TONY KART RACING TEAM - 2008 European Championship - 1st and 2nd ROUND Angerville (F) -

VICTORY AND RATING FIRST POSITION WITH GARY CATT IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
On the occasion of the European Championship opening, which took place in Angerville (France), our Racing Team was protagonist in race-2 with Gary Catt and, always with Gary, we are leading the continental championship.
Our driver started from the third line in the first final and he gained, already at the second lap, the third position fighting to reach the first two drivers.
A penalization of the driver Te Braak in second position allowed also Matias Laine to step on the podium, arriving deservedly third.
In race-2, Gary overtook the rivals in a few laps and arrived in first position, he gained a great advantage enabling him to end this positive week-end with a fantastic victory.
Will Stevens gained points in both races recovering many positions on a track where it is not easy to overcome.
Ardigò was penalized after a contact in race-1, the damages were so heavy that our driver couldn’t finish the race.
In the shifter category rating, the KZ1 category, Andrea Benedetti and Davide Gaggianesi, gained points in both races.

Drivers coming from 18 different countries, 15 chassis manufacturers, 7 engine manufacturers and three tyres suppliers met  on the track Gabriel Thirouin in Angerville on the occasion of the European Championship opening for the KF1, KZ1 and KZ2 categories.
The Championship format is characterized by 3 double events for the top category, the KF1, with the target to gain a good result. For the shifter categories there are four events and also in this case there are two races for each week-end.
The track in Angerville, extremely closed to Paris, is characterized by 18 bends fairly distributed, nine on the right and nine on the left. This nice facility, 1198 meters long, doesn’t offer many occasions for overtaking so it is very difficult to overcome.

KF1- In the top category our team competed with the champion and the vice-champion in charge, respectively Marco Ardigò and Gary Catt. Together with them, we lined up also two young talented drivers: Will Stevens and Matias Lain.
At the European Championship has been used the new starting procedure, regulated by the speed control system.
The start has always been with the two kart lines in movement, but from this event the CIK has introduced the duty to keep the speed between 30 and 40 Km/h until the start line. The speed of the first drivers, controlled with a laser, is reported on a big display situated next to the traffic lights and indicates to the drivers their speed at the start.
The new procedure caused some problems, in fact some drivers were penalized by the race director. For our drivers the qualifying ended with a fifth time for Ardirgò, with a gap of only 0.169 hundreds from the pole of Armand Convers. Matias Laine followed the champion in charge reaching a sixth time, Gary and Stevens gained respectively the 12th and the 27th time.
In the races, the situation got better for our two English drivers, Gary reached the fifth position obtaining the third line, immediately behind Laine, who gained a second position in the rounds.
In the race-1, in the excited bagarre of the first phase Marco heavy damaged his back bumper due to a contact and had to give up the race.
Gary was very fast and recovered two positions in one lap only, arriving behind the two first drivers Kozlinski and Te Braak. After that, Te Braak was penalized and our driver had the possibility to reach the second position. The podium has been completed by the good performance of Matias Laine.


In the race-2 the team experienced some new technical solutions tested during the firs race and this choice turned out to be successful. Gary led the race already at the second lap, after having overtook the previous leader Kozlinski.For Catt the only problem, from that moment, was to keep the concentration and to obtain a great victory, which is worth the leadership in the European Championship.
Also Steven’s performance was good, able to recover different positions in both races and gaining important points in a championship composed by six rounds. Will ended the race-2 in 7th position after leaving from the 15th position in the first race.
Matias Laine did well too and in the second race he added points to the podium of race-1.  Our Champion in charge Ardigò, who started from the back after the out in race-1, did an exciting race with several overtakes and ended in points zone.
KZ1- In the shifter category our two drivers Andrea Benedetti and Davide Gaggianesi did a good race, they were always in the first positions, both in the heat rounds and in the two finals.
At the end of the first round both our KZ drivers gained a good experience with the team, showing to have improved their ability and to have worked hard together with all the team. Now they have only to wait the Belgian event in Mariembourg, in fact, next week the KZ will not race start in the WSK Series.

