the first part of the season didn't help him. Gary Carlton did very well in the Pre-final before somebody crashed into him then the back lines of the Final penalized him. He was really unlucky but I saw a great Gary in the Pre-final while he was recovering positions together with Thonon and Forè. Tilloca would have conquered the Final but he was damaged by the lack of experience. His debut was anyway positive. In KF3 Visoiu made his best race of the year, finally I saw him much more confident than he was before. Koykka did well too, unfortunately due to school problems he couldn't do his test-drives before the World Championship so it was very difficult for him to run for the first time on the difficult track of Sarno. Every race of the weekend saw his improvements and therefore his performance was very positive."

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "It has been a great week-end crowned by the world title of Thonon. We achieved great satisfactions since the beginning of the event during the official heats and with the performance of Foré, Kozlinski, Carlton and Tilloca. We had to fight to bring home this title, the third title in a row for Thonon that confirms his superiority. It is a great satisfaction for the whole team. Even in KF3 everything was good, with Visoiu that showed his sportive skills improvements during his first year in the international racing season. The Romanian driver had a very good training in CRG. We are also satisfied with the performance of the Finnish Koykka."

Nico Carigiet, Responsible for Maxter engine: "We have been really satisfied with the victory of Thonon. This was a very demanding year for us. Three Maxter engines arrived among the first six positions in KZ1. This is very important also for the confidence showed by our customers."

Jonathan Thonon: "I am very happy with this results because the weekend was really hard fought. I have lost just one of the four manches, so I had to recover because I started a bit on the back in the Pre-final. I was not able to improve as I would have wanted in the Pre-final because of a crash. In the final I have started from the fourth position, but everything worked well. I have competed during the whole weekend using my mind, I was very focused in order to reach the final result. I am very happy for the team, for all the people who helped me to arrive here and for Giancarlo Tinini who is like a second father for me. I thank all the team. Actually all the elements have to be at their maximum in order to win: the team, the chassis and the Maxter engine with Tec-Sav tuning. After all CRG was the winner together with all the team."

Davide Forè: "Everything was good during the whole weekend, I was always in the first positions. During the manches I have won once and I arrived second and third. Unfortunately I have got a puncture in one manche, so I started from the back rows in the Prefinal concluding this really competitive race in the sixth position. The connecting rod got unluckily damaged during the Final so I have been forced to leave… what a shame! I am very sorry. Nevertheless I am really satisfied with my kart performance, I could have reached the podium. At the starting line in the Final there were three CRG in the first six positions, that means that the equipment is excellent. After all I am very happy anyway for Jonathan, Tinini, CRG, Maxter and all the team members."

Arnaud Kozlinski: "I did my best for the team, I tried to help Jonathan fighting with our competitors, but I was not so fast to achieve a better result of the fifth position. I am a bit disappointed because I had not the possibility to conquer the podium. Obviously I did not get the right set-up especially in the engine, despite we made a very good job in setting-up this weekend."

Gary Carlton: "I had some problems in the qualifying heats, then I did quite well during the manches. In the pre-final I recovered till the seventh position, but I have been clashed and I had to leave. In the Final I recovered again till the seventh position, then my engine got damaged. What a shame! I could have finished among the first five positions. Even if I was a bit unlucky, I am quite satisfied. The competition was at a very high level. I hope to be confirmed as official driver by CRG next year and to compete during the whole season."

Luca Tilloca: "I was not able to qualify myself for the Final stage, I am really sorry. The qualifying timing was good, but I have been spoiled in the first preliminary heat by the missing start of the driver ahead. I did well just in one manche where I have achieved the seventh position. During the other preliminary heats I had bad luck because of some other accidents. I am sorry because I am the only CRG driver who did not go beyond the qualifying heats and most of all I could not return the undertaking and the confidence showed by CRG and Maxter. I hope to have the chance to recover some time."

RESULTS

Sarno (Salerno) - September 3rd-6th 2009
KZ1 World Cup - Final:
1. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) 18 laps; 2. Iglesias (F) +0.935; 3. Lammers (NL) +2.047; 4. Nato (F) + 2.553; 5. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) +3.413; 6. Piccioni (I) +5.996; 7. Gatto (I) +7.601; 8. De Luchi (I) +9.303; 9. Pex Jorrit (NL) (CRG-Maxter) + 10.598; 10. Convers (F) +11.059.
Best lap: Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) 1:03.255.

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Sarno (Salerno), September 6th 2009

 

Desenzano del Garda (Italy), September 1st 2009. During next weekend from the 3rd to the 6th of September the world of karting will focus its attention on the "Circuito Internazionale Napoli" in Sarno (Salerno), where the most important event of the season will come on stage with the KZ1 World Cup: 76 drivers representing 14 countries will compete here with a top ranking of equipments and technicians at the highest level. During the same weekend 78 drivers of the young class will take part in the KF3 World Cup.

The KZ1 125cc shifter class, the queen category of karting, will present an excellent plateau of protagonists and first of all the CRG official team which is also holder of the last two world titles conquered by the Belgian Thonon. The CRG official team, racing with high performance Maxter engines, will line up its best drivers who will fight for the final success.

 

The forecasts are favourable for Thonon, who is definitely in great shape at the moment thanks to his brilliant victory conquered recently in Salbris and a third place at the European KZ1 in Wackersdorf. Other CRG drivers will join this World Cup such as the five times World Champion Davide Forè, the French "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski (he was recently third in the World Cup in Suzuka and was the winner in 2006) together with the very fast American driver Gary Carlton who has always been a protagonist in the international races of these last years and also the USA champion in 2006 and 2007.

Another promise of the international karting, Luca Tilloca from Alghero, will join CRG and the other four champions in KZ1: he has already shown his qualities during the European KZ2 championship this year.
The KZ1 World Championship will also be an occasion to test in such an important race the new "LH" chassis, produced and marketed by CRG, signed by the F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton. The LH chassis has already had a positive debut this year during the international events of the WSK series and the British Oliver Rowland will drive it for the race in Sarno: he was the KF2 World Champion in 2008 and McLaren is keeping an eye on him. This is anyway his first time in KZ1 World Cup and his debut with the shifter kart.

CRG-Maxter will take part in the KF3 World Cup in Sarno with the Finnish Matias Koykka - a real revelation in the European KF3 - together with the Rumenian Robert Visoiu who made his apprenticeship mainly in the international WSK Championship and in the European Championship.

Among the official drivers there will be several private drivers who will run with CRG chassis in this double world event. In the KZ1 class the CRG chassis will be the most used ones with a total of 16 drivers (19 with Maxter engines). CRG Holland will also participate in the event with the Dutch Rick Dreezen and Arjan Kievitsbosch together with the two fast brothers Jorrit and Yard Pex who were already in great evidence in the European KZ2. Other names are Nicola Nolè (European ICA champion in 2006), the Dutch Danny Bleek, Daniele Delli Compagni (a protagonist in the European KZ2), William Benedetti, the Croat champion Krisijan Habulin of KK1 Team, the Bulgarian Mishel Georgiev and the French Anthony Garbarino.

The CRG colours will be defended in KF3 also by the VDK Racing Team with the Belgian Bryan Laloux and the AKK Team with Risto Vukov from Macedonia.

Last week the whole CRG team made a two-days test on the "Circuito Internazionale Napoli" in Sarno which was useful to improve the performances before the World Cup.

Here are the comments and expectations of the CRG drivers:

Jonathan Thonon: "I want to do my best for the CRG team. We have seen how well we have raced in the recent WSK race in Salbris even against those competitors who were absolute protagonists at the beginning of the season. In these last years we have never been disappointing at the World Cup and also this time I am in a great shape for this event. I went through a two-days' test with my engine tuner Savard and everything was OK. CRG chassis and Maxter engine have had an excellent development so I am satisfied and ready to win my third title in a row."
Davide Forè: "I am quite sure that I am able to win this World Cup and therefore to repeat my success of 2006, also that time I could win the title thanks to a penalization against Thonon. I have been sharing success in these last years with my team-mate and I hope to be able to win at the end. Of course first of all we need to race, a mishap is always possible and every time is a new story. We will have four heats each and just the qualifying heats will be very important to find the right set-up."

Arnaud Kozlinski: "I was fourth last year so this time I hope to reach at least the podium. I like the circuit very much, I have already won the podium at the Super KF World Cup in Suzuka and I'd really like to enhance this season with a good podium in this KZ1 World Championship. The tests were OK and furthermore I will also avail myself of the engine tuner Savard so I trust in a good result."

Gary Carlton: "It will be certainly a difficult race but I think I will run at best. I have the potential to win and I could be able to be successful if I won't be unlucky. The whole team is supporting me and believes in me, so it's the same for me. We have the bases for that and the test in Sarno was definitely OK. Last year I started 29th and after 7 laps I was already in the 11th position, then I broke my motor. I hope his time not to have any mechanical problem. I know we can do it and I will do my best to make a good performance."

Oliver Rowland: "It's the first time that I'm driving an LH chassis with gears and also my first KZ1 World Championship. I am sure it will be a difficult event for me but I think I will do well. I have to work hard and I will try to make a good Final. Last year I won the KF2 World Cup, I'll do my best in Sarno but it will be difficult to win there."

Luca Tilloca: "This is my first World Championship. I aim at qualifying for the final phase and to get over the heats. I am very trustful but as it happened during the European championship a mishap is always possible and in that case it was a real pity because there were the conditions to obtain a very good result after the podium I had reached in the first Final in Muro Leccese. My expectation is to arrive in the Final then we will see. Certainly I hope to get a good result but I have to compete with the best drivers in the world."

CRG-MAXTER OFFICIAL DRIVERS
Sarno (I), September 3rd-6th 2009

CIK-FIA KZ1 WORLD CUP

1 - Jonathan Thonon (B) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
Waterloo (B), 22.10.86
Winner of the 2007 and 2008 KZ1 World Cup. 3rd in the 2009 European KZ1 Championship. 2008 European KZ1 Champion. 2002 European ICA Champion.

3 - Davide Forè (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
Brescia (I), 16.07.74
Winner of the 2008 World Cup for KF1. 1998, 2000, 2004 and 2006 World Karting Champion. Winner of the 2006 World Cup Super-Icc. 1994 European Formula A Champion.

4 - Arnaud Kozlinski (F) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
Bordeaux (F), 8/10/81
3rd in the 2009 World Cup for Super KF. 2nd in the 2008 European KF1 Championship. Winner of the 2006 World Cup for FA. 2nd in the 2003 and 2004 World Championship.

21 - Gary Carlton (USA) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
Marysville, California (USA), 3/5/86
2006 and 2007 USA Icc Champion. 6th in the 2007 European KZ2 Championship. 13th in the 2008 European KZ1 Championship.

48 - Oliver Rowland (GB) - LH-Maxter- Dunlop
Sheffield (GB), 10/08/92
Winner of the 2008 World Cup for KZ2. 5th in the 2008 European KF2 Championship. 3rd in the 2008 KF2 WSK Series. 2007 British Junior Champion. 2003 and 2004 British Cadet Champion.

67 - Luca Tilloca (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
Alghero (I), 27/7/87
3rd in the 2009 KZ2 Final-1 at Muro European Championship.13th in the 2009 European KZ2 Championship.

CIK-FIA KF3 WORLD CUP

111 - Matias Koykka (FIN) - CRG-Maxter-Vega
Lahela Tuusula (FIN), 23/11/94
2009 European KF3 Championship (11th)
158 - Robert Visoiu (RO) - CRG-Maxter-Vega
Pitesti (RO), 10/2/96
2009 European KF3 Championship (42th)

Time table:
Thursday September 3rd: Free Practice 8.30.
Friday September 4th: Free Practice 8.30; Qualifying Practice 14:35.
Saturday September 5th: Warm-up 9:00, Qualifying Heats 10:20.
Sunday September 6th: Warm-up 8:30; Qualifying Heats 9:30; Prefinals 14:25, Finals 15:55.

Live broadcasting of the Finals Sunday September 6th on TV RAI Sport (e.d. and sat) with link from 15:45 to 17:00.

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Desenzano del Garda (BS), 1st September 2009

 

GOODWOOD, ONTARIO – PSL Karting.com descended on the ASN/FIA Canadian National Karting Championships last weekend at Goodwood Kartways with a talent laden team. Odds on favourites had to be the Ouellette brothers. Pier Luc is Ouellette is a past World Champion in Rotax Max DD2, while Hugo has shown brilliance on occasion – matched with blazing speed. Accompaining Hugo at the podium was his good fellow and teammate Massimo Scotti. Samuel Fontaine is a driver of the future to watch. The very capable Fontaine would compete in the ultra competitive Rotax Mini Max class. Tommy Beshro rounded out the top names of the sport and he would represent the powerhouse PSL KARTING.COM team in Rotax Max Jr.

Rotax Max Senior proved to be a battle of the brothers, with PL Ouellette taking the early lead before a multi-kart crash ended his day. “It was very disappointing to end this way, but I still have DD2 to go,” said an upbeat PL. With the loss of PL, Hugo stepped up to take the lead, and he was as dominant as Michael Schumacher in his best day with Ferrari. Hugo built a substantial lead on his PSL GRG and took the checkered flag in convincing fashion. With the win, he will represent Canada at the upcoming Rotax Max World Finals.

 

“I have to thank Dominic and the whole crew from PSL Karting.com,” Hugo said after the race. “The CRG was clearly the best chassis to have here – like usual – and while it was disappointing to see my brother go out early, I am glad to be going to the World finals to represent Canada and PSL Karting.com.”

Massimo Scotti proved his driving skills been fast all week, finishing in 3rd in the final filling with this result 2 spots at the podium for the CRG PSL Team.

Samuel Fontaine powered his way to a win on his PSL CRG in the highly competitive Mini Max class, giving PSL Karting.com its second National Championship of the weekend. In Rotax Max Jr, you would be hard pressed not to have given PSL Karting's Tommy Beshro the drive of the day.

Beshro suffered in qualifying and the heats, but he managed to pass 27 karts in the prefinal and final to take third overall in the final. “That was a lot of work.” Beshro said. “My CRG was perfect for the pre-final and final, and that is why I could make it to the podium.”

