From 29 August to 1 September the Val Vibrata circuit in Italy will make its return to international karting by hosting the 2nd and final Round of the FIA European Championship – KZ, KZ2 and KZ2 Masters. The 2024 Championship was divided into 2 races after the delays at the beginning of the season regarding the choice of tires and, therefore, after the opening race in Aragon, the Italian track will host the decisive round to elect this season’s continental champions.
In the KZ top class the games are completely open and Viktor Gustavsson has the chance to fight for the title starting the decisive weekend from 2nd place in the Championship, just 10 points behind the leader Senna Van Walstijin. The Swedish driver of the CRG official team could have had an even better score if he had finished the race in the Aragon Final as he had started the weekend, with Pole Position and victories in the Heat; but a setup that wasn’t 100% perfect in Spain barely prevented him from getting on the podium, an objective he certainly wants to achieve here in Italy.
It will be an exciting weekend to follow, starting from Qualifying Practice scheduled for this Friday. Jeremy Iglesias also hopes to return to the fight for the top positions in the KZ category. After a complicated weekend in Spain, he is now in P8 in the Championship and will have to recover around 60 points from the leaders of the classification. The Frenchman will certainly be able to race without pressure and aware that he has the potential to do very well, as well as his compatriot Arthur Carbonnel, who completes the CRG line up in the top class.
High expectations for the CRG drivers also in the KZ2 category, in particular with Paavo Tonteri, who occupies 10th position in the provisional Championship standings and is openly aiming for the top 3. KZ2 will be the category with the highest number of participating drivers with 98 appearances, while the KZ2 Masters reserved for drivers over 35 years old, will see 37 drivers at the start.
On the FIA Karting website it will be possible to follow the action on the track with Live Timing starting from Friday, while from Saturday the images of the Heat and then of the Super Heat and Finals scheduled for Sunday will also be broadcast live.
CRG drivers’ expectations:
Viktor Gustavsson (KZ): “Gloves are off and we have everything on our side to aim to win. In Spain we demonstrated our potential, but we also made some small mistakes in the Final which, in a Championship with only two rounds, can have a huge impact. We have prepared this race in the best possible way and we will have to be perfect, exploiting all our potential. With so many points still to be awarded it will not be easy to make calculations for the Championship; therefore, we will simply think about making our best and arriving at Sunday’s Final with the points needed to play our chances. Jeremy and Arthur will also be able to have a good race and we will try to have the best possible result for the team”.
Paavo Tonteri (KZ2): “For CRG and Gianfranco Galiffa who manages our TM engines on the track it will be the home race. We did an excellent job in the testing sessions and we think that an important result is within our reach. Our expectations are high and my personal goal will be to finish the Championship in the top 5 and fight for the podium in this event. I like the track and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel after the summer break”.
