The weekend that just ended on the Třinec track in the Czech Republic was a very positive one: Gabriel Gomez dominated the scene in the OK category of the 2nd Round of the Champions of the Future, finishing the Final in P2. After taking Pole Position in the Qualifying Practice and P1 after the Heats and Super Heats, the Brazilian driver was the super favorite for the win, but unfortunately on the final day of Sunday, the rain complicated the situation a bit and on the wet track something was missing to achieve full success. However, the weekend of the CRG-Iame duo and Gabriel Gomez, at the top in all track conditions, remains an exceptional one from the point of view of the speed demonstrated and the pace in the race. This result for the Brazilian driver takes on an even more important value in view of the European Championship race, which will take place on the same track in Třinec in 15 days, where Gabriel will get there as provisional leader of the standings after the solid weekend of Round 1 in Spain .
The high-level performances for the CRG Team were unanimous in both categories (OK and OK Junior) during the race. In the OK class, Simone Bianco conquered an excellent top ten in the Final, after having done very positive qualifying races, like Mark Dubnitski and Mattia Colnaghi, always fast, but delayed in the Final by some contacts. More unlucky in the top class Francisco Macedo, out of the Final by only 6 points for having lost a Heat and Ronnie Stefani, with the latter who however experienced a growing weekend in terms of performance. The performance of the two CRG drivers in the Junior category was also of great importance, with Gabriel Koenigkan excellent P6 in the Final, after having always been among the fastest in the qualifying phases, while Klara Kowalczyk was out of the Final by just two points, due to her retirement in the third qualifying race, after finishing the first Heats in the top ten. However, the goal of the weekend, beyond the sporting result, was preparing for the FIA European Championship event: this result was achieved in the Junior class too, both by completing an intense technical work program and by showing performances in line with the fastest ones in the category.
All the results of the 2nd Round of the Champions of the Future are available at www.championskarting.com
CRG drivers’ post-race reactions:
Gabriel Gomez (OK): “We had a perfect weekend, both from the point of view of the work done in view of the next European Championship race, and in terms of the performance that our technical package, KT2 chassis and Iame engine had, despite the rain on the first day of Free Practice and on Sunday having somewhat affected our real potential. The team did an outstanding job and we have had confirmation that we are fast on all types of tracks. The chassis is always easy to drive and the setup quick to adapt to the track, characteristics that allow us to make the difference in all stages of the race, both when we have to take advantage of the new tires in Qualifying and when they lose grip in the preliminary competitions and it is necessary to have a constant rhythm by managing their consumption. The very positive thing is that these characteristics have led us to be competitive with all the team’s drivers and now we can look to the European Championship race with a lot of confidence”.
Gabriel Koenigkan (OK Junior): “My feeling with the team and the CRG chassis is growing from race to race and we are very close to being able to express 100% of our potential. The balance of this weekend is very positive from my point of view, because we had the pace to fight for the podium and in any case we finished the Final with a good P6, without making any mistakes. We have a chassis that is working very well and the technical staff are doing an outstanding job to fine-tune all the setup details. We have collected a lot of data in view of the next European Championship race and I am sure we will do very well”.