Giacomo Aliprandi - Team Manager, Tony Kart Racing Team
“We are satisfied with Gary’s victory, we worked really hard during the week-end in order to reach this success. Also our rivals were very competitive and only some events didn’t allow Marco and Will to fight for the podium.  The rivals did extremely well and I think that the rest of the European Championship will be a fight, just a question of tenths.
The next Sunday there will be the WSK in Lonato, we have already forgotten the victory in Angerville and we are thinking about the next race.”.

Gary Catt - Tony Kart Racing Team driver, KF1-Winner race-2 Angerville and first in the ranting of the European Championship
“I’m satisfied with both races and for the Championship, of course. I didn’t did a good qualifying and I had to recover in the other rounds, then, in the finals, everything went well and we reached a great result.
In the second race, the one that I won, I was worried about the new starting procedure, in fact it was the first time that I started from the first line with the new 40 km/h limit. Everything went well and I gained a clear success.

After this success I’m ready for the WSK that will start again next Sunday in Lonato and I’m confident, I think that it will be possible to reach a good result, I’m fifth and the ranting is short, so everything is possible.”

Matias Laine - Tony Kart Racing Team driver, KF1
“It has been a hard week-end, we worked hard but I’m satisfied with the result. In the first final I fought
with the drivers in the first positions and when I saw that Te Braak has been penalized I didn’t risk because I wanted to save the tires for the second race, I was aware that the podium was mine and I had a good advantage from the driver behind me”.
In race-2 everything went as I hoped, I fought with several rivals to keep the position and at the end I reached the seventh position which gave me the possibility to take other point for the Championship.
I have a great staff in order to compete in the European, it was extremely important to start gaining some points and…next Sunday there will be the WSK in Lonato, I’m confident and I hope it will be possible to step on the podium there too.”

Will Stevens - Tony Kart Racing Team driver, KF1
“It was a difficult race because of the bad qualifying. In the two finals I did several overtakes and recovered some positions, gaining in both races some points.
For the European Championship It ‘s always important to take points but in the next races I can’t miss the target.
With regards to the WSK, on next Sunday, I’m leading the championship and I think that I can keep on leading the rating until the end of the next race in Lonato, we are in the middle of the Championship and I hope to keep my position at the top of the ratings.”

Marco Ardigò - Tony Kart Racing Team driver, KZ2
“The first race has been unlucky, I broke the bumper in a contact and I had to give up. In the second race I did well, I overtook many times recovering several positions.
The good results prove that the team is working hard and also the victory of Gary was positive.”

Andrea Benedetti - Tony Kart Racing Team driver, KZ2
“We gained some points in both races, even if in race-2 I made a mistake and we lost some positions just at the end. However, we have improved our ability, I worked hard together with my team-mate Gaggianesi in order to fill that gap which separate us from the top.
I am in very good form and I’m confident of the next event in Mariembourg (first WSK and then the European Championship), it is a favourable track for us, where I have already won some races.”

Davide Gaggianesi - Tony Kart Racing Team driver,K2
“This is my second race in KZ and it has been a further experience for me, I also arrived fourth in a round.
The first race wasn’t bad, I finished the race in ninth position, even if I still have a gap to fill. In race-2 I made a mistake at the start and I couldn’t recover any more. According to the times I could be among the first positions, but as I lost time at the start, the race was compromised.
This race has been a further experience and now I proved that I can fight with expert drivers and at the same level.

European Championship rating, KF1
Top five

Gay Catt Tony Kart-Vortex- Bridgestone points 45
Armand Convers Pcr-Tm-Bridgestone 33
Arnaud Kozlinski Crg-Maxter-Bridgestone 25
Matias Laine  Tony Kart-Vortex- Bridgestone 25
Jean Philippe Crg-Maxter-Bridgestone 24