 

BHPetrol.Iru1 Racing Team’s dream of its first victory was crushed at the final lap of the Asian Max Senior race when Formula BMW driver Fahmi Ilyas picked up loose debris, sending him to the wall. It was a rather strong weekend for the team, with BHPetrol.Iru1’s Micromax star Daim Hishammudin extending his lead in the championship after finishing third in Prefinal and sixth in Final. Meanwhile, 14-year old Ron Tan (Senior) climbed up strongly from 25th on the grid to finish the race in 7th place. Indonesian Aldi Rizky (Senior), a new addition to the team, finished 12th and now third in the Series.

17 year-old Fahmi Ilyas who made his debut with the team this weekend impressed everyone in the race, by winning the prefinal and was leading the Final until the very last lap of the race. However loose dirt on the track caused by another driver caught Fahmi and he lost control of the kart, sending him to the wall. Syafiq Ali, from sister-team Pacific.Iru1 Racing Team, who was running second through out the race, inherited the position and achieved the first win of the season for the “CRG works team”.

Fahmi Ilyas commented, “Firstly, I would like to thank Nik Iruwan for the opportunity to race with his team . I enjoyed the weekend very much and it could have been sweet to win the race. From the help of the team, we managed to get the right settings in the Prefinal and Final. There was a kart who skidded into the dirty side of the track and spilled some of the dirt on the the racing line. Since I was the first one to come to the corner, and it was a blind corner too, I got caught in it. It was just unfortunate but I’m happy for the team because they have done a good job”.

Fahmi Ilyas started karting back in 2006 through Iru1 Motorsports Driver Management program. Fahmi then went on to race with other teams and in 2009 moved to Formula BMW Pacific with Team E-Rain notching up his first win two months ago at the Sepang International Circuit. He was invited to race with BHPetrol.Iru1 Racing Team based on his previous relationship with Team Principal, Nik Iruwan.

Another driver who made his debut in the team at Pekan was 15 year old rookie Aldi Rizky from Indonesia. Aldi finished a commendable 12th in the race, and now leads the Indonesian Rotax Max Series and fourth in the Asian Max Series just 12 points away from leader, Mikko Nassi of KRS Motorsport.

Meanwhile, the team’s Micromax driver, 10 year old Daim Hishammudin extend his championship lead to nine points in the Asian Series after finishing third in Prefinal and sixth in Final. Daim suffered from engine problems in the Final, despite a strong weekend.

“Sister” team, Pacific.Iru1 Racing Team which is running identical CRG karts, however brought the cheer to the family after winning the Micromax class courtesy of Lukman Hakim and Senior class by Syafiq Ali. Andy Chang from Macau on CRG Dark Knight chassis brought third place for the team in the Junior class.

Both Fahmi Ilyas and Syafiq Ali was running on the latest CRG Bad Boy Chassis while Lukman Hakim was on a CRG Mini New Age chassis.

Team Principal of BHPetrol.Iru1 Racing Team, Nik Iruwan commented:

“I am very happy with the team this week, because we have moved our competitiveness to another level. It’s great to have Fahmi Ilyas with us and he was able to show the true potential of the team. It was just unfortunate in the Final but the whole team now knows that we are capable of winning and this will just make us more confident of the next race. Daim also did well over the weekend despite being away on medical reason for almost two month, and even with that, he extends his champiomship lead by nine points. Ron again proved his customary charged through the field from 25th on the grid to 7th so that’s quite a remarkable effort for a rookie. I would also like to congratulate our satellite team Pacific.Iru1 Racing for winning two of the categories and again this proved that the CRG chassis distributed by us is working perfectly!”

The championship now heads to the final round at Speedway Plus, USJ, Selangor on 15th of August 2009.

 

Salbris (France), July 26th 2009. CRG-Maxter obtains a great achievement in the 5th race of the WSK International Series that took place last weekend on the 24th-26th July at the International Circuit of Salbris, France. The Belgian driver Jonathan Thonon is the uncontested winner of the 5th race of the most famous international karting championship. Thonon was a great performer on the French track 1500 meters long and the big dominator of the "Queen class" KZ2 final race.

Thonon is the one who achieved the highest step of the podium, confirming the competitiveness of CRG chassis and Maxter engine, and Davide Forè, the other standard bearer of the Italian factory, was another great leader during the French weekend thanks to the great performances made during the heats and the conquest of the pole position.
The race of Salbris was then a CRG "All Black" appointment and confirmed the high competitiveness of the Italian factory, which is ready to compete at its best in the next very important event, the World Cup Championship in Sarno at the beginning of September.

Thonon thanks to the second place achieved in the Prefinal and first place in the Final is now the third candidate to the WSK Championship KZ2 title following Ardigò and Lammers.
So everything well for Thonon in Salbris, while Forè unfortunately had not the chance to give substance to his good results in the heats and the successful manches. The Italian driver finished the Prefinal on the 5th position, and in the Final he has been forced to leave the race due to the hard crash of a "kamikaze" competitor while he was in the first positions. Results spoiled by several accidents for the third CRG driver Arnaud Kozlinski who has been stopped at the beginning of the Final by a multiple clash that prevented him to be in the first positions.

Among the private teams drivers, an excellent fifth place was achieved by the Belgian Rick Dreezen of CRG Holland team, who once again confirmed himself to be one of the best drivers in his class.

CRG achieved good results also in the KF2 class, where the Spanish young driver Antonio Alarcon, coming from Mallorca, made a good performance and showed an interesting growth compared to the first races of the season. Alarcon achieved the 14th place at the end of the manches then he had some unfortunate events during the remaining part of the race, but he made great lap timing.

Bad luck for Niccolò Schirò and Giovanni Martinez, who have been damaged by various problems and accidents and could not join the finalist drivers of their category.

One of the new leaders in KF2 is the French Brandon Maisano with its LH Lewis Hamilton Chassis produced by CRG. Maisano achieved the 5th position at the end of the qualifying heats but he has been forced to leave the Prefinal because of some technical problem, concluding his great recovery in the Final where he achieved the 17th position.

The group of the KF3 finalists in Salbris included the very young driver Robert Visoiu. The Romanian driver concluded the repechage with an excellent 2nd place and achieved the second best timing. Visoiu has been then able to end all whole laps both the Prefinal and the Final races getting much more experience.

INTERVIEWS:

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: "This year we have been often very close to the victory, but we never had the possibility to get the right satisfaction for our work. This time everything was good. Foré achieved great results both in the heats and in the manches, and Jonathan then obtained the well deserved victory. Forè has been penalized by a wrong set-up choice made on his kart in the Prefinal. We did quite well in KF3, we have been able to qualify our young driver Visoiu. He still needs to find a bit more of "fighting spirit" in the races, but his lap timings are quite good. In KF2 we missed the result, but we are not so far away from them because our material is working well. This category penalized us because our drivers still need to make experience. On the contrary Maisano made a good performance with the LH chassis. A technical problem stopped him in Prefinal otherwise he could have obtained great results."

Omar di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "With the great performance of Thonon the CRG and Maxter team obtained a well deserved victory. Thonon made great improvements during last weekend, and his success has been obtained with no issues. Forè achieved great results during the whole weekend showing his driving skills, while Kozlinski is having quite good results with the engine development. Maisano did well in KF2, despite his technical problem occurred in Prefinal. Alarcon made great changes since the beginning of the year, we really trust in his possibilities. Schirò and Martinez had on the contrary several problems. I am very happy for Visoiu because he is finding the right space inside our team, in Salbris he obtained the qualifications for the Final, and this is very important for us."

Jonathan Thonon (KZ2): "I had a small technical problem during the qualifying heats, so I had to recover some positions during the manches. After having achieved the 2nd place in the Prefinal, we introduced some changes on the chassis so that I have been then able to overcome both Ardigò and Iglesias. I conquered the leadership from the second lap and I have not had any kind of problem. This is my first success of the season, I was not so lucky this year but this race was perfect. I am very happy with the team, my mechanic, the CRG chassis and Maxter engine. It is difficult to express all the great emotions that I felt when the checkered flag sanctioned my victory in such an important race. I would like to underline that this success is not just mine, but it is the success of a the team and the good working system. For this reason I want to thank all the people who helped me to achieve this great result, starting from Giancarlo Tinini".

Davide Forè (KZ2): "In the Final I was very close to the third and second drivers, after having overtaken Lammers. Unfortunately a driver run into me and when I had the possibility to start again I realized I was in the last position. I did well during the heats and the manches, then I have changed the kart set-up in the Prefinal, hoping to improve even more, but I was wrong. In the Final I made some further changes and in this way my chassis worked much better. I am sorry for the final result because together with Thonon we could have obtained a great team result. In any case I am very happy for Jonathan and CRG, this means that we are ready for the World Cup."

Arnaud Kozlinski (KZ2): "I have been stopped by the group of karts after 2 bends immediately after the Final race start. I am very disappointed about this result. I hope to be more lucky very soon."

Antonio Alarcon (KF2): "My weekend was quite positive. Apart from an accident, I did well during the manches. Unfortunately when I was tenth in Pre-final the competitors ran into me and, the same happened in the Final. Despite these accidents, I am very satisfied about the competitiveness expressed in the race, Maxter engine is working very well."

Giovanni Martinez (KF2): "It has been a very unlucky weekend, we had problems since the beginning because we had not the proper time to test due to the bad weather conditions. For this reason we had problems in finding the right set-up in the qualifying heats, so it was difficult to recover positions during the manches due to the several contacts. In the repechage race I have been collided by a competitor and that ended over my last opportunity to join the final stage."

Niccolò Schirò (KF2): "I had some problems since the beginning of the weekend, therefore everything has been quite difficult. I have finished all the manches but I was not very satisfied with the results. Then I have been involved in an accident during the repechage race so I had to leave the race."

RESULTS

KZ2 - Final: 1. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) 17 laps; 2. Ardigò (I) + 3.056; 3. Iglesias (F) +5.971; 4. Lammers (B) +8.355; 5. Dreezen (B) (CRG-Maxter) +8.746; 6. Renaudie (F) +9.437; 7. Puhakka (FIN) +9.907; 8. Catt (GB) +10.927; 9. Piccioni (I) +11.396; 10. Convers (F) +11.696.
KZ2 Championship: 1. Ardigò (I) points 131; 2. Lammers (B) 107; 3. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) 69; 4. Renaudie (F) 63; 5. Dreezen (B) (CRG-Maxter) 45; 6. Iglesias (F) 40; 7. Laudato (I) 35; 8. Puhakka (FIN) 34; 9. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) 32; 10. Mich (F) e Hawksworth (GB) 30.

KF2 - Final: 1. Johansson (S) 17 rounds; 2. Cooper (GB) +0.626; 3. Beretta (I) +1.587; 4. Lock (GB) +2.528; 5. Hauke (D) +2.748; 6. Basz (PL) +4.972; 7. Da Luz (P) +5.391; 8. Grenhagen (S) +6.223; 9. Luka (B) +7.288; 10. Giovinazzi (I) +7.865.
KF2 Championship: 1. Cooper (GB) points 195; 2. Viganò (I) 111; 3. Johansson (S) 100; 4. Grenhagen (S) 96; 5. Lock (GB) 95; 6. Basz (PL) 70; 7. Beretta (I) 68; 8. Smarrazzo (I) 57; 9. Tiene (I) 50; 10. Luka (B) 44.

KF3 - Final: 1. De Vries (NL) 14 rounds; 2. Sainz (E) +1.479; 3. Hoevenaars (NL) +2.325; 4. Walsh (GB) +2.862; 5. Marciello (I) + 3.630; 6. Dennis (GB) +4.761; 7. Davey (NL) +8.194; 8. Albon (GB) +8.506; 9. Kvyat (RUS) +9.191; 10. Hoshino (J) +9.379.
KF3 Championship: 1. De Vries (NL) points 188; 2. Kvyat (RUS) 167; 3. Sainz (E) 140; 4. Hoevenaars (NL) 88; 5. Marciello (I) 87; 6. King (GB) 82; 7. Silva (BR) 71; 8. Albon (GB) 66; 9. Jaminet (F) 45; 10. Dennis (GB) e Barrabeig (E) 41.

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Salbris (France), July 26th 2009

 

TROIS-RIVIERES, QC (July 16, 2009) – PSL Karting had a busy three weeks to end the month of June and begin the month of July. A trip to New Jersey for the second round of the Championship Karting International series was followed quickly by a long journey down to the island of Jamaica for the running of the Caribbean Karting Carnival. The three week stint completed with a trip north of the PSL Karting base in Trois-Rivieres to the Grand Prix of Shawinigan. The PSL/CRG combination visited the podium at all three events with numerous drivers taking home the hardware.

At the CKI Grand Prix of New Jersey at the New Jersey Motorsports Park, Leesmann was joined by Critical Zone Racing’s Sabre Cook from Grand Junction, Colorado under the PSL tent. Leesmann was contesting his first race since the end of the Florida Winter Tour in March and spent most of the practice days shaking the rust off. Posting the third quickest lap in qualifying, Leesmann stepped up his game in the heat races to run second in each of the three runs. Starting outside row one for the Prefinal, Leesmann pressured the leader early but would lose ground in the closing stages. Again putting the pressure on, Leesmann looked stronger in the feature however fatigue would set in and would have to settle for the runner-up spot in his CKI debut.

Cook was like Leesmann, visiting the NJMP facility for the first time in her CKI debut. Most of her practice was spent learning and adjusting to the very technical 1.03-mile circuit. Toward the end of the heat races, her lap times were improving despite engine issues however a mechanical problem forced her out of the third heat early. Starting near the tail of the field in the Prefinal, Cook stepped up the pace once again and was battling just outside the top-10, finishing 11th. Avoiding the early carnage of the main event, Cook would run her best laps of the weekend toward a solid ninth place finish.

The following weekend, PSL Karting shipped a number of karts to the island of Jamaica for the Caribbean Karting Carnival with the Jamaica Karting Association at the Palisadoes International Raceway in Kingston. Leesmann dominated the ICC category, taking home victory in both feature events while Canadian Oliver Sirois recorded finishes of second and third. Florida PSL driver Jesus Rios Jr. also took home two wins contesting the Rotax Junior division. Homestead Karting and CRG Road Rebel driver Carlos Duenas scored victory in the Rotax Senior division. Local driver Thomas Issa and Dominican Diego Barkhausen represented the PSL squad in the Mini Max division aboard the new CRG ‘Big Al’ Cadet chassis. Issa took home victory while Barkhausen endured a tough event but enjoyed the event.

