Drivers and teams met in Belgium for the second round of the CIK-FIA European Championship for KZ on the weekend and it was CRG’s Paolo De Conto who came through for the win for the second event in succession.
The meeting also included KZ2 and in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy in which Beau Russell was competing.
Unfortunately, the young Victorian was knocked out of the competition after the qualifying heats where only the top 34 progressed to the final.
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De Conto bids for the KZ title
Paolo De Conto (CRG-TM-Bridgestone), once again, made himself conspicuous in KZ. The Italian driver, after his victory in the season-opener in Sarno, won in Genk too.
The battle in the Final was a tough one since the very beginning; also the French Anthony Abbasse (Sodi-TM) – the best driver in Qualifying and the pole-sitter of the decisive race – aimed at victory but De Conto, on lap three, had already closed the gap starting from the fourth slot on the grid.
De Conto gained an early lead, while the two Dutch drivers Marijn Kremers (BirelArt-TM) and Stan Pex (CRG-TM) – who finished in second and third position – followed in close pursuit. On the other hand, Abbasse had to settle for the fourth place.
Thanks to this victory , De Conto’s leadership of the category is steadier.
| Rnk | No. | Driver | Equipment | Gap | Best Lap |
| 1 | 4 | De Conto, Paolo | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 52.21 | |
| 2 | 20 | Kremers, Marijn | Birel Art / TM Racing / B’stone | 0.172 | 52.192 |
| 3 | 17 | Pex, Stan | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 1.345 | 52.159 |
| 4 | 5 | Abbasse, Anthony | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 2.432 | 52.205 |
| 5 | 94 | Hiltbrand Aguilar, Pedro | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 2.61 | 52.264 |
| 6 | 2 | Hajek, Patrik | Kosmic / Vortex / B’stone | 4.193 | 52.086 |
| 7 | 10 | Dreezen, Rick | Birel Art / Vortex / B’stone | 7.354 | 52.346 |
| 8 | 12 | Lundberg, Douglas | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 8.666 | 52.478 |
| 9 | 18 | Corberi, Luca | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 9.463 | 52.354 |
| 10 | 6 | Puhakka, Simo | Kosmic / Vortex / B’stone | 11.207 | 52.183 |
| 11 | 9 | Fore, Davide | Righetti Ridolfi / TM Racing / B’stone | 11.738 | 52.481 |
| 12 | 22 | Torsellini, Mirko | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 11.906 | 52.529 |
| 13 | 14 | Carlton, Gary | Formula K / TM Racing / B’stone | 14.659 | 52.622 |
| 14 | 19 | Tiene, Felice | Birel Art / TM Racing / B’stone | 15.873 | 52.532 |
| 15 | 8 | Lammers, Bas | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 29.68 | 52.219 |
| 16 | 21 | Kuovi, Jan | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 30.726 | 53.05 |
| 17 | 93 | Deharte, Julien | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 34.957 | 53.347 |
| 18 | 16 | Dale, Andrea | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 22 Laps | 55.694 |
| 19 | 11 | Pex, Jorrit | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 23 Laps | |
| 1 | Ardigo, Marco | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | DNS |
Viganò wins in KZ2
In KZ2 the new frontrunner is the Italian Matteo Viganò. He had a good start from the front row and managed to pass the German Leon Köhler (both the drivers on Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone), the pole-sitter of the Final.
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Köhler tried to keep Viganò’s pace, but after a few laps he got overtaken by the Italian Alex Irlando (Sodi-TM), the runner-up of the race. Hard luck for another Italian, Riccardo Longhi (BirelArt-TM): he placed third after overtaking Köhler but was hit by a 10-second penalty for the misplacement of his front fairing.
Vigano’s victory allowed him to grab the first position of the KZ2 standings.
| Rnk | No. | Driver | Equipment | Gap | Best Lap |
| 1 | 301 | Vigano, Matteo | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 52.465 | |
| 2 | 302 | Irlando, Alessandro | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 1.087 | 52.538 |
| 3 | 332 | Köhler, Leon | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 2.538 | 52.562 |
| 4 | 327 | Van Leeuwen, Martijn | Energy Corse / TM Racing / B’stone | 3.527 | 52.572 |
| 5 | 306 | Leuillet, Tom | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 7.353 | 52.657 |
| 6 | 311 | Gonzales, Nicolas | Maranello / TM Racing / B’stone | 7.994 | 52.716 |
| 7 | 308 | Skäras, Emil | Tony Kart / TM Racing / B’stone | 9.103 | 52.738 |
| 8 | 322 | Baciuska, Rokas | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 10.798 | 52.606 |
| 9 | 310 | Ippolito, Paolo | Lenzokart / LKE / B’stone | 11.603 | 52.739 |
| 10 | 358 | Longhi, Riccardo | Birel Art / TM Racing / B’stone | 12.13 | 52.441 |
| 11 | 329 | Petit, Hubert | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 12.773 | 52.794 |
| 12 | 320 | Persson Tornqvist, Benjamin | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 14.4 | 52.663 |
| 13 | 364 | Rasmussen, Oliver | Kosmic / Vortex / B’stone | 15.657 | 52.69 |
| 14 | 303 | Davies, Dylan | DR / Modena Engines / B’stone | 16.311 | 52.813 |
| 15 | 336 | Renaudin, Adrien | Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone | 17.123 | 52.896 |
| 16 | 313 | Iacovacci, Francesco | Luxor / LKE / B’stone | 17.761 | 52.751 |
| 17 | 326 | Cebrian Ariza, Gerard | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 18.49 | 52.92 |
| 18 | 305 | Dahlberg, Alexander | Birel Art / TM Racing / B’stone | 18.533 | 52.653 |
