Aussie Update: Saturday @ IAME & Rok Cup

The Rok Cup concluded at Lonato overnight, four of the eight Australians making their finals.

Both Juniors charged forwards, Christian Mansell from grid 20 to 12th and James Wharton a super charge from grid 30 to 8th! Lochie Dalton was hit with a penalty in Super Rok and wase classified 24th.

Marcos Flack made it to the Mini Rok final, starting inside the top ten, but suffering a cruel DNF to be classified 34th.  Cody Maynes-Rutty, Joe Fawcett and Cadel Ambrose all made the consolation ‘Singha Trophy’ final, finishing 6th, 9th and 30th respectively.

Meanwhile in France, where the IAME pre-finals and Finals are set to be raced tonight (Australian time), Pierce Lehane is running strongest of the Australians, enjoying a couple more heat wins and is ranked 6th outright after all seven qualifying rounds.

  • Live stream will be HERE
  • Live timing HERE

IAME International Final, Le Mans

  • Pierce Lehane (Tony Kart, IAME Senior): Q1 of 140 (Group A). H1 – 15th, H2 – 6th. H3 – 1st. H4 – 4th. H5 – 3rd. H6 – 1st. H7 – 1st. Ranking – 6th.
  • Matthew McLean (Kosmic, IAME Senior): Q122 of 140 (Group B). H1 – 23rd, H2 – 34th. H3 – 21st. H4 – 25th. H5 – 17th. H6 – 31st. H7 – 28th. Ranking – 110th.
  • Kip Foster (Kart Republic, IAME Masters): Q25 of 69 (Group A). H1 – 14th. H2 – 4th. H3 – 18th. Ranking – 22nd.
  • Lachlan Robinson (Tony Kart, IAME Junior): Q87 of 110 (Group C). H1 – 10th, H2 – 7th. H3 – 14th. H4 – 10th. H5 – 14th. Ranking – 31st.
  • Kalen Chin (Kart Republic, IAME Junior): Q88 of 110 (Group D). H1 – 15th. H2 – 17th. H3 – 34th. H4 – 28th. H5 – 25th. H6 – 25th. Ranking – 80th.

Full results HERE.

Some Aussies in France (pic – Remo Racing/Facebook)

Rok Cup International, Lonato

  • Lochie Dalton (Super Rok): Q17 of 31. H1 – 17th. H2 – 17th. H3 – 8th. Ranking – 11th. FINAL – 24th (penalty)
  • James Wharton (Junior Rok): Q35 of 95 (Group E). H1 – 6th, H2 – 9th. H3 – 30th. H4 – 7th. H5 – 8th. Ranking – 30th. FINAL – 8th.
  • Christian Mansell (Junior Rok): Q9 of 95 (Group C). H1 – 3rd, H2 – 7th. H3 – 5th. H4 – 22nd. H5 – 7th. Ranking – 20th. FINAL – 12th.
  • Marcos Flack (Mini Rok): Q2 of 140 (Group F). H1 – 2nd. H2 – 5th. H3 – 3rd. H4 – 2nd. Ranking (Series 2) – 5th. FINAL – 34th (DNF)
  • Jimmy Piszcyk (Mini Rok): Q58 of 140 (Group I). H1 – 28th. H2 – 15th. H3 – 10th. H4 – 27th. Ranking (Series 2) – 50th.
  • Cody Maynes-Rutty (Mini Rok): Q77 of 140 (Group D). H1 – 6th. H2 – 8th. H3 – 11th. H4 – 12th. Ranking (Series 1) – 21st. SINGHA TROPHY – 6th.
  • Joe Fawcett (Mini Rok): Q30 of 140 (Group L). H1 – 8th. H2 – 5th. H3 – 9th. H4 – 28th. Ranking (Series 2) – 26th. SINGHA TROPHY – 9th.
  • Cadel Ambrose (Mini Rok): Q87 of 140 (Group D). H1 – 11th. H2 – 13th. H3 – 14th. H4 – 16th. Ranking (Series 1) – 33rd. SINGHA TROPHY – 30th.

Full results HERE.

