PRESS RELEASE - TKART - Over 100 Drivers and 15.000 live Followers - Juniors: Tom Gamble wins exciting Final - Seniors: Pierce Lehane unbeatable - DD2: Double Win for Ferenc Kancsar.

From 9th to 15th February 2015, the traditional ROTAX Winter Cup kicked off the year's first trial of strength. For the sixth time this prestigious karting event welcomed the international ROTAX scene on the Spanish 1.588 metres long karting track of Campillos near Malaga.

Since its debut in 2010 the Winter Cup has proved to be the perfect preparation for the upcoming ROTAX racing season. "Love, passion and commitment are the ingredients making our events outstanding. The unbroken popularity from all around the world confirms our efforts. We are proud to offer the best, most innovative and original international ROTAX kart racing series for more than eleven years now", quotes Roland Geidel from the organizing RGMMC.

Over 100 drivers from over 25 nations coming from all over the world entered the event, turning the Winter Cup into a small world championship with the highest level of competition. In addition to winning the prestigious title of the Winter Cup champion 2015 there were valuable prizes waiting for the drivers. In each class the winner was given a free season in the Euro Challenge 2015, while the runner-up got two free races and the third placed driver one free round.

This year's balance of power was particularly unpredictable: After ROTAX just introduced its brand new Evo-engine everyone was excited to find out about the current state of affairs since Campillos marked the first racing appearance of the new engine generation. Moreover the weather made for another challenge. A few rain showers, a tough wind and sunshine formed a diversified mixture of conditions throughout the weekend. Yet the most of the sessions went off without a hitch on a dry circuit. Not only the spectators at Campillos witnessed great sports but many fans from all around the world. In the end RGMMC was proud to announce that more than 15.000 fans followed the event by the official live timing and many more joined the live stream, promoted by RGMMC Media.

Juniors: Tom Gamble wins exciting Final
In the junior category, representing the biggest grid at the Winter Cup event, Dean MacDonald (Strawberry Racing) from the UK set the best mark in the qualifying session. By a fastest lap time of 1:05.595 minutes he was the quickest youngster of the 50 drivers comprising grid. Behind him Dutchman Dikkie van der Wal (Team TKP) took the second place, missing the pole position by only 0.055 seconds. Local hero Marta Garcia (MGL Racing) from Spain impressed by a strong performance which boosted her into third position ahead of the UK drivers Jack McCarthy (Strawberry Racing) and Jordan Brown-Nutley (CRM). In the end 36 drivers were separated by a gap of less than one second, which underlined the high level of competition.

Even the junior's heats were highly competitive and celebrated not less than five different winners in the six races. Best youngster on track was Dean MacDonald, who successfully defended his top position by taking two victories. Behind Sunday's prefinal pole sitter it was Tom Gamble (Dan Holland Racing) from the UK, improving from seventh to second place. Dutchman Leonard Hoogenboom (Brand Racing) winning a heat too, boosted himself into the third position in front of Jack McCarthy in fourth place. Fifth position went to Dikkie van der Wal who belonged to the circle of heat winners. That included Oliver York (Aim Motorsport) and lady driver Marta Garcia as well, yet they gained some less good results throughout the heats and had to be satisfied with positions twelve and 14.

In the prefinal pole sitter Dean MacDonald tied in with his strong performance, which he had already shown the entire weekend. The youngster took the lead and defended it bravely up to the finish line. At first it seemed that only Leonard Hoogenboom was able to keep the winner's pace but as the race approached the end, Tom Gamble proved to be really quick as he closed the gap to the leaders and even boosted himself onto the second place.

In the final Dean MacDonald suffered a setback. At first he could take the lead again, but soon he lost pace and positions, finally ending the race in tenth position. So it was Leonard Hoogenboom who gained the top quite a few laps until he had to deal with the UK drivers Jack McCarthy, Tom Canning (Dan Holland Racing) and Tom Gamble. Finally the pressure was too big and he fell back to fourth position. On the top Gamble asserted himself in the leading role and managed to defend it up to the finish line. McCarthy followed close behind in second place ahead of Canning, completing the podium positions.

Seniors: Pierce Lehane unbeatable
Ireland's Gary Donnelly (Strawberry Racing) managed the best time in the senior's qualifying session. His time stopped at 1:05.187 minutes, boosting him onto the pole position for the heat races on Saturday. Behind Australia's Pierce Lehane completed a double triumph for Strawberry Racing by taking the second place. Even in the following positions the Dutch duo Richard Verschoor and Rinus van Kalmthout made for a double impact for the Team TKP, while Estonia's Sten Dorian Piirimagi (AIX Racing Team) complemented the top five positions.