| 19 | 317 | Johansson, Andreas | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 19.079 | 52.929 |
| 20 | 335 | Giardelli, Alessandro | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 19.375 | 52.931 |
| 21 | 365 | Luyet, Jean | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 21.794 | 52.823 |
| 22 | 345 | Landais, Thomas | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 22.757 | 52.936 |
| 23 | 342 | Westerholm, Jesper | Tony Kart / TM Racing / B’stone | 22.872 | 52.971 |
| 24 | 359 | Levi, Ariel | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 23.219 | 52.98 |
| 25 | 331 | Prosperi, Enrico | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 23.894 | 53.054 |
| 26 | 307 | Piccini, Alessio | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 23.895 | 52.868 |
| 27 | 341 | Al Rawahi, Abdullah | Birel Art / TM Racing / B’stone | 25.421 | 53.225 |
| 28 | 312 | Picot, Nicolas | Tony Kart / Vortex / B’stone | 32.662 | 53.047 |
| 29 | 309 | Loubere, Pierre | Zanardi / Parilla / B’stone | 16 Laps | 52.793 |
| 30 | 304 | Schmitz, Alexander | CRG / Vortex / B’stone | 17 Laps | 53.082 |
| 31 | 314 | Rosati, Fabrizio | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 18 Laps | 53.164 |
| 32 | 325 | Celenta, Francesco | Praga / TM Racing / B’stone | 19 Laps | 53.387 |
| 33 | 355 | Gomes E.S. Di Mauro, Gaetano | CRG / TM Racing / B’stone | 22 Laps | 59.393 |
| 34 | 323 | Forslöf, David | Tony Kart / TM Racing / B’stone | 23 Laps |
van Vugt is the first leader of the Academy Trophy
The weekend of the Exprit-Vortex-Bridgestone one-make series said that, at the moment, the Dutch Mike van Vugt is the driver to beat. He finished the Heats in the top positions then, in the Final, he kept the lead until the chequered flag.
Behind him, the Belgian Xavier Handsaeme seemed to be able to arrive in second despite a bad start, but the Dutch Tijmen van der Helm – sixth on the grid – did even better and passed the Belgian to gain the second place.
So, after today’s first appointment, the top positions of the Academy Trophy standings are occupied by van Vugt, Helm and Handsaeme.
| Rnk | No. | Driver | Equipment | Gap | Best Lap |
| 1 | 506 | van Vugt, Mike | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 56.358 | |
| 2 | 505 | van der Helm, Tijmen | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 7.959 | 56.653 |
| 3 | 508 | Handsaeme, Xavier | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 8.844 | 56.813 |
| 4 | 502 | Taylor, Joseph | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 9.275 | 56.744 |
| 5 | 541 | Day, Jamie | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 10.666 | 56.852 |
| 6 | 507 | Pauwels, Kobe | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 10.994 | 56.654 |
| 7 | 511 | Meguetounif, Sami | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 12.079 | 56.695 |
| 8 | 546 | Zanfari, Suleiman | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 12.467 | 56.849 |
| 9 | 510 | Leger, Dylan | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 14.372 | 56.853 |
| 10 | 516 | Daniele, Joseph | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 14.998 | 56.658 |
| 11 | 528 | Ferati, Jasin | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 15.319 | 56.588 |
| 12 | 503 | Nord, Gabriel | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 16.117 | 56.642 |
| 13 | 533 | Nurmi, Luka | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 16.427 | 56.635 |
| 14 | 521 | North, Jordan | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 16.689 | 56.668 |
| 15 | 509 | Skov Skjellerup, Oliver | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 21.369 | 56.571 |
| 16 | 543 | Caglioni, Leonardo | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 23.614 | 57.063 |
| 17 | 504 | Wernersson, Theo Tomas G. | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 24.493 | 56.606 |
| 18 | 534 | Wagenknecht, Jan | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 29.854 | 57.039 |
| 19 | 537 | Akabi, Ali | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 29.977 | 57.162 |
| 20 | 551 | Zagazeta Castro, Matias | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 30.28 | 56.647 |
| 21 | 501 | Simmonds, Alexander | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 31.032 | 56.834 |
| 22 | 514 | Fontecha Martinez, Ayrton | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 32.044 | 56.839 |
| 23 | 512 | Jakobsen, Jenny Susann | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 35.191 | 57.21 |
| 24 | 520 | Visser, Charl Michael | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 35.814 | 56.714 |
| 25 | 517 | Denmark-Gessel, Jace | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 36.135 | 56.5 |
| 26 | 535 | Skulj, Mark | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 39.914 | 57.249 |
| 27 | 544 | Chandra, Akhelaa | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 40.471 | 57.185 |
| 28 | 549 | Pino Munoz, Nicolas Ignacio | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 41.091 | 57.701 |
| 29 | 513 | Bergmeister, Jakob | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 7 Laps | 57.487 |
| 30 | 518 | Okuzumi, Jiei | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 10 Laps | 57.145 |
| 31 | 515 | Moya Lopez, Ruben | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 11 Laps | 57.626 |
| 32 | 525 | Melo D. Porto, Francisco | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 14 Laps | 57.048 |
| 33 | 523 | Gu, Ziyue | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 18 Laps | 01:06.8 |
| 34 | 548 | Fabris, Nicolas | Exprit / Vortex / B’stone | 19 Laps |
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