This past weekend, PSL Karting geared up for the upcoming Monaco de Trois-Rivières with the fourth round of the Coupe de Quebec at the Grand Prix of Shawinigan. PSL Karting scored four victories, led by Sirois and Rios Jr. Both returning from a successful trip to Jamaica, Sirois led a PSL/CRG sweep in the Rotax Senior division as he was joined by Elie Arsenault and Etienne Lasalle on the podium. Rios took the Rotax Junior victory by nine-seconds, noted as probably the best performance of the event. Daniel Nadeau posted the fast lap in Rotax Masters en route to victory, joined by Michel Legrand on the podium in the third position. Alexandre Gauthier matched Nadeau’s performance in the Honda division with the fast lap and win in the main event. Vincent Roy and Alexandre Fortin added more podium finishes for PSL in the Cadet and Min Max categories while many others recorded top-10 finishes.

The PSL crew will now gear toward the upcoming Monaco de Trois-Rivières, set for July 24-26 in the streets of the major city. Many of the United States drivers and other pilots of other nationalities will be joining the CRG team for what is becoming the largest and most popular street race in Canada.

 

 

Zuera (Spain), July 12th 2009. The KF3 European Championship Final took place on the Spanish circuit of Zuera during the super hot weekend of July 11th-12th together with the second race of the Super KF European Championship. In this last category there was no official participation of CRG and the other major manufacturers as it already happened in the race of Muro Leccese.
CRG-Maxter took part in KF3 with its two drivers qualified in the selection of Sosnova (CZ), the Polish Jakub Dalewski and the Rumanian Robert Visoiu, while the young Finnish Matias Koykka obtained his qualification during the North European selection of Genk, Belgium. It was Koykka who reached then the best result for the CRG colours.

After the qualification heats, Koykka was able to obtain the 11th position in the Prefinal recovering from a starting 31st position, and he got the same good result in the Final fighting with the best "top ten" from the first half of the race. The young Finnish driver reached therefore a good level of competitiveness at his first race with the CRG official team.

Dalewski and Visoiu had some problems in the qualification heats that prevented them from making the final, the fastest between them was Visoiu who always finished from the 16th to the 18th position in the four heats, always starting from the back rows due to a performance not at the top in the qualifications.
The very fast driver Nyck De Vries conquered the KF3 championship with full merit, dominating the whole weekend and bringing therefore to victory the Zanardi chassis produced by CRG and marketed by Chiesa Corse which with Dino Chiesa also provided the track support to the new KF3 European Champion.

In Super KF we can note the excellent competitive growth of the new LH Lewis Hamilton chassis, produced and marketed by CRG. The British Oliver Rowland, who also had the assistance on the track of Dino Chiesa, made in fact a great performance. Starting from the official tests Rowland was close to the pole position with just one thousand of second from the French Renaudie, then in the qualification heats the British driver was able to conquer his first victory of the season.

In the first of the two Finals he confirmed his competitiveness gaining the third step of the podium and recording also the fastest lap during the race. In the Final Rowland was leading the group since half race but in the last lap he lost his leadership in favour of the Finnish Vainio (Maranello-Maxter).
With his third place in race-1 and the second place in race-2 Rowland has anyway the chance to fight for the Championship, being now at only 23 points from the top of the classification.
The third and last round of the Super KF which will take place in Essay, France, on the 2nd of August together with the KF2 Final, will also decide for the European Title of this category.

THE INTERVIEW

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: "The KF3 European Final was very positive with the Dutch De Vries who won the title with our Zanardi chassis. He showed his value during the whole season with the support of Chiesa Corse and he confirmed himself to be the driver to beat in this category. With regards to CRG the technical result was quite good, the timings on the lap were OK and only the lack of experience of our drivers prevented us from getting good results for the classification. Visoiu made a good performance, and in particular Koykka really impressed us, he was the real surprise of the weekend. Only some tactical race errors in the Final have not allowed him go over the 11th place. Rowland was one of the protagonists of the Super KF weekend which confirmed the excellent work done with the LH chassis. We have made a good development both on the chassis and on the Maxter engine, so we have obtained the result that we were looking for".

Press Office C.R.G. S.p.A.
Zuera (Spain), July 12th 2009

 

Wackersdorf (Germany), 28th June 2009. Jonathan Thonon's smile on the podium of Wachersdorf was a beautiful reward for the whole CRG official team which was a real protagonist of the important race in Germany for the European KZ1 Championship. CRG-Maxter got in fact an excellent performance on the whole during the international event of the last 28th of June which was a single-race after the cancellation of the first one in Mariembourg. Once more the Team could prove the winning quality of its own chassis and the competitiveness of Maxter motors, especially in view of the KZ1 World Championship of September 6 in Sarno.

The "three diamond points" of CRG - the 2008 European Champion and twice World Champion of KZ1 Jonathan Thonon, the five times World Champion Davide Forè and the 2006 World Cup winner "Koko" - showed to be very fast at any occasion fighting for victory until the end. The three official CRG drivers were in great evidence since the qualification heats reaching in fact the first five positions being also grouped in just 2 tenths of seconds, with Thonon at only 14 thnds. from the pole. Thonon was in great shape indeed and was an absolute protagonist of the weekend during which he could win a well deserved third place without giving up fighting till the end, as it was in his fiery duel with Nato, wheel against wheel.

Forè was in great evidence too: he has run a good race in the Final getting a fifth place after a progression from the 11th position in the Prefinal. Kozlinski loitered a little bit claiming a problem at the gearbox when the race was about to finish. The French driver ended on 11th position after having been among the leaders on the head in the first part of the race.

Disappointing in its development was, on the contrary, Luca Tilloca's weekend where the CRG official driver in this European Championship was a candidate for the KZ2 title after the podium he had got in the previous race of Muro Leccese. He had the best time in the qualifying practice but some problems have penalized the driver from Alghero either in the official race as in the first qualification heat. He could anyway get the qualification for the final phase with a series of excellent comebacks in the other heats but his dream of yearning for the title was broken in the Prefinal, where he was involved in an accident. He was then definitively out of the race after another accident while he was recovering in the Final.

Mirko Torsellini with LH Lewis Hamilton chassis assisted by Elto Racing team and Leonardo Fuoco of Montera Racing team didn't get the qualification for the KZ2 final phase. These two drivers have anyway the comfort of having acquired the right to participate to the KZ1 World Cup of Sarno which is in programme next September.
As for CRG private teams' drivers, in KZ1 there were excellent performances by CRG Holland, with the Dutch Arjan Kievitsbosch on 9th position and the Belgian Rick Dreezen tenth, whereas the latter made also the fastest lap in Prefinal.
Much in evidence were CRG colours also in KZ2 in the second and decisive trial for the European Championship of the junior category. It was CRG Holland to prevail here with two very young drivers, the Dutch brothers Pex, in growth and particularly competitive in this crucial part of the season. It was Jorrit Pex, 16 years old, the youngest of them, to jump on the podium in both Finals: he was third in race-1 then very good second in race-2. Yard Pex was a protagonist in the first trial in Muro Leccese last 19th of April but here in Wackersdorf he was 7th in race-1 and 6th in race-2.

Nice performance too by Daniele Delli Compagni from Teramo assisted by Galiffa Team who was good fifth in the second Final after his progression from the 14th position of race-1 and mainly from the qualification heats where he only ended 32nd due to a series of mishaps.
The Croatian Kristijan Habulin of KK1 Team also ran well finishing 7th and 9th in the two Finals.

Classifications. European KZ1 & KZ2 Championships, Wackersdorf (D), 25th-28th June 2009
KZ1 Final: 1. Lammers (NL) 25 laps; 2. Iglesias (E) +0.367; 3. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) +4.281; 5. Ardigò (I) +4.876; 5. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) +5.922; 6. Knopper (NL) +6.300; 7. Piccini (I) +6.633; 8. Nato (F) +7.192; 9. Kievitsbosch (NL) (CRG-Tm) +7.664; 10. Dreezen (B) (CRG-Maxter) +8.477; 11. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) +10.055; 12. Renaudie (F) +10.357; 13. Cesetti (I) +12.137; 14. Geurts (NL) +12.409; 15. Convers (F) +15.222.
KZ2 Final-1: 1. Lombardo (I) 21 laps; 2. De Luchi (I) +3.977; 3. Pex Jorrit (NL) (CRG-Tm) +4.109; 4. Piccoli (I) +4.233; 5. Meindorfer (D) +5.745; 6. Pex Yard (NL) (CRG-Tm) + 6.129; 7. Habulin (HR) +6.264; 8. Van Asseldonk (NL) +8.896; 9. Zanchetta (I) +9.431; 10. Ferri (I) +10.463.
KZ2 Final-2: 1. Lombardo (I) 21 laps; 2. Pex Jorrit (NL) (CRG-Tm) +2.861; 3. De Luchi (I) +3.750; 4. Piccoli (I) +7.722; 5. Delli Compagni (CRG-Tm) +9.751; 6. Zanchetta (I) +10.456; 7. Pex Yard (NL) (CRG-Tm) +10.995; 8. Meindorfer (D) +11.384; 9. Habulin (HR) (CRG-Maxter) +11.688; 10. Hauenstein (D) +12.295.
KZ2 Championship: 1. Lombardo (I) points 63; 2. Hayek (CZ) p. 53; 3. Piccoli (I) p. 53; 4. De Luchi (I) p. 44; 5. Pex Jorrit (NL) (CRG-Tm) p. 36; 6. Pex Yard (NL) (CRG-Tm) p. 28; 7. Ferri (I) p. 26; 8. Cane (I) p. 22; 9. De Conto (I) p. 21; 10. Hawksworth (GB) p. 19; 11. Meindorfer (D) p. 19; 12. Zanchetta (I) p. 17; 13. Tilloca (I) (CRG-Maxter) p. 16; 14. Habulin (HR) (CRG-Maxter) p. 16; 15. Delli Compagni (I) (CRG-Tm) p. 14.

THE INTERVIEWS

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "In KZ1 we have had a great Thonon who was fighting till the end. In fact he was great in several occasions so that he deserved the podium. Forè made an excellent race too. Unfortunately he was slowed down by some contacts during the race itself, both in the heats and in the Final, otherwise he could also get the podium. Kozlinski claimed a technical problem at the gearbox and that's why he wasn't able to do his best when the race was about to end. We are sorry for Tilloca in KZ2 where he was penalized by human error, otherwise thanks to his strong competitiveness he could yearn to a good position in classification. In both Finals he was penalized by a series of accidents in which he was involved against his will."

Jonathan Thonon, driver: "I am really very happy for this result because a podium at the European Championship, although in a single race, is a good thing indeed. I could probably do better running the first round in Mariembourg, my home circuit, but it was not so it's okay anyway. This was a fantastic result for me, it was important to get the podium and that's what I did. Now we need to work harder if we want to win a World Championship."

Davide Forè, driver: "I think I have run a good race in the Final. It was a pity for the tyre problem in the Prefinal compromising therefore my position. I made an excellent comeback in the Final, overtaking many drivers in the middle of the bends where the chassis was super. I wish to thank CRG and my mechanics as well as the whole technical staff, Maxter and the preparer Mr Patrick Savard for all the assistance provided. We have had a great result and I think this year too we will be up to the situation for the World Cup in Sarno: another little progress will do."

Arnaud Kozlinski, driver: "I was coming back up to place eight but the gear jumped away ten laps from the finish. It was difficult then to keep the pace of the leaders. I could probably recover some other position without this problem."

Luca Tilloca, driver: "My weekend started very well driving fast in the qualifying practice. Then I had several mishaps that forced me to start from the back-line in the heats. It was hard to climb up again but at the end I was able to get the qualification for the final phase. Then I was hit by some other competitors either in the Prefinal as in the Final so my European Championship ended this way. A real pity because I had the right step to win. Now I hope to do better in the World Cup."

Press Office
CRG SpA
Wackersdorf (Germany), 28th June 2009

 

 

Trolley travelling bag: two main spaces with "U" shaped upper opening and foldaway handle, reinforced handle and shoulder belt, black colour, Nylon 840D fabric. Measures: 75x48x33cm

 

 

Desenzano del Garda (Italy), June 23rd 2009. The appointment with the international karting will be back on stage this weekend with the European Championship KZ1 and KZ2, the 125cc shifter classes.
The race, which is particularly important as it will award the European title in both classes, will take place on the "Prokart Raceland" Circuit of Wackersdorf, Germany, 160 km north from Munich.
It will be a single event for the "top class" KZ1 with 47 pilots on the starting grid representing the major manufacturers, while the second appointment with the KZ2 after the race in Muro Leccese of April 19th will see the participation of 101 drivers.

The CRG official team, holder of the KZ1 European title won last year by the Belgian Jonathan Thonon, will take part to this event with all its technical and sporting potential to be able to confirm its leadership in this category. The 2008 champion Thonon will defend the colours of the Italian factory in KZ1 , as usual with the number 1, together with the several times world champion Davide Forè and the French "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski who is also looking for another prestigious victory to be added to his 2006 World Cup Title in Formula A.

The CRG Holland team will also compete with the fast Belgian driver Rick Dreezen, together with the other specialist of the shifter category, the Dutch Arjan Kievitsbosch.
In KZ2 the CRG-Maxter efforts will be focused on the fast driver from Sardinia Luca Tilloca, who was a great protagonist in the first round of the championship in Muro Leccese and among the major pretenders to the title. In that occasion the driver from Sardinia, assisted by CRG and by the official team for Sardinia "Team Erebus" with its president Giuseppe Saro, ran a marvellous first final reaching the podium with a good third place, but in the second final he was forced to withdraw for a technical problem just while he was about to get a certain victory.
In spite of this mishap, Tilloca has the potential to fight for the European title and to win it in Wackersdorf.
In fact according to the regulations, the final classification will be determined by the 80% of the best results obtained in the four races of the championship. So nothing is barred for him, on the contrary the CRG pilot is strongly determined to reach this great result.

