HOT NEWS - TKART - Castelletto di Branduzzo (Italy) - – Anyone looking for thrills got plenty of satisfaction from the KFJ final. The first surprise came right at the start, with “like father like son” Noah Watt (Fa Kart/Vortex) darting ahead from 4th on grid to grab the lead. Too bad that his starting dash counts as “jumping the gun” on the alignment formation. The mistake cost him a 3 second penalty that in the end was just enough to keep him from taking the podium. Second at the finish-line, he is demoted to a place four standing.



Let’s take a look at the race action (which opened with 4 laps of mandatory slow speed). After 4 laps Clement Novalak (Tony Kart/Vortex) caught up to Watt and when he saw the opportunity to attack, he went for it and snatched the lead. From here, however, it was no stroll in the park for the Tony Kart leader. Farther behind, USA driver Logan Sargeant (FA Kart/Vortex) drove like a mad man on the wet the whole time (yes, it rained for this final too) and three laps from the end he managed to take over the lead. Novalak won’t have it, tough: he immediately counter-attacks and then defends "aggressively", hitting his rival in the side. The wheel to wheel action costs Novalak the lead and sends Sargeant temporarily off track. Back on track, the Ricky Flynn Motorsport opponent does what he can to recover in the last bends and crosses the finish line third. His long face on the podium, however, proves that he had aimed for much more in this race. Vice versa, the one who benefitted from the intense battle was Ulysse De Pauw (Birel ART/Parilla), who managed a phenomenal climb past 12 rivals and crossed the line second. The Belgian’s smiling face during the podium celebrations confirmed how unexpected this happy ending was for him (even if he worked for it).

Keeping on the topic of disappointment, a note of mention goes to Lorenzo Colombo (Tony Kart/LKE). His weekend didn’t start well to begin with, but he rebounded with admirable determination. In the final he even made the virtual podium at one point, then the wet track played tricks on him: in the end he was only seventh, a result unfit for his struggle. Marta Garcia (FA Kart/TM) was on the same wave length: the KFJ “lady” kept on the top end of the field for the first quarter of the race, battling to keep between seventh and eighth; after that she got lost and eventually closed 20th.

A note of honorable mention goes to the amazing rebound trio who closed back to back right behind the top 10: Christian Lundgaard (Tony Kart/Vortex) and Felipe Drugovich (Kosmic/Vortex), each of which climbed past 14 rivals to close respectively 12th and 13th , and Jean Simmenauer (Tony Kart/Vortex), who  followed in 14th place after battling his way past 15 opponents.

Things went astray, instead, for poor David Vidales (Energy/TM). Despite being a new kid on the KFJ block and despite the wet track, the Spanish rookie was doing a masterpiece race: he had plowed his way from 24th to 6th in just 8 laps, keeping a pace that spelled out “podium”. Unfortunately, an off-track slip later in the race compromised his efforts, relegating him to an 18th place finish.

CLICK HERE to see the complete results of the KFJ final in Castelletto

CLICK HERE for championship results