TONY KART RACING TEAM
2008 European Championship
2nd round Mariembourg (B)
26th – 28th May
The Tony Kart Racing Team gained a well-deserved double win with Marco Ardigò in the second round of the European Championship in Mariembourg. We won Race-1 and race-2 and now we are leading the KF1 continental rating with the pair Catt-Ardigò.
Our Italian driver, gaining two fantastic successes, got back to fight for the Championship title after the stop he had in the first race. It’s a present for Marco in occasion of his 25th birthday.
Even if Gary Catt didn’t gain points in race-1 due to an accident, he did a great recovery in the second race. Gary, with determination, reached the 6th position and therefore 10 important points. He is still leading the rating with 4 points more than his team-mate Marco Ardigò.
Our drivers’ performances were excellent already in the tests on Friday, the weather influenced the qualifying results, penalizing many drivers after heavy showers occurred during the second qualifying round.
In the heats, all with slick tyres, Marco with a victory and with a 5th position gained the start from the first line in race-1, next to the French driver Convers.
Matias Laine started, behind his team-mate, from the third position, with two 4th positions in the rounds.
Our rating leader, Gary Catt, gained the 5th line recovering many positions after the qualifying, which took place on the wet track.
Race-1 Marco was fast already at the beginning of the race and was ready to make his move: he overtook Convers with a perfect manoeuvre in the difficult bend on the left of the finishing line.
Marco had a constant rhythm, thanks to a great kart which respects perfectly the tyres.
Behind our driver there was Alessandro Bressan, driving a Kosmic-Vortex.
Whereas on one side there was the great victory, on the other side there was Catt’s stop. Gary paid the consequences of the starting procedure, the traffic lights stayed always red.
Laine gained 13 points, which are important for the 4th position.
After a slight hesitation at the starting, Matso recovered the right rhythm and started to fight with the rivals, finally he arrived 4th but he fought for the podium until the end.
Race-2 was led by our team’s colours, Ardigò led the group and, thanks to a perfect kart, raced for 19 laps all alone, until the finishing line.
Together with the second win arrived, for Marco, also a great recovery in the rating, now he is behind Gary for only 4 points.
Gary Catt started from the last position, but he could make the most of his kart potential and, lap after lap, reached the 6th position, which allowed him to keep the leadership in the European Championship.
In the last race of the shift-category, KZ1, Benedetti started from the second line in Final-1, having reached good results in the qualifying rounds and gaining the 6th time in the qualifying.
In race-1 Andrea fought tenaciously and after having been in second position during the first laps, he finished the race in 6th position.
The last race of the European Championshio will take place in Braga, Portugal, and of course it will be exciting and rich in suspance. In the general rating three of our drivers, Catt, Ardigò and Laine, will fight for the victory.
Follow the race live on the CIK-FIA website:
KF1 - http://www.cikfia.com/News2008/Mariembourg/KF1-result-Mariembourg.html
KZ1 -http://www.cikfia.com/News2008/Mariembourg/KZ1-result-Mariembourg.html
INTERVIEWS
Giacomo Aliprandi Tony Kart Racing Team Team Manager
“We are really satisfied winning both of the 2 races. Before this race we worked hard nonstop in order to develop the material in the best way. This success proves the Team’s efforts.
Concerning the protests against the wrong starting procedure I want to underline the Team’s behaviour, apart from the decision took by the sportive authority. We supported Gary and we proved another time that our Team is always coherent and united.”
Gary Catt –Tony Kart Racing Team, KF1 Driver –Leader of the European Championship
“In the first starting the traffic lights stayed red! The starting procedure wasn’t right, but a part of the group started thinking that it was correct so the Race Director didn’t give the order to repeat the starting. In that mess some drivers started, others stopped and someone bumped me. I didn’t compete in the first race and I didn’t gain precious points for the Championship too”
Marco Ardigò – Tony Kart Racing Team, KF1 Driver
“I’m very happy both for the Team and me, I didn’t imagine that I could win both races, and I didn’t expect to reopen the Championship. Anyway I was very concentrated before the races. The days before the races we made many tests and we found new technical solutions that we used for this race. I made two beautiful startings and I fought a little bit, but I was sure to have a good rhythm and a good performance for all the week end. In the second race I made a perfect departure and then I ran away”
Matias Laine – Tony Kart Racing Team, KF1 Driver
“It was a positive week-end, I always had good positions in the rating. In the first race I made a little mistake in the first lap so I had to wait some laps to take again the rhythm necessary to reach the podium. In the second race I started fast, I was behind my team-mate Marco and I was fighting to keep that position, but a failure of a reed, gradually forced me to give up.
It was a pity because the material was very performant, anyway I can still win the Championship. During the final round in Braga there will be an hard and strong fight for the title of KF1 European Champion, it will be very exciting!”
Andrea Benedetti – Tony Kart Racing Team, KZ2 Driver
“It was a very hard race, I raced quite good with new tyres, I was very competitive and fast. I had problems with tyres, I couldn’t keep them till the end of the race. The next event will be the WSK in Sarno, there we will use Vega tyres, which fore sure are more performant”
Davide Gaggianesi – Tony Kart racing Team, KZ2 Driver
“ I’m not satisfied because I didn’t gain a good result. I want to gain more, we have the potential to win and to reach better positions in the Championship.”
TONY KART RACING TEAM LINE-UP AT THE SECOND ROUND OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP KF1 - KZ1
Category KF1:
#1 Marco Ardigò - ITA
#2 Gary Catt - GB
#22 Will Stevens - GB
#23 Mathias Laine - FIN
Category KZ1:
#112 Andrea Benedetti - ITA
#137 Davide Gaggianesi - ITA
European Championship, KF1 category - Top five
1. Gay Catt Tony Kart-Vortex- Bridgestone points 55
2. Marco Ardigò Tony Kart-Vortex- Bridgestone \\ 51
3. Arnaud Kozlinski Crg-Maxter-Bridgestone \\ 44
4. Toma Libor Birel-Parilla-Bridgestone \\ 39
5. Matias Laine Tony Kart-Vortex- Bridgestone \\ 38