Mirko Torsellini will race in KZ2 with his LH Lewis Hamilton chassis, produced and marketed by CRG. The young pilot from Siena was not very lucky in the European Championship round in Muro Leccese but he was the protagonist of a good qualification heat. His aim is first of all to make experience but also to take part in the finals and to obtain a prestigious place.
As to the private teams, lots of drivers will race with the CRG chassis in KZ2. The Dutch Jorrit and Yard Pex and Symen Wiggers with CRG Holland as well as Georg Vann from Estonia and the Italians Leonardo Fuoco (Montera Racing), Maurizio Giacchetti, Andrea Tonoli and Giacomo Superti (BTR), the French William Benedetti, Kristijan Habulin (KK1) from Croatia, the German Kevin Illgen (DMV), the Spanish Antonio Garcia and the Swiss Heinz Fröhlich.

The race program of Wackersdorf foresees free practices on Thursday June 25th, qualifying on Friday June 26th from 2.25 p.m., 15 qualifying heats for KZ1 and KZ2 on Saturday the 27th with a further repechage in KZ1. Three qualifying heats will take place on Sunday June 28th, then Pre-finals and Finals on the same day starting from 1.15 p.m.
The results will be published live on the web site www.cikfia.it


CRG-MAXTER OFFICIAL DRIVERS participating in the European KZ1 & KZ2 Karting Championship, Wackersdorf (D), June 25th-28th 2009.

KZ1
1 - Jonathan Thonon (B) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
3 - Davide Forè (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
4 - Arnaud Kozlinski (F) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop

KZ2
140 - Luca Tilloca (I) - CRG-Maxter-Dunlop

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Desenzano del Garda (BS), June 23rd 2009

 

 

Ed Brand produced two superb performances to win the latest round of the British Super 1 kart championship and put himself at the top of the leaderboard. The Coles Racing star scored a brace of victories at the demanding Buckmore Park circuit in Kent last weekend (13/14 June) to propel him from fifth position into the overall championship points lead, with three rounds remaining. Timed qualifying went satisfactorily enough for Ed after he recorded the fifth fastest time - just nine hundredths of a second down on the pole-position setting time. In his first heat, a crash dropped him from fourth to twenty fourth and needed a great recovery drive to carve his way back up the order to a creditable eighth place at the finish.

In the following encounter, he settled for second place to secure fourth place on the grid for the first of Sunday's two points-scoring finals. By the end of the first lap of the final, Ed was up to second and pressing for the lead. Two laps later, he moved to the front and began to edge away from the chasing pack. "I got up to the leader, passed him and away I went," he commented afterwards. "It was hard work though. To lead for 21 laps, keep my concentration and not make any mistakes wasn't easy."

This approach saw him win by over seven seconds from his closest pursuer, team-mate Spencer Barrow - although Ed modestly acknowledged that he was helped when the drivers, then in second and third place, collided. Leading the field from pole position for the grand final, he benefited from having clear air ahead of him and made an excellent start. "I got through the first few corners and then got my head down and chased my own shadow all the way to the chequered flag." He added, "Winning is the best way I can thank all the people who support me and make my racing possible. To take two victories over a quality field and at such a tough circuit is always special and I'd like to thank Mike and Adrian at Coles and Tristram and Nigel at HRS Motorsport for their fantastic help and efforts throughout the weekend

Genk (Belgium), June 14th 2009. The fourth round of the WSK International Series, run on the Genk circuit on June 14th 2009, was also the first race abroad after the three ones held in Italy in Muro Leccese, Sarno and Castelletto. It was a hard but productive race especially considering the technical development of CRG-Maxter before the next international events. The Belgian race was particularly difficult because of the track conditions, which was rather slippery due to the dust coming from the cross-track nearby but also to the strange weather conditions which suddenly passed from very hot Friday and Saturday to a cold and rainy Sunday of the finals.

In this fourth round together with the KF2 and KF3 categories there was also the professional KZ2 class and the official CRG-Maxter team was on track with its best top drivers such as the Belgian Jonathan Thonon, the French "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski and the several times world champion Davide Forè.
They were all extremely motivated and gave every time their best, enhancing this way the quality of CRG chassis and Maxter engines but the rain transformed the final phase in a real "lottery".

The best result for the CRG colours was reached by Forè who obtained a 6th place both in the Prefinal and in the Final at the end of a series of great duels.
The difficult race conditions have also been confirmed by the home driver, the Belgian Rick Dreezen of CRG-Holland, who was the most favourite driver after having won all the three qualification heats on a dry track but he was then forced to withdraw in the final after his 12th position in the pre-final.

Thonon was also a leading player in the qualification heats coming close to the pole at only 50 hundredths of seconds from the best time. In the heats he could easily get a victory in two races becoming one of the most important candidates for the final success.
Unfortunately the Prefinal was characterized by several accidents and track going-outs so that the Belgian pilot ended only 17th. Thonon made a great progression in the Final while the track was getting dry, but at only three laps from the finishing line he was forced to withdraw for a technical problem when he was in 5th position. Bad luck also for Kozlinski in the Final, although the French driver was able to gain a good 7th place in the Prefinal despite the difficult track conditions. The other CRG private teams' pilots, the Dutch Yard and Jorrit Pex of CRG-Holland finished respectively 10th and 13th.

In KF2 both the CRG-Maxter drivers Niccolò Schirò and Giovanni Martinez did not manage to qualify. Schirò had and accident problem as well as Martinez who was penalized for a going-out on track during a qualification heat. He got then an 11th place in the repechage while Schirò ran up against another accident. It was an unlucky race also for Rick Nadin of the private team VDK Racing from Luxembourg who had to give up in both KF2 finals after some good qualifying heats.
Very positive debut in KF2 for the 16-year-old Brandon Maisano from Cannes with the LH Lewis Hamilton chassis. The young French promising driver was driving for the first time a CRG chassis with the assistance on track of Dino Chiesa team and he was immediately a protagonist in the official heats reaching the second best time at only 10 hundredths from the pole. He got then a third and 5th place in the heats but in the final phase he had to start from a back row because of an accident during another heat. He recovered up to the 17th place in the Final. On the whole it was an excellent performance for Maisano which also confirmed the competitiveness of LH chassis and Maxter engines.
Mirko Torsellini raced in KZ2 with the LH colours too but he was assisted by the team of Elto Racing. A series of problems in the heats forced the driver from Siena to run the repechage race. Here he was greatly recovering but an accident definitively stopped him from an access into the final phase.
The KF3 class was here represented by the official CRG team drivers, the Polish Jakub Dalewski and the Rumenian Robert Visoiu: this Belgian race was anyway very difficult for them because of the many and continuous accidents which characterized the races of this youngsters category. In fact both drivers have been several times involved in the accidents of the qualification heats having then to run the dangerous repechage.
They then had further problems in this race so Dalewski wasn't able to get a better place than his 12th while Visoiu was forced to withdraw for an accident.

THE INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: "On the whole the performances of our karts and drivers were very satisfying as to KF2 on Saturday, both in the trials and in the qualification heats. Unfortunately the rain on Sunday changed the values on the field and certainly we could have obtained different results if the weather conditions would have been the same as the day before. The slippery asphalt caused several troubles too with a lot of contacts during the race. I would like to underline the good performance of Brandon Maisano in KF2 who was immediately able to run at his best since the beginning of the race with the LH chassis and Maxter engine. This WSK round in Genk was anyway very useful for us for a further development of our equipment in view of the European KZ1 and KZ2 of Wackersdorf at the end of June and the Final of the European Championship KF3 in Zuera in mid July".

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "In KF3 and KF2 our pilots ran into several accidents and couldn't therefore get the results they were fighting for. Visoiu made a good progress in KF3 and was more aggressive than in the past. Dalewski was involved in accidents after two good heats and the same happened to Schirò and Martinez in KF2. Now the drivers have acquired enough experience to face as best as possible the rest of the season. In KZ2 we were the protagonists in the trial and in the qualification heats but we were penalized in the final phase because of the changing weather conditions and a technical problem for Thonon. Forè was the only one to reach a good result even if the track was drying up while he was running the Final with a wet ready chassis instead of a dry one, as it should have been in that particular moment".

Classifications

KZ2: 1. Ardigò (I); 2. Laudato (I) + 8.101; 3. Mich (F) + 8.215; 4. Cesetti (Birel) + 9.977; 5. Renaudie (F) + 10.844; 6. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) + 12.286; 7. Puhakka (FIN) + 13.603; 8. Bressan (I) + 16.979; 9. Hawksworth (GB) + 20.901; 10. Pex Yard (NL) (CRG-Tm) + 21.465; 11. Piccini (Intrepid) + 23.099; 12. De Conto (I) + 24.423; 13. Pex Jorrit (NL) (CRG-Tm) + 26.109; 14. Geurts (NL) + 28.138; 15. Schoonderwaldt (D) + 32.959 … 18. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) + 3 laps; 28. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) + 14 laps; 30. Dreezen (B) (CRG-Maxter) + 17 laps; 33. Habulin (HR) (CRG-Maxter) + 19 laps.
KZ2 Championship: 1. Lammers (B) points 85; 2. Ardigò (I) 81; 3. Renaudie (F) 50; 4. Laudato (I) 35; 5. Hawksworth (GB) 30; 6. Dreezen (B) 28; 7. Mich (F) e Cesetti (I) 25; 9. Forè (I) 24; 10. Puhakka (FIN) 21.

KF2: 1. Cooper (GB); 2. Rossler (S) + 2.100; 3. Moller (DK) + 2.919; 4. Lock (GB) + 4.655; 5. Grenhagen (S) + 5.713; 6. Johansson (S) + 6.622; 7. De Ridder (F) + 10.113; 8. Giovinazzi (I) + 12.535; 9. Beretta (I) + 12.801; 10. Goff (GB) + 13.420; 11. Taylor (GB) + 14.783; 12. Hauke (D) + 19.051; 13. Smarrazzo (I) + 19.269; 14. Lynn (GB) + 21.072; 15. Zimin (RUS) + 23.305.
KF2 Championship: 1. Cooper (GB) points 155; 2. Viganò (I) 109; 3. Grenhagen (S) 84; 4. Lock (GB) 72; 5. Smarrazzo 57; 6. Basz (PL) 54; 7. Tiene (I) 48; 8. Rossler (S) 43; 9.Taylor (GB) 37; 10. Goff (GB) 36.

KF3: 1. Hoevenaars (NL); 2. Silva (BR) + 2.631; 3. King (GB) + 3.644; 4. Abreu (P) + 7.038; 5. Sirotkin (RUS) + 7.757; 6. Barrabeig (E) + 8.607; 7. Albon (GB) + 9.945; 8. Sainz (E) +10.826; 9. Walsh (GB) + 14.542; 10. Helias (F) + 16.192; 11. Dennis (GB) + 16.289; 12. Pakari (FIN) + 19.884; 13. Kvyat (RUS) + 24.401; 14. Elkerbout (NL) + 25.345; 15. Fioravanti (I) + 26.019.
KF3 Championship: 1. Kvyat (RUS) points 150; 2. De Vries (NL) 135; 3. Sainz (E) 95; 4. King (GB) 82; 5. Marciello (I) 72; 6. Hoevenaars (NL) 67; 7. Albon (GB) 57; 8. Silva (BR) 48; 9. Barrabeig (E) 41; 10. Jaminet (F) 35.

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Genk (Belgium), June 14th 2009

 

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), June 10th 2009. The fourth WSK International Series race will be run next weekend in Genk, Belgium. After the first three rounds held in Italy, in Muro Leccese, Sarno and Castelletto, the most representative international championship of the European scene is just starting its series of European races that will also be run in France and Spain.

The whole CRG-Maxter official team will take part in all the three categories run on the circuit of Genk, which is about 90 km. East-way from Bruxelles. Together with the main class, the KZ2, the Belgian appointment of the series will see the KF2 and KF3 drivers fighting for the victory. CRG will take part in this important appointment with its fantastic “trident” of drivers: the Belgian Jonathan Thonon, the French “Koko” Arnaud Kozlinski and the Italian Davide Forè. These three pilots have just returned from the World Cup race in Suzuka, Japan, where the Italian team achieved a good podium with Kozlinski. Now, in full season, the CRG - Maxter team will line up its drivers who are totally motivated to carry on the positive trend aiming at the victory.

Other private pilots will compete with the CRG colours: the CRG-Holland team with its excellent Belgian driver Rick Dreezen, together with the Dutch Yard and Jorrit Pex, the Spanish Fulgencio Garcia will with the team Jamkart of Tenerife and Krisijan Habulin from Croatia with the KK1 Team.

This race is also the comeback for the 15-years-old Mirko Torsellini after his brilliant debut in Formula Azzurra with his second place in Vallelunga, where he was assisted by Elto Racing Team. In Genk Mirko will race with his LH “Lewis Hamilton” chassis, the new CRG brand. With the brand new LH chassis, we should also point out the debut of the talented young French driver Brandon Maisano in the KF2 category, who will use from now on the new chassis for the team managed by Dino Chiesa.

Niccolò Schirò from Milan, who is in a strong agonistic growth at the moment, will also take part in KF2 with the CRG colours together with Giovanni Martinez from Sardinia, who wants to redeem his unlucky race in the qualifications of the European Championship in Sosnova. The two Belgian Damien Dupont and Stoffel Vandoorne are also enrolled with the VDK Team together with Rick Nadin from Luxemburg. The French Vincent Fraisse with Jamkart Team will be racing too.

Some young drivers such as the polish Jakub Dalewski, who recently made excellent performances, and the Rumenian Robert Visiou will also join the KF3 category with the CRG race team, whereas the VDK Team will line up the Belgian Laloux Bryan.

CRG-MAXTER OFFICIAL DRIVERS racing the fourth round of the “WSK International Series”.

Genk (Belgium), June 11th-14th 2009.

KZ2

101 - Jonathan Thonon (B) - CRG-Maxter-Vega

102 - Arnaud Kozlinski (F) - CRG-Maxter-Vega

103 - Davide Forè (I) - CRG-Maxter-Vega

KF2

232 - Niccolò Schirò (I) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone

233 - Giovanni Martinez (I) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone

KF3

309 - Robert Visoiu (RO) - CRG-Maxter-Dunlop

310 - Jakub Dalewski (PL) - CRG-Maxter-Dunlop

Press Office

C.R.G. S.p.A.

Desenzano del Garda (BS), June 10th 2009

 

Suzuka (Japan), May 24th 2009. The CRG official team obtained an excellent result in Suzuka, Japan, on the occasion of the first international competition of the current 2009 season, the Super KF World Cup. The comeback after some years ob absence to this competition was for CRG-Maxter of great satisfaction with the podium conquered by "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski, an absolute protagonist who fought till the end for victory, and with the KZ1-world champion in charge Jonathan Thonon who was on the spotlight with an excellent performance. It was definitely a positive weekend, considering also the great performance of Davide Forè who was unfortunately quite unlucky during the race. Eddy Tinini got his qualification for the final after the second chance heat.

