From 2nd to 4th September the iconic Le Mans track in France will be the capital of International Karting, hosting the most important event for the Shifter categories: the FIA World Championship KZ and the World Cup KZ2. The CRG Racing Team will be there with an important line up, both from a qualitative point of view and in terms of the high number of drivers taking part in the race. There will be 16 official CRG drivers overall: 4 in the KZ top class and 12 in KZ2. In the KZ category, 41 drivers will compete for the title and CRG colors will be defended by Jeremy Iglesias, Alex Irlando, Viktor Gustafsson and Jaime Alguersuari. For what concerns the KZ2 class, CRG will line up 12 drivers managed by its own Racing Team among the 126 contenders who will take part in the event: Arthur Carbonnel, Jorge Pescador, Brandon Nilsson, Paavo Tonteri, Gerard Cebrian, Lorenzo Giannoni, Andrea Bosetto, Vincenzo Marinov, Axel Matus, Josep Vea, Natalia Balbo and Archie Tillett.
The ambitions for CRG drivers are very high in both categories, especially after the excellent results obtained from the tests carried out in August on the French track. The goal for the CRG team will be to fight for the title and further enrich the palmares of the Shifter categories, where CRG chassis are among the most successful ever. The multi-victorious Road Rebel will once again be available to all the CRG drivers, while the engines will be the TM ones with the support of Gianfranco Galiffa on the track.
As usual, the key event of the KZ season will offer a great show on the track and will enjoy important visibility worldwide; in this regard, on the eve of the event, FIA also announced an agreement with the Eurosport broadcaster that will broadcast the Finals live on Sunday: an announcement certainly warmly welcomed by all the insiders.
As for the program, Qualifying Practice and the first Qualifying Heats will take place on Friday, which will continue throughout the day on Saturday. Sunday’s program will include the Super Heat in the morning and the Finals that will assign the titles in the afternoon. The event program also includes a race reserved for drivers over 35 called Master, which will see 69 participants, including many of them competing with CRG chassis.
CRG drivers’ expectations
Jeremy Iglesias (KZ): “Attending the most important event of the season is always something special and racing in France gives me even more energy. I have an excellent feeling with the track and as far as our chassis-engine technical package is concerned, we got here ready to play with the awareness that we have done a good preparation job and that we have the potential to play our chances. As always happens in a single trial event it will be very important not to miss anything in the qualifying phases and to better interpret the evolution of the track. The first objective will be to start in the first two rows on Sunday, then we will think about the race”.
Alex Irlando (KZ): “For me it was a season with many ups and downs, so the goal will be to redeem the lack of continuity we have had in our performances in the last few races with a solid result. The latest tests done here in France in recent weeks have given us excellent indications from this point of view and I am quite confident. I am sure that also on the engine front we will have support from our partner TM, which will allow us to have an excellent weekend”.
Arthur Carbonnel (KZ2): “I have recently joined the CRG official team, but I already feel at home and have established an excellent feeling with the technical staff. We have great potential with regards to our chassis-engine package and I hope that the fact of racing at home can give me further help in this event, in which, without denying it, I aim to do very well”.
Paavo Tonteri (KZ2): “We come from an excellent weekend with the podium obtained in Sarno in WSK in which we have had excellent feedback on the latest technical innovations that we have introduced and I am sure that we will be able to continue this positive trend also here at Le Mans. I like the track and these events are always able to give me extra motivation. The team’s experience will play a key role and I can’t wait to start the race weekend”.