Some Aussie Rokkers in the driver parade (pic – Fawcett/Facebook)

 

IAME Press

The qualifying heats on the Le Mans international karting circuit ended in summer-like temperatures and brilliant sunlight, which highlighted the performances of the 466 drivers that started this prestigious event. Thanks to the excellent organisation put in place by IAME, the 3-days spectacle has been absolutely mind-blowing with non-stop overtaking, marvellous comebacks, and as always, unexpected twists of fate! The pressure is going to ramp up even further as everybody gears up for the Finals. Who are the warriors who will have the joy of stepping up onto the podium? Answer on Sunday evening 14th October.

X30 Junior: The British make a big impact

With four victories and two second places, British driver Lewis Gilbert (Kosmic) gave an impressive display in the qualifying heats putting him on pole for Sunday morning’s pre-final, which will decide the grid positions for the final. His fellow-countryman, Georgi Dimitrov (Exprit) scored five wins but his worst result, fifth, dropped him back to second place in front of two other drivers from the United Kingdom: Alex Lloyd (FA Kart) and Taylor Barnard (KR). Dilano Van’T Hoff (Exprit), 21st on the timing sheets made a great comeback to seal fifth place in front of the quickest of the Belgians, Sam Balota (Exprit), and the leading Frenchman, Loris Cabirou (Kosmic).



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Mini: Brent Crews is aiming for a back to back victory

Brent Crews (KR) who won in 2017 has already surprised his rivals by signalling to them that he is determined to keep his title by winning his three heats. Englishman Freddie Slater (KR), Maxens Verbrugge (Parolin), William Macintyre (KR), in second, fourth and fifth places respectively, also clinched a victory. Spaniard Miguel Peiro Luzarraga (FA Kart) opted for consistency and slotted into third thanks to the number of points he racked up.

X30 Master: Peurière holds on to the lead

François Peurière (Tony Kart) managed to take first place in the qualifying heats against Peruvian Gustavo Michelsen (Exprit) who clinched one victory. Another French driver, Wilfrid Lecarpentier (Kosmic), still has a card up his sleeve thanks to his third position. At the moment he’s lying third in front of Gary Turkington (Kosmic), winner of the last heat on Saturday. Among the Gentlemen over 45 years old in the Masters peloton, it is indecision that reigns among several drivers.

Super Shifter: 4 heats, 4 winners!

As is the case in all the categories the gaps between the title contenders are very small. While Belgian Frédéric Op De Beeck (Formula K) emerged victorious in the first heat, three other drivers also scored wins: Nicolas Rohrbasser from Switzerland (Kosmic), British driver Thomas Bale (Kosmic) and another Swiss Kevin Lüdi (Kosmic). So a few calculations were necessary to see that De Beeck will be on pole for the pre-final in front of Bale, Rohrbasser and Lüdi. On Sunday morning, Prassetyo (Tony Kart) from Poland and Estonian Sten Dorian Piirimagi (Exprit) will share the third row of the grid.

Super: Callum Bradshaw’s flawless performance

Callum Bradshaw (CRG) has laid down the law to his rivals since the start of the event with its powerful 175cc X30 Super engine. The Englishman, who already set pole, won all four qualifying heats. Just behind came his fellow-countryman Danny Keirle (KR) who was as quick as he was consistent, while Yannick De Brabander (Praga) from Belgium bagged third in front of Greek Filippos Kalesis (Tony Kart) and Nicklas Nielsen (Praga). It’s very probable that the winner of the final will be found among these five drivers.

Senior: Joey Van Splunteren’s experience pays off

After it rained during qualifying, the qualifying heats (28 in total) led to amazing races and the positions at the top changed frequently as the heats unfolded. Dutchman Joey van Splunteren (KR), who’s no stranger to these big international events, shone and was first in the intermediate classification in front of Frenchman, Charles Tesnière (Kosmic). British driver Harry Thompson (Exprit), who’s one of the new talents in the category and finished third ahead of his fellow-countrymen, Thomas Turner (CompKart) and Clayton Ravenscroft (Kosmic). Australian Pierce Lehane who set pole on Wednesday evening and won three heats fell back to sixth, but is still one to watch out for. Behind them, several other drivers won at least one heat and are determined to carry on the good work!

There will be yet another full, action-packed program on Sunday 14 October with 12 Warm-Ups, 6 C or B Finals, 6 Pre-Finals and 6 Finals!

Thanks to all the 466 Warriors and good luck for the Finals’ day!



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