"Koko" was unfortunately forced to withdraw due to an high kerb which drove him out of the track after a bit uncertain start at the beginning of the 2nd heat. At the end of a very aggressive pre-final the driver was able to recover from the 21st to the 8th position and in the final he reached the 2nd place even attacking the race leader De Brabander, but the tyres showed the bad effects, as usual, after so many frantic laps so he preferred to manage the race finishing then third.
After his 9th position of the pre-final, Jonathan Thonon was also able to recover to the 5th place, while there was quite a different ending for Davide Forè who was racing with a new engine-development which didn't gave the expected results in this race.
Eddy Tinini, the fourth CRG driver, lived the thrill of the repechage following the qualification heats and just because of a single penalty. The Italian driver has anyway had the merit of reacting as best as possible winning at the repechage the sixth position and therefore the entry to the final. Tinini ran a good pre-final race even starting from the last position then he had to withdraw in the final for a technical problem.

Another great but unlucky leader of this race was the British 2008 KF2 World Champion Oliver Rowland, who got a final 9th place driving a "LH Lewis Hamilton" chassis produced and marketed by CRG with the track assistance by Dino Chiesa. After an excellent third place at the end of the qualification heats Rowland was immediately forced to withdraw in the pre-final. The final proved that the British driver is in a very good shape being able to perform a real masterpiece with a progression from the last to the 9th final position. A fantastic result for a talented and fast driver which also confirms the quality of the LH chassis with Maxter engine.

Among the private pilots running with CRG chassis the Japanese driver Takeharu Nakamori of Kart Club Musashino obtained a 22nd place in the final, while Kazushi Sano of team Strega was forced out of the race.

The Asia-Pacific KF2 Championship has taken place at the same time and it was won by Felice Tiene while the best among the CRG private drivers participating in the race was the Japanese Ryuya Fujie of CRG Japan Team who made also the best time in the final. His team-mate Fumiya Nakayama finished the race in 17th position as the first Bridgestone-tyred driver. The other Japanese Hayato Kurosawa of Silking Racing Team placed 20th.

THE INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of C.R.G. S.p.A.: "We are very glad about our comeback to the World Cup here in Suzuka and mainly because we turned to be among the protagonists in this very important international event. We have been greatly welcomed by everyone, especially by the organizer of the Suzuka circuit who was very grateful to us for our decision of taking part in this race after some years of absence. Our Road Rebel chassis performed great during the event and we have been very close to the victory with Kozlinski but unfortunately he lost several positions in one of the heats. His performance was anyway of a very high level as well as the one of Thonon who made a beautiful final. Forè had some problems with his engine performance especially at low rates and he couldn't therefore do his best. Referring to the situation of the karting market in Japan, which has been really quite critical in these last periods, it seems to get better and a lot of people are forecasting a significant recover of the whole sector; this is of great importance for the sale of our products".

CIK-FIA WORLD CUP SUPER KF & KF1, May 24th 2009:
Final: 1. De Brabander (B); 2. Renaudie (F) +0.917; 3. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) + 1.153; 4. Ardigò (I) +2.786; 5. Thonon (B) (CRG-Maxter) +3.911; 6. Vainio (FIN) +4.784; 7. Sasaki (J) +4.870; 8. Parrott (GB) +6.761; 9. Rowland (GB) (LH-Maxter) + 6.955; 10. Convers (F) +7.348.

Photo: Kozlinski on the podium of Suzuka (photo by Tada Takano).

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.
Suzuka (Japan), 24th May 2009

 

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), May 15th 2009. One of the most important events of the international karting season is the one at Suzuka, Japan, on the 24th of May with the World Cup races of "Super KF" professional category where CRG will take part with lots of its best drivers. In fact the CRG-Maxter Team for Japan is made up by the champion in charge Davide Forè, by the winner of the 2006 edition Arnaud Kozlinski, by the holder of the KZ1 World Cup Jonathan Thonon from Belgium and by the fighting and fast driver Eddy Tinini.
This CRG-Maxter participation is therefore in grand style, a return to this competition after some years of absence.

The last success of CRG in this race dates back to 1999 with the victory in the corresponding category "Formula Super A" of Vitantonio Liuzzi who is nowadays a F1 pilot. The edition of the year 2000 was run in Japan but in that occasion in Motegi the title of "Formula A" was won by the present F1 World champion Lewis Hamilton and his Racing Team Chiesa, while Davide Forè won the "Formula Super A" inserting for the first time his name in the Golden Roll of the category. Earlier before it was Danilo Rossi to win for CRG in 1992 the "Formula K" and in 1994 it was Luca Casazza in "Formula A".

CRG-Maxter will be taking part this year with all its credentials to be able to fight for the victory after a very positive start in both the WSK International Series and the European Championships raced up to now. In the WSK Kozlinski proved to be a serious candidate to win the title in Super KF while Thonon and Forè were absolute leaders in KZ2. Their target is anyway to win the European Championship and the World Cup starting from the event in Suzuka.

In Japan another protagonist who will draw great attention is the British Oliver Rowland who will be assisted during the race by the Team Chiesa Corse with a LH-Lewis Hamilton chassis produced and marketed by CRG.
Two Japanese drivers will also be present in Suzuka with CRG chassis in "Super KF", they are Takeharu Nakamori of Kart Club Musashino and Kazushi Sano of Strega Team. Both Super KF and KF1 categories will be run here with the Japanese Masaki Mori of Sugiyama Racing using CRG chassis.
Apart from the Super KF World Cup also the Asia Pacific Championship will be taking place in Suzuka together with the KF2 category where the "CRG Team Japan" will be run with the drivers Fumiya Nakayama and Ryuya Fujie. Also other CRG drivers will join this event: Kazumi Osada of Team Hirano, Rintaro Kubo of Sugiyama Racing and Hatayo Kurosawa of Silkroad Racing Team.

OFFICIAL DRIVERS CRG-MAXTER
2009 CIK-FIA WORLD CUP FOR SKF & KF1 & ASIA-PACIFIC KF2 CHAMPIONSHIP
21-24.05.2009 - SUZUKA (J)
5 - Davide Forè (I) - CRG-Maxter- Bridgestone
23 - Arnaud Kozlinski (F) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone
24 - Jonathan Thonon (B) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone
25 - Eddy Tinini (I) - CRG-Maxter-Bridgestone

Press Office
CRG SpA
Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), 15th May 2009

 

 

Sosnova - Ceska Lipa (CZ), the 3rd of May 2009. CRG-Maxter hit the target with an excellent performance during the European Qualifications of KF2 and KF3 categories. On the kart-track of Ceska Lipa in Sosnova (Czek Republic) the official CRG drivers could reach the qualification for the Finals which will respectively take place in Zuera (Spain) as to KF3 in July, 12 and in Essay (France) in August, 2. Winning was also the quality of the equipment used for the race and the fact that "Road Rebel" chassis proved to be very competitive together with the reliability of Maxter engines. But the greatest satisfaction for the Italian company was to note how great was the competitive growth of two very young drivers like Niccolò Schirò in KF2 and Jakub Dalewski in KF3. There was also the further discover of a leading driver like Alessandro Vantini at his start in KF2 and immediately competitive with his CRG chassis.

In KF2 Niccolò Schirò showed to be in great shape since the beginning in Sosnova. The driver from Milan had had a definitely superior step compared to his seasonal start since his extempore race the week before at the Open Masters in Siena. His performance continued here in Sosnova at a higher level which means new confidence and great hopes for this young driver. He was placed fourth in the official trials, then third in one of the four heats and got the fastest lap of all at the end of the first of the two Finals so he is fully expressing his qualities right in the middle of the season. Finally he was placed 20th due to some troubles happened in the two finals but he would deserve much more indeed.

Alessandro Vantini showed his certain potentials in KF2. At his start in CRG the International Champion 2008 of the SuperRok was immediately able to draw attention on himself catching good results both in trial and qualification heats with a 5th and two 7th places plus a withdrawal due to accident. He reached the 12th position in the first of the two Finals which also meant the certain qualification for the Final in France. In the second Final, while he was producing his attack and was in 9th position, he found right in the middle of the speed chicane a kerb which had come off from the side of the track and made Vantini literally take off. This was of course the end of a marvellous race in crescendo up to then. Apart from that, we have the confirmation of a very competitive pilot who has already been showing his talent. He was placed 18th in the final classification.

Among the KF2 drivers no qualification came for the pilot from Sardinia Giovanni Martinez at his start in the European after beginning in WSK. He was forced to withdraw after an accident during the last heat so he couldn't even try to cut a good figure. It was a real pity because Martinez would certainly deserve to reach the Final in France considering what he was able to show us this round.

DALEWSKI, NEW TALENT IN KF3

Nice satisfactions for the official CRG team came also from the KF3 category, where both its very young drivers, the Polish Jakub Dalewski (photo on the side) and the Rumenian Robert Visoiu fully hit the Final in Spain without any problem. At CRG home Dalewski was a real revelation proving to be competitive and ready to hit great results. After a 12th time in qualification he was able then to performance excellent progressions almost fighting for victory which he skimmed over in several occasions. His heats results with a second, third, fourth and fifth place clearly say how he is one of the leaders at the moment. With a 7th and 13th place in the two Finals he was at the end classified 10th.

Very interesting is also the growth-trend of the Rumenian Robert Visoiu who had to suffer a bit more to reach the qualification because of a bad timing session which then penalized him during the heats. Nevertheless he could enter the final phase racing two good rounds placing 22nd and a good safety edge for the Final in Spain.

CRG was running at the same time in Sosnova and in Angerville (France) for the drivers' selection of Western Europe with its Spanish pilot Antonio Alarcon. Quite disappointing were the races of the Spanish driver here. He first quite easily reached the final with a 2nd, 4th and 7th place then was forced to withdraw for troubles in the first final. So he started his second final with a result which penalized him of course not being able then to do better than the 23rd place that leaves him out from the 24 finalists.

In Genk (Belgium) as to the Northern Europe third selection in KF2 the Danish Jacob Nortoft (Team J.S.Racing) got the qualification as well as the three Belgian of Team VDK Racing Stoffel Vandoorne (23th), Clemente Picariello (24th) and Damien Dupont (25th). The same was for the Danish Kean Kristensen (26th) and the Belgian Luca Stolz (27th) of Team MM Racing Kart in KF3.

THE INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of CRG SpA: "The one in Sosnova was a positive weekend. Of course I am sorry for Martinez who unfortunately had to start with quite bad qualifying timings also because he couldn't participate to the pre-race test due to school duties so at the end he was the only one not able to get the qualification. As to the others, very good races for Schirò and Vantini in KF2 as well as Dalewski and Visoiu in KF3. Particularly Schirò is showing a progressive growth and his best time in Final-1 was a good sign. He hasn't got much experience as a pilot but considering his first season in KF2 we can note much progress indeed. We hope the best for the future, he's an aggressive and plucky pilot who will be able to give us lots of satisfactions. Vantini showed good potentials for the whole week having a good approach to the race. Dalewski raced well this weekend but made a mistake in the second final otherwise he could aim at a better result. Visoiu has got too less experience but showed excellent progress. When I am thinking at his debut at WSK in Muro Leccese it seems to me almost not true what I see him doing today. Now the next important event will be for World Cup of Super KF in Suzuka and just after that the fourth trial of WSK".

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "There is a general satisfaction in our Team this time. We aimed at qualification and we got it with Schirò and Vantini in KF2 although the second had had an incredible accident against a kerb of the track. We are sorry for Martinez as he missed qualification. In KF3 Visoiu had some problems at the beginning for lack of experience then had a good recover, while Dalewski got a good qualification willing to draw attention on himself and that means he will reach excellent results. Unfortunately as to the other European selection in Angerville, Alarcon was doing well at the beginning then he couldn't get the qualification because of a silly technical ignition problem at the start of the first of the two finals".

Niccolò Schirò - Driver - KF2: "It was a good start of my weekend which was then quite negative because of troubles in some heats but at the end I got the qualification for the finals anyway. I had an accident at the start of the first final so I could only try to gain a useful position in the second final which could bring me to the Final in France and I managed that. I could have better results but I am happy anyway also because I recorded the fastest lap in race-1 during my progression after the accident".

Alessandro Vantini - Driver - KF2: "I was unfortunately forced to withdraw in the second final as I bumped against a kerb right in the middle of the track at just a few laps from the end otherwise I could aim at the first positions. The CRG Road Rebel chassi was excellent as well as the Maxter engine and on the whole it was a very positive weekend. The main target was the qualification for the Final in France but the podium would have been a nice award. I wish to thank everybody for the work they've done for me and for their help. A special thank goes to Alessandro Marrapese whom I owe my debut in CRG".

Giovanni Martinez - Driver - KF2: "It wasn't a very lucky weekend for me due to some technical problems at the beginning durinf the trials and I couldn't go round much so to know better the track. Then I had an accident in the last heat of the first round otherwise I could get the qualification. Furthermore we have been trying a new set-up in the third heat but we failed. On the whole it was good experience for me . My next event will be in Genk for the fourth trial of WSK. I will also run the World Cup in September and I hope to do better then".

Jakub Dalewski - Driver - KF3: "It was a perfect weekend for me as well as for the whole team and the chassi and the engine too. I had some problems with the tyres and with the track which was very slippery. I must say here in Sosnova there were lots of accidents, I like the track but there are spots where it is easy to have accidents. This was my best race of the season anyway and I am very happy indeed".

CRG-MAXTER OFFICIAL DRIVERS qualified for CIK-FIA European KF2-KF3 Championships:

FINAL KF2 - ESSAY (F), 2nd August 2009
Niccolò Schirò (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
Alessandro Vantini (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop

FINAL KF3 - ZUERA (E), 12nd July 2009
Jakub Dalewski (PL) - CRG-Maxter-Vega
Robert Visoiu (RO) - CRG-Maxter-Vega

Press Office
CRG SpA
Sosnova - Ceska Lipa (CZ), 3rd May 2009

Just two rounds in to this year's British Super 1 Championship, and already Ed Brand is shaping up to be a serious contender for overall honours at the end of the season. The CRG Dark Knight driver took his second victory at the spectacular Rowrah circuit in Cumbria last weekend (25/26 April).

