The KZ categories confirm themselves in the DNA of CRG, which for years has continued to be one of the most constant brands at the top of international races in the gear classes. Even on the Aragon track in Spain, where the FIA European Championship started later than what expected this year, the CRG drivers made a strong impression right from the Free Practice, confirming once again the great versatility of the CRG chassis and the performance of the TM engines. In particular, it was Viktor Gustavsson in the top class, who immediately found the feeling with the Spanish track, taking Pole in Qualifying and then confirming himself in the first two Heats with two victories and the Pole Position for Sunday’s Final. In the most important race of the weekend, however, there was a lack of pace and after giving up the lead of the race in the first laps, Gustavsson had to settle for P4 under the chequered flag.
The balance of the weekend obviously remains positive, but there is certainly a bit of disappointment to leave Spain without a podium that would have been deserved. In the Final, however, Jeremy Iglesias found a good race pace and achieved a positive P10, ahead of his teammate Arthur Carbonnel after some difficulties encountered in the qualifying phases.
The provisional ranking after the 1st Round of the Championship sees Gustavsson in 2nd place with 10 points to recover in the 2nd and decisive round in Val Vibrata, while Iglesias is in P8, approximately 60 points behind. Everything could still happen in the September race in Italy and in the next few weeks the CRG Racing Team will begin the test program in view of this important race, which will take place on the “home” track of Gianfranco Galiffa, the engineer who manages the TM engines of the official CRG team on the track.
Back to the race in Spain, CRG also experienced a positive weekend in the KZ2 category, despite lacking a bit of luck to fight for the podium. Paavo Tonteri, in fact, did not have a good Qualifying session, finishing only in P46, but then in the Heats he recovered with excellent races until starting P16 on the starting grid for the Final. Finally, in the most important race, he showed an excellent pace and recovered 10 positions, finishing in P6 in a race which also projects him to the provisional 10th place in the Championship. Alessandro Minetto also had a good weekend in KZ2, finishing the Final in the points in P14. Timur Timerzyanov also achieved the same placing in KZ2 Masters.
The next round of the FIA European Championship for the KZ categories will take place in September in Italy on the Val Vibrata track where the 2024 titles will be awarded.
CRG drivers’ post-race reactions:
Viktor Gustavsson (KZ): “In the Final we lacked a bit of pace and we will have to analyze all the data to understand exactly what we lacked between chassis and engine setup, but despite the fact that we all wanted to leave Spain with a podium and a better position in the standings, I believe that the balance for the team is very positive and above all our potential has clearly emerged, both for the chassis’ ability to perform in all conditions and for the performance of our TM engines. In Val Vibrata we will have a great chance to play for the title and we will have to get ready for this event. Up to this point, our season has been very strange because we learned about the tires for the FIA races very late and the preparation work, with the first race being moved to the beginning of July, was very complicated. This weekend, however, helped us a lot to understand the technical direction and in some ways, it will be easier to prepare for the next events”.
Paavo Tonteri (KZ2): “Everyone knows that it wasn’t easy to prepare for this race due to the issue of the tires that were recently made available and for us (drivers) the adaptation to make the most of them wasn’t easy, just like interpreting a track so long and on which we haven’t raced for a long time. In Qualifying Practice, we weren’t able to find the right lap, but I knew that our potential was top ten and we recovered well, both in the Heats and especially in the Final. We are missing the points from the qualifying phases, but in Val Vibrata we still have the possibility of finishing this Championship in the top 3 and we will work towards this goal. I would like to say thank you to the team, who always knows how to make the difference in the most important events and bring out our potential to the fullest”.