In the heats Gary Donnelly was without fortune. He dropped back to a disappointing eleventh place and left way to his teammate Pierce Lehane. The man from Australia won one heat and gained two more consistent results, which put him onto pole position for Sunday's prefinal. Behind him Rinus van Kalmthout showed a solid but successful performance thus taking second place in the heat ranking. His fellow countryman Richard Verschoor celebrated one victory and gained the third place in the ranking in front of UK driver Sam Marsh (Dan Holland Racing), Sten Dorian Piirimagi and Russia's Denis Mavlanov (KR Sport), who had the honour of winning the last heat.

In the prefinal pole sitter Pierce Lehane had a real walkthrough. The man from Australia managed the best start and headed away from the rest of the grid. His win was never in danger. Behind him the decision was an open case, which up to ten drivers aimed to settle. Finally Richard Verschoor and Denis Mavlanov were the quickest of the pack and arranged the order among themselves, with the better outcome for Mavlanov.

In the final Pierce Lehane could not repeat his win easily. He got a lot of pressure from behind during the 15 laps of the race distance but coped with it bravely. While Richard Verschoor and Denis Mavlanov were pushed back to fourth and fifth positions, Brett Ward (Aim Motorsport) and the reigning European junior champion Thomas Preining (Team TKP) were in best shape. The duo was close on Lehane's heels and made for a real photo finish. In the end Lehane took the victory by a winning margin of only 0.043 seconds ahead of Ward and Preining.

DD2: Double Win for Ferenc Kancsar
In the premium category of the DD2 Kevin Ludi (Spirit Racing) from Switzerland was the quickest man on track. By a best time of 1:02.735 minutes he upstaged his opponents. Hungary's Ferenc Kancsar (BirelART/KMS) and Austria's Max Hofer (Speedworld) followed in the chasing positions ahead of Germany's Luka Kamali (CRG SPA) and Portugal's Henrique Baptista (Dan Holland Racing).

The heats came up with three different winners: Xen De Ruwe (both BirelART/KMS) and his teammate Ferenc Kancsar took one victory each, while Austria's Max Hofer (Speedworld) won the last race. In the overall ranking De Ruwe established himself on the top ahead of Kevin Ludi who gained better points than race winner Kancsar in third place. Luka Kamali managed a solid fourth place after the heats in front of Max Hofer and Cristiano Morgado (Dan Holland Racing), who simultaneously was the best Masters driver, even keeping behind Paolo De Conto (CRG SPA) in seventh place.

For the prefinal race drivers had to deal with a drying track, which made a few driver go for rain tyres. That included Kevin Ludi (Spirit Racing), second of the grid, whose decision turned out to be the wrong one. The slick drivers were unbeatable from the very beginning. So it were the teammates Ferenc Kancsar and Xen De Ruwe determining the pace, until after a few laps De Ruwe retired due to a technical issue. So Cristiano Morgado (Dan Holland Racing), being best Masters driver at that moment, sensationally inherited the second place. But as pressure from behind got higher, the man from South Africa was involved in a slight collision, got off track and had to end the race. Meanwhile Kancsar took the victory without any doubt, while Henrique Baptista and Luka Kamali completed the top three results. After Morgado's retirement, it was Cristobal Garcia Ramos (Binakart) from Spain who inherited the Masters win by finishing in tenth place in the overall grid.

Ferenc Kancsar had an easy job in the final. The man from Hungary drove a solid race without any pressure from behind. After 15 laps he complemented his double success by a leading gap of almost two seconds. Behind him Luka Kamali was able to keep the second place for a quite long time. But at halftime he lost ground persistently, leaving the second place to his teammate Paolo De Conto. Kamali tried to save the third place up to the chequered flag but on the last metres Spain's Oriol Dalmau (Energy Spain) conquered the last podium position on home soil. As for the Masters classification Cristobal Garcia Ramos could not repeat his prefinal victory. After five laps he had to end the race, leaving way to Marc Berteaux (Sologne Karting). The Frenchman took the win ahead of Cristiano Morgado and Geza Fodor from Hungary (Ricciardo/KMS).

Summing up the 2015 edition of the ROTAX Winter Cup proved to be a spectacular event and a thrilling season opener, which only marked the foretaste for the twelfth season of the ROTAX Euro Challenge 2015. From 30th of March to 5th of April the unique European ROTAX series will hold its 2015 opening event in France. Sologne Karting at Salbris will host the spectacular season start, which everyone is invited to join. More information regarding reports, photos, results and live TV stream are available on the official websites www.rotaxmaxeurochallenge.com or www.rgmmcmedia.com.