Brand was too hot to handle in Timed Qualifying and duly posted the fastest lap to secure pole position for his two eliminatory heats. The first of which he won comfortably, crossing the line over two seconds ahead of his closest rival. A tougher second heat saw Ed just pip the third-placed driver by four one-hundredths of a second - but it was enough to secure the number one position on the grid for the first of Sunday's two finals. "The circuit has been resurfaced recently, making it much smoother and faster - but almost impossible to set the kart up perfectly for prior to racing. I was fortunate that my kart felt very good from the word 'go' and again in the final, it was ballistic," Ed explained. Although he was chased hard, Ed romped to a dominant win - his second of the campaign. "Once I'd survived the opening corners, I was quickly able to get my head down and open a gap. With everyone fighting hard behind me, that gave me the opportunity I needed to make the break."

However, there is a phlegmatic saying in the sport to sum up the unexpected lows, 'that's motor racing.' As the field streamed out of the pits and onto the undulating Cumbrian circuit, Ed discovered that his engine had developed a mystery gremlin. "It just wouldn't run properly at all. I think something in the carburetor had broken and I had to quickly return to the pits to see if my team could fix it. Unfortunately, in the few seconds they had available before the start, nothing could be done and I had to get out of the kart and become a spectator." He added, "I sulked for a few minutes, but then got over it. I've had three podiums out of four, so we're going quite well - but I'm 5th in the points now and this shows that consistency will be crucial over the rest of the season." The Super 1 Championship next visits Buckmore Park, in Kent (13/14 June) where Ed will be hoping that another strong performance will put him top of the table.

Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), the 30th of April 2009. After the start of the European Championship with the Super KF and KZ2 categories which took place in Muro Leccese, CRG and its official pilots will be facing the very important international CIK-FIA lap for the KF2 and KF3 European qualifications racing this weekend. On this purpose Europe was divided into three areas where the three appointments will take place at the same time from the first to the third May next: these will be in Sosnova near Lipa in the Czeck Republic as to Central Europe, in Genk Belgium as to North Europe and in Angerville - France - as to West Europe. CRG will run the KF2 category in Sosnova with the Italian drivers Giovanni Martinez, Niccolò Schirò and Alessandro Vantini while the Polish Jakub Dalewski and the Rumanian Robert Visoiu will run in KF3.

In the same date CRG will also stand the French KF2- race in Angerville with the Spanish driver from Mallorca Antonio Alarcon.
Something like 400 pilots will run the three rounds of the European KF2 and KF3 qualifications. Those who will be reaching the finals will take part to the KF3-Final in Zuera (near Saragozza) -Spain - on the 12th of July and to the KF2-Final in Essay (Normandie) - France - on the 2nd of August.
From the round in Sosnova the first 31 drivers will be qualified in KF2 and 28 in KF3, 24 drivers in KF2 and 25 in KF3 from Angerville and 26 in KF2 plus 28 in KF3 from Genk.

OFFICIAL DRIVERS CRG-MAXTER
CIK-FIA European KF2 & KF3 Championships, 1st-3rd of May 2009:

Autodrom Sosnova, Ceska Lipa (CZ)

KF2
82 - Giovanni Martinez (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
85 - Niccolò Schirò (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop
86 - Alessandro Vantini (I) - CRG-Maxter- Dunlop

KF3
133 - Jakub Dalewski (PL) - CRG-Maxter-Vega
150 - Robert Visoiu (RO) - CRG-Maxter-Vega

Circuit International Gabriel Thirouin, Angerville (F)

KF2
62 - Antonio Alarcon A. (E) - CRG-Maxter-Dunlop

Press Office
CRG SpA
Desenzano del Garda (Brescia), 30th April 2009

 

Muro Leccese (Lecce), the 19th of April 2009. The international season of CIK-FIA Championships was started with the first round of the Super KF and KZ2 European Championships in Muro Leccese, although the big factories like "CRG" had decided not to participate officially to the Super KF continental series. The rule of this category does in fact not correspond to the real requirements of constru-ctors who would on the contrary use it as a real lab to be able to test during the race the technical deve-lopments of both the engines and chassis which should then be applied for production.

Between the two categories which have been racing on the Circuit La Conca in Muro Leccese it was the KZ2 the one to draw the greater competitive interest, with the presence of something like 96 drivers from 18 countries racing top level competitions since the qualification heats that counted then 34 finalists.
CRG was a protagonist in this category with lots of its drivers, also new ones like Luca Tilloca, a young driver from Alghero who lived his first international experience and was the real revelation of the day.
He was assisted by CRG and by the CRG official "Team Erebus" for Sardinia together with its president Giuseppe Soro and proved to be one of the major protagonist at all since the beginning (one heat victory, three second places and a fourth one) and certainly among the candidates for the end-victory.
First he got the podium in Final-1 with a surprising and well-deserved third place, then he immediately attacked in Final-2 being able to carry out his performance in lap nine inning the head of the race. The big disappointment came 5 laps from the end, when he was about to reach a triumph, and this was due to a sudden, unusual technical engine-problem. It was a pity indeed as Tilloca was proving to have a superior pace over all the others and would therefore maybe crown his excellent weekend with the highest step of the podium.

Among the other CRG protagonists there was also the calabrian Leonardo Fuoco, winner of two heats but unlucky in the two Finals and Daniele Delli Compagni, who was able to make a good progression up to place 15 in Final-2 with the comfort of one point for the championship. Nice performance also for the Dutch Yard Pex of CRG Holland, with a 7th position in both the Finals.

It was a first European debut also for the 15-years-old siennese Mirko Torsellini driving the new LH Lewis Hamilton chassis which is produced and marketed by CRG. He was quite unlucky at the beginning of the qualification heats after being involved in an accident at the start, but Torsellini redeemed himself in the last heat winning with obstinacy a very good 5th place and anyway missing the Final phase of the race for less than nothing.
Winner of both KZ2 Finals was the Czech Patrick Hajek, each time ahead of Riccardo Piccoli.

In Super KF, among the drivers with CRG chassis, the one who got the best result was Andrea Dalè, who was placed 5th in the first Final but was out of the race after an accident during the second Final when he was about to be placed very well. Also the Belgian Rick Dreezen wasn't this time able to shine as usual especially after his withdraw in Final-1 but could anyway recover positions in Final-2 up to place nine.

The most unlucky was anyway the very fast British Oliver Rowland with LH Lewis Hamilton chassis assisted by "Chiesa Corse". He was in fact forced to start from the back-lines being involved in a few accidents during the qualification heats but then stood out for his fantastic progressions and finally never passed the finish anyway because of several technical mishaps.
The Finnish Simo Puhakka won the first Super KF Final and the British Jason Parrott won the second.

THE INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of CRG SpA: "Apart from the technical problem happened to Tilloca, the result on the whole was anyway positive. We would deserve a success in the second Final for sure, considering that our driver was the fastest in the head-group. Unfortunately we had to withdraw 5 laps from the end of the race and couldn't bring home an almost certain victory. Now we need to check what happened. We discovered a good driver, I met him in Sardinia, saw how well he could he could drive and offered him this opportunity. He accepted the challenge and I must say that he's doing very well at the moment. But now his road is going uphill as he shall try to repeat the good performances in the future, in view also of the World Cup to which he could participate".

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "This was Tilloca's first International race and he realized a good performance proving to be a winning driver. Unfortunatelly a technical problem which still shall be checked stopped him in Final-2. We are anyway very satisfied because it's a pleasure to see that a driver who uses for the first time one of our karts - a Road Rebel chassis in this occasion - becomes quite immediately a winner at his debut in the European Championship".

Luca Tilloca: "It was a marvelous weekend for me and I'm very happy for what I could get. Our aim was the qualification, but a heat-victory and some other good placings during the other races let me point to a full result. Especially satisfying was already the third place in Final-1, then also a victory could come out in Final-2 when I was in the lead and was gaining ground over my opponents. A technical problem stopped me from an almost certain victory. There's anyway a second championship round in Germany and I'm still running for the title".

Classifications

Super KF: Final-1. Puhakka (FIN); 2. De Brabander (B) +0.501; 3. Foster-Jones (GB) +0.932; 4. Vainio (FIN) +1.981; 5. Dalè (CRG-TM) +2.206.
Final-2. 1. Parrott (GB); 2. Kunranta (FIN) +1.096; 3. Groman (CZ) +1.751; 4. Renaudie (F) +1.943; 5. Bradley (GB) +5.306.
Super KF Championship: 1. Parrott (GB) points 32; 2. Puhakka (FIN) 29; 3. Renaudie (F) 23; 4. De Brabander (B) e Kunranta (FIN) 20; 6. Groman (CZ) and Gromanova (CZ) 18; 8. Foster-Jones (GB) 16; 9. Giacomello (I) 15; 10. Vainio (FIN) 14.

KZ2: Final-1. 1. Hajek (CZ); 2. Piccoli (I) +0.755; 3. Tilloca (CRG-Maxter) +0.859; 4. Hawksworth (GB) +1.527; 5. Cane (I) +5.481.
Final-2. 1. Hajek (CZ); 2. Piccoli (I) +0.583; 3. De Conto (I) +1.155; 4. Lombardo (I) +1.943; 5. Cane (I) +3.690.
KZ2 Championship: 1. Hajek (CZ) points 50; 2. Piccoli (I) 40; 3. Cane (I) 22; 4. De Conto (I) 21; 5. Ferri (I) 20; 6. Wawksworth (GB) and Pex (NL) 18; 8. Tilloca (I) 16; 9. De Luchi (I) 15; 10. Lombardo (I) 14.

Press Office
CRG SpA
Muro Leccese (Lecce), 19th April 2009

 

Castelletto di Branduzzo (Pavia), the 5th of April 2009. It was a productive weekend full of satisfactions for CRG the one which took place on the beautiful track of "Pista 7 Laghi" in Castelletto di Branduzzo (Pavia) for the third round of WSK International Series FIA Authorised. The chassis of new generation "Road Rebel", tested for the first time during this interna-tional event and the new evolutions of Maxter engines gave a renewed confidence to all the team and drivers. The results were evident mainly in the "top class", the professional Super KF, where the three champions "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski, Jonathan Thonon and Davide Forè expressed super high performances showing to be among the major protagonists at any similar predicament of the event.

Even if the results of the final in Super KF do not render justice to the colours of CRG-Maxter, the checking of the whole weekend of work was absolutely positive for the official team of the "All Blacks". Moreover, the strange weather conditions forced the team to an incredible series of technical interventions, influencing therefore some sports values,as it happened to Thonon when a shower prevented him from doing his time in the Superpole just as the Belgian driver was about to enter the track for his timed lap.

Misfortune also influenced Kozlinski's performance who won at the beginning the first of the two heats then was forced to withdraw in the second for a clay-breaking of the candle. These setbacks didn't anyway prevent from appreciating the capacity of the new technical equipment used during the race, all the more because Forè also signed the best time at all in the warm-up before the final.

At the end the tough Kozlinski and Forè got the 5th and 6th places both with fantastic progressions. Forè was also involved in a spectacular accident during the first lap but could then get out very well.

On the contrary, Thonon had first won the pole position in the final with two excellent heats (second and third), but was then really unlucky because of a problem at the beginning of the race. He first started late in the line-up lap, then recovered his grid-position with a pole in a part not allowed by the rule (between the red line and the starting line). At the first turn Thonon also touched other drivers, immediately recovered but after the finish (7th) he was disqualified for his initial infraction.

Kozlinski has confirmed his second position in the championship at only 20 points from the leader. Thonon and Forè were left behind, coupled in the 12th position, with 55 points of delay from the top.

As to the other CRG pilots in Super KF, Andrea Dalè was placed 15th and Eddy Tinini 25th at full laps, both protagonists of great duels. The Dutch Rick Dreezen of CRG Holland, who recently got the podium at KZ2 in Sarno, was forced to withdraw at half race. The British Oliver Rowland had also to slow down for problems after winning a good qualification (22th on the finish). He was racing with the new "LH Lewis Hamilton" chassis which is produced and marketed by CRG and on track assisted by Dino Chiesa.

GOOD HEATS BY SCHIRO' IN KF2 AND QUITE UNLUCKY DALEWSKI IN KF3

Good race in KF2 for Niccolò Schirò and Giovanni Martinez who both could reach the final round. Schirò raced some good heats but placed 26th in the final. Martinez entered the final after the repechage trial and was 27th at the end.
The Spanish from Mallorca Antonio Alarcon couldn't manage to qualify due to a series of problems in the preliminary heats.

In KF3 the unlucky Polish Jakub Dalewski was involved in a heat-accident which forced him to start from the back in the pre-final. Nevertheless, he raced very well in the final placing at the end 23th. The Rumanian Robert Visoiu wasn't able to enter the final round.

INTERVIEWS

Giancarlo Tinini, President of CRG SpA: "in Super KF we have been using some new equipment, that is a new Road Rebel frame which gives a higher grip on the back. The checking was already positive during the test of last week so we have decided to use it here too. This technical solution was appreciated by everyone and the reply in the race was excellent. WSK is proving to be a valid test stand in order to match as best as possible our engagements in the international championships. We have been preparing some technical evolutions in KF2 and KF3 too. Our very young drivers are meanwhile improving race after race and we are already remarking some progress. As to the motors, we are making two different lines of motors and have already positive and valid indications."

Nico Carigiet, Maxter Engine manager: "We are properly preparing several news, with suitable kits that we successfully propose to our clients after having tested the development of some parts. We've been reaching a very good level in Super KF and KF2 and in KF3 we're developing some devices to render the motor even more competitive."

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "in Super KF the performances of Kozlinski and Forè were excellent indeed and showed the validity of our chassis in such a long final. We are also very happy as regards the new Maxter motors. Thonon's unlucky start from the pole was really a pity otherwise we could get a beautiful result. In KF2 Schirò is doing his very best and he will soon show to be of great value. Martinez also made a good performance, considering his first year in this category. In KF3 Dalewski is racing very good and above all he is learning what to do in the most difficult moments. Visoiu is building his own experience that he's still lacking of."

"Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski: "My strategy have been very different if in a heat I was not forced to withdraw for a breaking of the candle-clay. Then at the beginning of the final I lost some positions after an accident which happened just in front of me. That is the reason why I had to attack immediately without carefully running my kart anymore. At the end I had no chance to attack the leading positions. I could anyway save my second place in the championship and I am therefore very confident for the future also because we own an excellent technical equipment."

Davide Forè: "It was a difficult weekend to manage because of the weather condition which continuously changed. In the final I ran against Groman's accident and was out of track losing therefore many positions. Then I was able to recover and I am really happy. We've been very fast and the new chassis is perfect, as well as the new evolution of Maxter motor. I am sure victory will soon arrive."

Classifications

Super KF: 1. Toman (CZ); 2. Vainio (FIN) +1.265; 3. Cesetti (I) +3.333; 4. Renaudie (F) +3.506; 5. Kozlinski (F) (CRG-Maxter) +4.447; 6. Forè (I) (CRG-MAxter) +6.158; 7. Grice (GB) +7.496; 8. Piccioni (I) +8.125; 9. Bradley (GB) +9.752; 10. Puhakka (FIN) +10.835; 11. Foster-Jones (GB) +11.338; 12. Litchfield (GB) +11.495; 13. Gaggianesi (I) +12.472; 14. Parrot (GB) +13.442; 15. Dalè (I) (CRG-Maxter) +15.573.
Super KF Championship: 1. Cesetti (I) points 65; 2. Kozlinski (F) and Toman (CZ) 45; 4. Vainio (FIN) 35; 5. Convers (F) 21; 6. Puhakka (FIN) 18; 7. Parrot (GB) and Piccioni (I) 17; 9. Renaudie (F) 15; 10. Foster-Jones (GB) 13; 11. Grice (GB) 11; 12. Thonon (B) e Forè (I) 10; 14. Litchfield (GB) 9; 15. Ardigò (I) 8; 16. Bradley (GB) and Catt (GB) 7; 18. Dalè (I) (CRG-Maxter) and Gromanova (CZ) 4.

KF2: 1. Grenhagen (S); 2. Smarrazzo (I) +1.491; 3. Maisano (F) +1.794; 4. Cooper (GB) +2.985; 5. Lock (GB) +3.909; 6. Lennox-Lamb (GB) +5.609; 7. Luka (B) +7.112; 8. Beretta (I) +7.322; 9. Rossler (S) +7.823; 10. Catting (DK) +8.733; 11. Johansson (S) +9.294; 12. Viganò (I) +9.884; 13. Tiene (I) +11.993; 14. Zimin (RUS) +12.170; 15. Wright (GB) +12.263.
KF2 Championship: 1. Viganò (I) points 109; 2. Cooper (GB) 90; 3. Grenhagen (S) 65; 4. Maisano (F) 56; 5. Basz and Smarrazzo 54; 7. Lock (GB) 49; 8. Tiene (I) 48; 9. Taylor (GB) 32; 10. Luka (B) and Goff 30; 12. Beretta (I) 24; 13. Stoffel (B) 23; 14. D'Agosto (I) 17; 15. Johansson (S) 16.

KF3: 1. De Vries (NL); 2. Sainz (E) +0.747; 3. King (GB) +1.062; 4. Kvyat (RUS) +2.683; 5. Fioravanti (I) +3.009; 6. Marciello (I) +4.176; 7. Dennis (GB) +4.451; 8. Menezes (USA) +5.487; 9. Hoevenaars (NL) +5.707; 10. Barrabeig (E) +6.533; 11. Agostini (I) +6.679; 12. Frolenkov (RUS) +6.931; 13. Silva (BR) +9.286; 14. Abreu (P) +11.916; 15. Jaminet (F) +12.459.
KF3 Championship: 1. Kvyat (RUS) points 140; 2. De Vries (NL) 115; 3. Sainz (E) 87; 4. Marciello (I) 70; 5. King (GB) 54; 6. Albon (GB) 39; 7. Wolf (D) 32; 8. Barrabeig (E) 31; 9. Jaminet (F) 29; 10. Agostini (I) 26; 11. Dennis (GB) 24; 12. Wernersson (S) 21; 13. Silva (BR) 18; 14. Fioravanti (I) and Menezes (USA) 14.

Press Office
CRG SpA
Castelletto di Branduzzo (Pavia), 5th April 2009

Do fairytales come true? We believe they do. Especially after seeing our self-designed CRG Dark Knight kart take stunning victories at Whilton Mill last weekend (4/5 April). In Junior Max, Coles Racing's Ed Brand was in brilliant form - fastest in Timed Qualifying before winning the heat and first final. After leading much of the second race, he sensibly opted for points over the possibility of crashing out, to finish as runner-up and leave the Northamptonshire circuit with the series lead in his pocket. Commenting on the Dark Knight chassis, the Hertfordshire driver said, "It feels really good to drive. The kart is very well balanced and did me proud. It's given us a great start to the season and is clearly fast. Lee (Jenner) and I have proved that."

Despite nursing injured tendons in his arm, HRS works driver, Lee was able to run at the front and cope with the furious pace set in the Senior class.

Second quickest in qualifying, he also crossed the line in second place in the heat. Pushed wide at the start of the first final, Lee fought back to take a strong 3rd at the chequered flag - giving himself that all-important inside line for the first corner for the start of the following final.

An excellent start saw him survive the opening-lap dramas to join a thrilling dice for the lead. The race had the crowds thronging the barriers, as the spectators tried not to miss the drama unfolding in front of them. Making his move at precisely the right moment, Lee seized the lead.

"The start had been a bit edgy but I got my head down and worked my way into second. With four minutes to go, I thought 'Give it a go' - and went for it." After holding his advantage to take a popular victory, he added, "This is a great Super 1 debut for the Dark Knight. It's easier to set up than other karts, the tyre wear is fantastic and it's so easy to drive."

HRS boss, Tristram couldn't contain his delight, "We couldn't ask anymore from Lee and Ed, I'm ecstatic". "We designed the chassis specifically for the Rotax classes," he explained, "And I'm over the moon to leave Whilton leading the (Junior and Senior) points tables."

"Can we maintain our form? I think so. We've worked for a long time to have a kart that is strong both at the beginning and the end of a race and we've got that."

OCALA, FLORIDA (March 23, 2009) - A three month escape from the cold temperatures of Quebec, Canada ended for the PSL Karting squad as the third and final round of the 2009 Florida Winter Tour went into the books March 14-15 and March 21-22. The fifth and sixth weekends of the series were the Rotax division and the 'Formula Kart' weekend finales at the Ocala Gran Prix in central Florida. Though championships eluded the team in the '09 edition, the PSL name was atop the podium numerous times throughout the three months. Jesus Rios Jr. and Jimmy Cabrera put PSL on top of the podium at the Rotax finale while defending ProShifter champion Fritz Leesmann scored the last victory of the Tour.

Entering the weekend, Rios was among the contenders in the Rotax Junior championship following his victory at the final Homestead event. The Ocala finale did not start off the way Rios had hoped, qualifying on day one in 11th. The Florida pilot and the PSL technical support team worked together throughout the day to help get his CRG up to speed. Rios made up four spots in the Prefinal to start seventh for the feature. In the main event, Rios was the man on the move as he eventually worked himself up to second by lap 12 of the 24-lap event. Holding the spot until the white flag, an ill-advised pass attempt from the third place kart resulted in hard contact during the final circuit and put Rios back to eighth place as the checkered flag waved. Non-related penalties to drivers ahead of him moved him up to sixth in the final classification however the result was still disappointing considering the circumstances.

Putting the first day's action behind him, Rios was focused on taking care of what he needed for a chance in the championship. A better qualifying effort for day two put him outside row two for the Prefinal. Just five laps into the Prefinal, the CRG driver had found his way to the front, where he would stay until the checkered flag. Lined up directly behind him for the start of the main event would be the championship leader. At the drop of the green flag, the two began a clean and professional race-long battle. In the end, Rios took his second victory in Rotax competition but would come up short in the championship chase, ending the year as the runner-up.

For Cabrera, the second half of the Florida Winter Tour has been a successful one. Though not in the hunt for the Micro Max championship, Cabrera came to Ocala in search of victories. A third place in Qualifying got the weekend started off in the right path as he would hold the spot through the Prefinal race. Soon after receiving the green flag to start the feature, Cabrera made his move to the front of the field and by the second lap was showing the way. Running consistent laps, Cabrera went on to take the win by over four-seconds for his first taste of victory in Rotax competition.

The 'Formula Kart' weekend event began strong for Leesmann as the Californian put his CRG/Maxter entry at the top of the time sheets in Qualifying on Saturday to edge out his championship rival. Leesmann then went on to lead all 16 laps of the Prefinal to start the main event from the pole position. The 24-lap race would be a dual between Fritz and his championship rival. Leesmann led the majority of the laps however lost the position in the second half of the race, settling for the runner-up finish. Sunday saw Leesmann in the same spot in Qualifying, posting the second quickest lap of the session to start the Prefinal from outside row one. Getting away cleanly, Leesmann slotted in behind the championship leader to run second. Saving the best for last, Leesmann got the hole shot to begin the feature race. As they came around for the first lap, Leesmann showed the way and he would continue on until the checkered flag waved to take the victory by nearly a second. The victory, his first of the season, was not enough to slide into the lead in the point standings however as Leesmann would earn the vice-championship honor.

Making only his second start in KF3, Rios used the notes from the Rotax weekend to help secure the top position in qualifying session. His fast lap led to Rios showing the way in all 16 laps of the Prefinal to start the feature from the P1 position. The main event would not go as smooth as the previous race as after leading the opening lap, Rios was shuffled back to third. After regaining his composure, he muscled his way back to second and cut into the leader's advantage however it would not be enough as Rios settled for the runner-up spot, his second podium visit in three races.

Heading into the weekend, PSL Karting Cadet driver Cabrera had a chance to steal the championship away from the defending class champion. The event began in the right direction with Cabrera putting his CRG on top in the Saturday qualifying session. After a tough battle in the Prefinal, Cabrera crossed the line second but was penalized five positions per the race director. After his appeal was denied, Cabrera chose to sit out the feature race. Putting the day's action behind him, Cabrera set out to perform well on the final day. A fourth in Sunday's qualifying put him in outside row two for the start of the Prefinal. In the opening corner however contact sent the entire outside line off track. Cabrera rejoined the track in seventh and managed to climb back up to fourth. Once again, Cabrera was shuffled back at the start, falling to sixth however was able to advance back up to third to stand on the podium in the final race and second in the championship standings in his first year at the Tour.

Ocala, FL - Canadian-based Cameron Motorsports/CRG and US-based SSC East/CRG will combine resources to campaign the 2009 Snap-On Stars of Karting Championship. Both camps are proven racing winning CRG teams with experience in both North America and Europe.

The stated goal of this new strategic partnership is to combine the talents, resources and knowledge of both teams. Bringing together some of North America's most talented drivers and experienced tuners will benefit the performance of both organizations. This past weekend was the first event of this new partnership and things went extremely well. With 8 drivers under the tent and great results on track this winning formula will certainly lead to great results.

KF3
Phil De La O (SSC East/ CRG) was the only driver from either squad to enter into Stars newest CIK class, KF3. The only way to describe his KF3 performance this past weekend is near perfect. A second in Heat two was the only blemish in a string of firsts that started in pre-qualifying. DeLaO was able to top the charts on three straight days, making him the man to beat in this new class.

Junior National
One of only a handful of drivers to do double duty, Phil De La O (SSC East/ CRG) became the only double winner on the weekend. He took the Junior National final setting fast lap time in the process. Phil continues to build on his stellar results for 2009 and will head to Europe in June to compete in the WSK.

Joining De La O was 2008 Canadian National Honda Junior Champion Reid Arnold (Cameron Motorsports/CRG). Arnold had a strong run all weekend with consistent top 10's including a 3rd in Heat 2. In the feature the racing gods did not shine his way and a Lap 5 incident while running in 5th put him back to 16th. He is certainly deserving of the hard luck award.

KZ2
A total of five drivers competed in the renamed KZ2 class including two of North Americas best. Canadian Michael Vincec (Cameron Motorsports/CRG) led the way finishing 2nd in the Final. Vincec was fast all weekend, qualifying on the pole on Friday. Next to cross the stripe was Cody Jolly (Cameron Motorsports/CRG) coming in 4th after a string of solid runs. Jolly was very competitive all weekend with a strong finish as a reward. Arie Ouimet (SSC East/ CRG) crossed just behind Jolly taking the 5th spot. Ouimet had to brush off the cobwebs, as the last time he raced a shifter kart was in mid-2008. By the end of the weekend Arie was as fast as the leaders and took home the Hard Charger award. Next through was Alex Manglass (SSC East/ CRG) tucking in right behind his teammate to finish 6th. Manglass' hard work this winter paid off with a very competitive weekend. Getting the hard luck prize in KZ2 might be the always fast Gary Carlton (SSC East/ CRG) who ended a tough weekend in 8th. After three straight wins in the heats put him on pole for the Pre-Final, his luck ran out. A DNF from contact in the pre-final and a DNF for a broken chain left the perennial favorite looking for better things to come when Stars of Karting hit the track at Infineon Raceway in April.

Tag ICC
The lone TAG ICC pilot was Canadian Eric Simon (Cameron Motorsports/CRG). Simon was almost able to turn his Stars of Karting debut into a podium finish. Crossing the line in third, it looked a podium finish, but a 3-position penalty for a jump start moved him back to 6th. The Rookie shifter pilot looked impressive and will be factor through out the season.

Trevor Wickens, Team Manager for Cameron Motorsports/CRG.
"We are very pleased with the results from this past weekend, but we are even more excited about the rest of the season."

Dave Davies, of SSC East/CRG.
"New Castle is only a couple of months away and this will allow us time to add drivers to the new KF2 class as well as National Senior."

Sarno (Salerno), March 8th 2009. A really challenging and difficult weekend for the second race of the WSK International Series, that took place at the International Circuit of Sarno, Naples. This was the first race for the "queen" class, the KZ2, and the second appointment for KF2 and KF3.
A real challenge with 200 drivers on the starting grid and very uncertain weather conditions that created many difficulties for the karts set-up. The free practices on Friday have been made with rain and cold, while the weather gradually improved until the hot temperatures of Sunday. As if to say, all wiped out in terms of chassis and engines set-up. Under these conditions, the work of the CRG-Maxter technicians was at the highest level, with the continuous development of the race material in view of the KZ1 and KF3 World Cup, that will be run in Sarno on September 6th.

In KZ2, the most important class for this WSK appointment, there have been several situations of great tension but in the end the result was positive. The "All Blacks" have been represented on the podium by the CRG Holland driver Rick Dreezen, after a thrilling final where he conquered a great third place after an heroic resistance to the repeated attacks of Marco Ardigò. The two drivers have crossed the finishing line very close, with Dreezen winning with 13 thousandths of a second. The winner of the KZ2 final was the Dutch Bas Lammers, followed by Manuel Renaudie.

Difficult race for the CRG official drivers, who started the weekend "in uphill" due to various problems in the tests or in the qualification heats. In the end, however, Jonathan Thonon and Davide Foré made great performances, both of them with the new homologated "Bad Boy" chassis. Outstanding race for the Belgian Thonon who gained a seventh place starting from the 17th position in the pre-final, as it should be considered a very good result the 9th place obtained by David Forè, who started 22nd after an incredible series of misfortunes, including the heavy disqualification for an underweight of only 200 grams at the end of the qualifying heats where he had obtained the fifth place.

Weekend to forget for the fast CRG driver "Koko" Arnaud Kozlinski, who was forced to leave the race in the second chance heat (where he had come due to an unfortunate series of coincidences) when he had left behind all the competitors with half-track of advantage.
In the final, good result also for the standard bearer of CRG Holland, the Dutch Jorrit Pex, who finished eleventh.

First KZ2 race for the LH Lewis Hamilton chassis(produced and marketed by CRG) with the young and promising driver Mirko Torsellini, assisted by Elto Racing. Mirko was penalized at the beginning of the weekend for not being able to take part in the qualification heats - together with other competitors - due to a supposed delay at the track gate, so he had to run the qualification heats always starting from the last rows. At the end of this "ordeal" the 15 years old driver from Siena crossed the finishing line of the second chance heat with a good 10th place, but this result was not able to allow him to take part in the final stages of the race. In any case, this was an important experience for him, as it was important to start the development of the new chassis in KZ2 together with the Super KF development made by the world champion Rowland.

The accidents in the qualification heats of KF2 and KF3 have created many problems to the CRG drivers but fortunately they have not suffered serious consequences. In KF2 Niccolò Schirò was the driver most damaged by the accidents, he got injured in the leg after an overturn in one of the heats, while in KF3 the Pole Jakub Dalewski has been involved in a violent accident where he has reported several contusions. Unfortunate race also for the Sardinian Giovanni Martinez and the Spanish Antonio Alarcon, who failed the qualification for the KF2 final.

In KF2, the best CRG driver was the Belgian Clemente Picariello of the team VDK, with a very good 14th place in the final after a comeback from the last position, where he was forced due to some problems in the pre-final start that obliged him to leave the race.

The winner of the KF2 race was Matteo Viganò, followed by Felice Tiene and the English Max Goff.
In KF3 the Romanian driver Robert Visoiu was forced to leave the race at the start of the second chance heat. The KF3 winner was the Russian Daniil Kvyat, after an hard fight with the Spanish Carlos Sainz and Raffaele Marciello.

Interviews

Giancarlo Tinini, President of CRG: "We had not the chance to develop the new solutions in the best way. All things considered, the weekend was positive. From a technical point of view, we have made some engine evolutions and we are carrying on the development of the new chassis. Above all we are trying to help the growth of the young drivers, who still have only a little experience, but we see improvements race after race. We will certainly have good results very soon."

Eng. Jan Witteveen, Maxter general director: "We are working very hard, but the track has not yet shown the outcomes of our hard work. From a technical point of view we are growing, it will take some time, but we will for sure collect good results. We are currently working on very interesting projects. I arrived in Maxter last October, with a medium and a long term program, but I think we will have several improvements starting from this season. "

Omar Di Gesualdo, CRG Sporting Director: "The weekend has been influenced by the very unsettled weather between the heats and the race. We have not been able to do the tests as we would have liked, although we have noticed with great pleasure that our new "Bad Boy" chassis is very performing on the wet track, offering a very good grip. In KF2 and KF3 we had problems in the second chance heats due to the accidents caused by other competitors, that have influenced the evolution of the whole weekend. In KZ2 our drivers performances have improved during the weekend so that we have obtained good results. "

Eng. Marco Urbinati, CRG responsible of telemetry: "The changes in the weather situation have created several problems in the chassis set-up with dry conditions after the heats made on the wet track. All the drivers had to fight hard to find the best set-up. With the help of telemetry we have been able to develop some guidelines for a better running of the engine power, and even the driving styles had to change several times over this weekend. "

Jonathan Thonon: "During this race we have tested different chassis set-ups and various ratios, especially in view of the World Cup that will be disputed on this track in September. I had a technical problem in the third heat, after having won the first two heats, and this made me start a little back in the pre-final rows, then it was very difficult to recover positions. In the final I have recovered another ten positions, and I have crossed the finishing line in the seventh place so it was definitely a good result. "

David Forè: "With the penalty that I had in the official heats, it was certainly impossible for me to have the chance to get a better result. I could have been in the leading group both in the pre-final and in the final. From a technical point of view I am very happy because starting from the half of the race the chassis was extremely performing. In the first laps I had some difficulties to leave behind the group of competitors, then in the second part of the race I was very fast, so that I was able to obtain the second best time overall. I want to thank all the CRG and Maxter staff, their assistance has been very helpful. I am sure that the next race will be much better. "

Classifications:

KZ2: 1. Lammers (NL); 2. Renaudie (F) +1.606; 3. Dreezen (B) (CRG-Maxter) +2.971; 4. Ardigò (I) +2.984; 5. Puhakka (FIN) +3.549; 6. Piccini +4.186; 7. Thonon (CRG-Maxter) + 5.286; 8. Toninelli +6.103; 9. Forè (I) (CRG-Maxter) +6.240; 10. Catt (GB) + 6.827; 11. Pex (CRG-Tm) + 8.236; 12. Frasnelli + 9.939; 13. Annunziata + 13.250; 14. Verdi (NL) +14.141; 15. Knopper (NL) + 14.373.
KZ2 Championship: 1. Lammers 65; 2. Renaudie 38; 3. Dreezen 27; 4. Ardigò 21; 5. Hawksworth 15; 6. Puhakka and Piccini 12; 8. Iglesias 10; 9. Thonon and Manetti 9.

KF2: 1. Viganò (I); 2. Tiene (I) +2.058; 3. Goff (GB) +4.455; 4. Taylor (GB) +4.722; 5. Cooper (GB) +5.761; 6. Maisano (F) + 9.360; 7. Suvanto (FIN) +9.730; 8. Lock (GB) +10.522; 9. Smarrazzo (I) +10.651; 10. Ghirelli (I) +11.784; 11. D'Agosto (I) +14.819; 12. Beretta (I) +15.290; 13. Luka (B) +15.551; 14. Picariello (B) (CRG-Maxter) +17.207; 15. Szczerbinski (PL) + 17.473.
KF2 Championship: 1. Viganò 105; 2. Cooper 66; 3. Basz 54; 4. Tiene 40; 5. Taylor 32; 6. Goff 30; 7. Maisano 26; 8. Stoffel 23; 9. Lock 22; 10. Luka 18.

KF3: 1. Kvyat (RUS); 2. Sainz (E) +0.679; 3. Marciello (I) +1.092; 4. Barrabeig (E) +2.076; 5. Silva (BR) +2.234; 6. Schmidt (CH) +2.619; 7. King (GB) +2.779; 8. Agostini (I) +6.480; 9. Wernersson (S) +6.672; 10. Albon (GB) +7.454; 11. Mark (H) +8.542; 12. Adrian (E) +9.333; 13. Walsh (GB) +9.588; 14. Wolf (D) +11.585; 15. Jaminet (F) +11.709.
KF3 Championship: 1. Kvyat 105; 2. De Vries 60; 3. Marciello 51; 4. Sainz 42; 5. Wolf 32; 6. Albon 31; 7. King 29; 8. Jaminet 28; 9. Barrabeig 25; 10. Agostini and Wernersson 21.

Press Office
C.R.G. S.p.A.

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA (February 22, 2009) - Reaching the halfway point of the 2009 Florida Winter Tour, the PSL Karting squad is off to a solid start after collecting a ton of trophy hardware following round two at the Homestead Karting facility. The Rotax divisions competed on February 13-15 while the 'Formula Kart' divisions, including KZ and KF action, ran February 20-22. Despite a newly repaved 7/10-mile circuit and racing in the reverse (clockwise) direction, the PSL team was on top of their game to make the right setup changes for the 'new' course so the CRG brand was found up front. Jesus Rios Jr. put his PSL entry up front twice in two different divisions while the rest of the squad added multiple trips to the podium ceremonies.

 

 

For Jesus Rios Jr., a Florida native and no stranger to the Homestead facility, it was a victory for each weekend. The Junior Rotax weekend began with Rios putting his CRG up front on Saturday however an opening lap incident collected Rios and damaged his kart severely. After making repairs, he was forced to restart the race from the tail of the field. With strong determination, Rios muscled through to ninth. Sunday would be Rios' day to shine. Putting in the third fastest lap of qualifying, he endured a 15-lap battle in the Prefinal that resulted in him sliding through for the victory on the final lap. From there, Rios would go untouched in the feature to pull out to a four-second victory in the 20-lap main event.

 

 

The following weekend he made his KF3 debut aboard a CRG/Maxter package for PSL and did not disappoint. After he qualified second in his first official session, Rios assumed the lead after lap two of the Prefinal to score the win and the pole for the main event. After battling for the lead in the first half of the race, Rios controlled the top spot to go on to win in his KF debut. On Sunday, Rios was second in qualifying which led to a third place in the Prefinal. A good start in the final put Rios in the second spot for the majority of the race until he was shuffled back to sixth in the final laps. It was a dazzling debut for the young PSL-backed competitor.

Fellow Floridian Doug Cox was among the quickest in the Masters Shifter category. Running a solid third in qualifying and the Prefinal on Saturday, Cox found the extra speed needed to move up to the second step of the podium in the main event. Continuing to improve his lap times, Cox put his CRG Road Rebel/Maxter package on top in the Sunday qualifying session. A slow start to begin the Prefinal dropped him to second, but he would assume the top spot with two laps to remaining and would hold the position for the win. The feature would be a repeat of the heat race as Cox slid back to the second spot, waiting to pounce on the leader. With three laps to go, Cox retook the lead and went on to earn his first victory of the 2009 season.

 

 

Former Rotax DD2 World Champion Pier-Luc Ouellette came into the weekend with the target on his back, leading the championship after the opening rounds. Starting Saturday's Prefinal in 11th, he was involved in contact on the opening lap and would not continue, classified 34th in the final tally. In world championship form, Ouellette battled back to place 12th in the feature. Ouellette would put the first day behind him and come out strongly on Sunday as the driver to beat , putting down the quickest lap in the qualifying session. After leading the first seven laps of the Prefinal despite an obvious issue with his PSL entry, Ouellette would settle for third. Making the necessary change for the main event, Ouellette came back to finish second for another trip to the podium.

Mexican star Rodolfo Camarillo was seventh in Rotax Senior qualifying, putting himself in the lead fight in his 2009 Florida Winter Tour debut. Camarillo put his skills to work, advancing to second in the Prefinal, which led to a hard-fought third place podium run in the main event. Camarillo look poised to challenge on day two after qualifying tenth, however, contact in the early stages of the Prefinal dropped him to the tail of the field. In the remaining laps, he advanced back up to 19th. That would all be for not as contact again in the feature put him in chase mode, ending the day in 20th.

Riding on his win last month in the Cadet division, Jimmy Cabrera looked to turn the victory in success on the Rotax side in the Micro Max division. Cabrera ran inside the top-five throughout day one events until he was involved in an opening lap incident in the feature that put him on the sidelines before completing a lap. The youngster returned to the front of the field on day two, recording a third place finish in the feature for his second podium of the short season. Cabrera returned the following weekend with two more trips to the rostrum in the Cadet division. Cabrera had his New CRG Cadet package running in the top-five all weekend, stepping up his game when needed in the Finals. After falling back as far as fifth, Cabrera muscled his way up to second in the main event on day one. Cabrera followed that up with another second place finish after running in the position for most of the 12-lap feature.

 

 

Rotax Masters driver Rene Martinelli put himself into the championship fight with a strong performance on day one. Following a seventh in qualifying, the Florida resident advanced up through the Prefinal and eventually leading 13 of the first 15 laps of the race until getting shuffled back to fourth on lap 16. He would hold that position, gaining valuable points on the championship leader. The next day, however, he would lose the points that he had gained. Showing his racing skills are far sharper than his qualifying prowess, Martinelli went from 11th to first in the Prefinal to start on the pole position for the main event. The new starting procedure for the Florida Winter Tour would hurt Martinelli at the start of the feature as while he tried to remain below the enforced starting speed limit, he was constantly being pushed from behind as he tried to slow the field down. After the flagman threw the green flag, Martinelli fell back to third as they crossed the line and was later taken out by more drivers behind him into the opening corner. This put him at the back of the field and he would recover to finish 18th.

Defending Pro Shifter series champion Fritz Leesmann and new PSL recruit Matt Lee added to the success of the PSL squad. Leesmann ran second in Saturday's action while Lee finished third. On Sunday, however, Lee would have trouble in the Prefinal and retired early to start the main event from 12th. Leesmann started the feature from second, although he would have to take evasive action to avoid a dead kart in front of him, falling to the sixth spot after regrouping. Lee took advantage and moved up to third during the first time by the scoring loop. Lee would go on to finish second while Leesmann battling back to fourth. Colorado's Ben Schermerhorn returned for his second event on the Tour, placing sixth both days and gaining valuable experience running with Leesmann and Lee.

 

Victor Cabrera is equally as fast and he ran his second weekend aboard a CRG/Iame KF2 package for PSL Karting. Still adjusting to the new chassis and engine combination, the reigning Stars of Karting TaG National Champion ran just outside the top-five, finishing sixth in both Finals.

The Florida Winter Tour will close out the 2009 season at the Ocala Gran Prix, just north of Orlando, on March 13-15 with the Rotax divisions and March 20-22 with the FKP classes. PSL Karting will be there in full force, contending for the series championships during both weekends.