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| July 13, 2011 |
| TAG Challenge International - Round 2 Report |
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 | Junior winner Etienne Mordret
(Photo: Bas Kaligis - RGMMC Media) |
The competition was close when it came down to the finals under the heat of the Spanish sun at round 2 of the TAG Challenge International series powered by IAME hosted by the Circuito Internacional de Zuera over the weekend. The three Parilla X30 engine classes being contested at the event in the newly introduced series were claimed by all new winners, keeping the championship race alive and kicking for the first ever European IAME X30 title fight going into the deciding round next month in Germany.
IAME X30 Seniors
After qualifying on pole in Friday’s official timed practice ahead of series leader Martin Vanhove, Roberto Ugena was unable to secure more than one victory in the qualifying heats the next day, leaving the local driver ranked third in the X30 Senior class for the pre-final grid Sunday morning. Taking the honours however in the remaining two heats, Belgium’s Jeremy Peclers grabbed pole position for the first of the finals, only two points ahead of Quentin Rongier of France. Vanhove would start from grid 4.
At the beginning of the pre-final, the pole-sitter was under pressure for a short time until the leading pack got into a scuffle that saw Rongier fall back to just inside the top 10. He did work his way through to 4th by the late stages, but the main contender who almost looked like he’d have a shot at the lead in the last laps was race pace-setter Ugena. Peclers had the definite advantage of the close battle for minor places, yet may have been slightly worried to have looked back to see the Spaniard directly behind him within a lap of the chequered flag. In 3rd as they crossed the line, Nicolas Amiel had made up three places over the 13-lapper, while Vanhove climbed back to 5th and then Javier Rodelas Castillo.
With the afternoon temperatures reaching nearly 40°C combined with a gusty Zaragoza breeze, the final was 16 laps of pretty hot racing action on the fast 1700 metre Zuera circuit. The lead was initially taken by Amiel until Vanhove passed early in lap 2 and Peclers relegated Ugena to 4th. Rongier coming off the second row soon made his claim on P3 and the front-runners shuffled again to see Peclers go into the lead, while Nicolas Perez joined in the fight for a top 5 position with Rongier and Andrea Suau.
As the laps wound down, the first four were nose to tail and further behind places changed constantly as the dicing raged-on. With five to go, Amiel looked for the chance to pass Peclers, as his Alpha team mate Perez slotted in to 3rd ahead of Vanhove. With just a lap left to run Amiel was close, but appeared to hesitate and settle for a safe 2nd behind Peclers, which he was still obviously pleased about; as was Perez taking 3rd.
Vanhove was fastest on track in the final and holds onto his lead in the championship by 6 points ahead of the round 2 winner. In 5th, Rongier had a clear gap over Henrik Thouvenel, as he did to first round winner Sebastien Le Gleuher in 7th. Suau took P8, and then came Joffrey De Narda and Jeremy Lopes, who still remains in contention for the title in 3rd overall. The points are very close for the next 10 drivers ahead of the last round, with a total of 41 senior entries in the championship so far.
Jeremy Peclers – “It wasn’t so easy compared to the practice andqualifying heats; there was much more overtaking in the finals which made it more difficult. I wasn’t the fastest on track, but I made some smart moves and the other competitors were driving fairly, so I could stay in the lead. The team was perfect and we worked well together. Also having my team-mate Luc Lefevre on 2nd in Masters makes it a good result. Now we’re aiming for the title for sure. We had a good result in Salbris and we have been very fast in the practice, but yesterday I was not always so focussed in the racing. However, now we’re heading for the win at the next round in Germany, so I hope we will be strong there... we’ll cross our fingers! I want to say thank you especially to my mechanic, to the whole team at RSD, particularly to my brother as I wouldn’t be driving without him. Also, to my family who has always supported me and my wife, whom I love very much!”
 | Senior podium
(Photo: Bas Kaligis - RGMMC Media) |
IAME X30 Juniors
French youngster Florian Latorre repeated his round 1 clean sweep of the qualifying practice and heat racing at the Zuera event to take P1 for the pre-final. The official Sodikart-supported driver is eager to keep his championship lead in the new IAME Parilla X30 Junior class and add the European trophy to his personal collection in 2011. Just off the pace Friday by 0.091 seconds, Benoit Philips of Luxembourg had triple top 3 finishes in the races Saturday to land P2 alongside Latorre on the start grid Sunday, while row 2 was made up of a French-Portuguese combination by Julien Darras and Bruno de Oliviera.
The first of the finals was another exciting race, as would be the final to follow. Latorre led the way to take the win more than a second to his closest rival, with P2 swapping several times between Darras and the flamboyant Paola Besancenez from row 3. Beranger Dierckx set the best lap and mixed it with the front-runners in a nose-to-tail threesome towards the race end, attempting to steal 3rd in the last lap unsuccessfully. Coming into the meeting, Charles Machado was placed 2nd in the series points, but a disappointing qualifying saw him outside the first 10 Friday. He drove a good race to come from grid 15 to 8th, unlike Philips who would have been upset to complete only 3 laps and then retire from the event.
Latorre lost the start in the final immediately to Besancenez, although he climbed back into 1st on lap 2 and they traded places on and off for another two laps until the TAG Challenge International series top 3 driver Etienne Mordret pushed past both of them to assume 1st for half a lap. Besancenez reclaimed the lead and once more the pace-setter Mordret took it again. In 3rd, Latorre watched the pair dicing, but couldn’t catch them as the leader increased his speed. A good battle between Darras and Javier Cobian resulted in both juniors losing ground when they ran wide and fell outside the first 5 in the opening laps, although the remaining drivers kept the fight for a top 5 position going. The deserving win in a fantastic race to the line went to Mordret, which moves him up to 2nd in the series ahead of Machado. Beyond this, the points are close, as in the X30 Senior category. Latorre was overtaken a few laps from the finish by Darras, who was later penalised three-seconds for leaving the corridor before the lights changed at the start and was classified 5th, therefore handing Latorre another podium and a secure 10-point lead in the championship. 4th went to Dierckx, then Darras and Olivier, with Machado 7th in front of Alex Nova and Alex Marco. Rounding out the top 10 was Inigo Bikuna.
Etienne Mordret – “It was a good weekend for me, but not in the beginning, as we had some problems with the engine. But finally we could solve these and I could do a good job in the finals and win. At the moment I don’t know if we can win the title; we’ll see what happens once were at Wackersdorf, but if everything is working well, why not? The team is quite satisfied this weekend, mostly with the final race in particular. I would like to say thanks to my family, especially to my dad, who allows me to race karts, to the people who support me, my mechanic Cederic, the team at CBK and my engine engineer Thierry.”
 | Mario Barros
(Photo: Bas Kaligis - RGMMC Media) |
X30 Masters
Series newcomer Christophe Adams made an impressive start to the weekend in the Masters by posting the best time in the qualifying practice session ahead of the current championship leader Luc Lefevre. However, Adams was also racing in the IAME X30 Senior class and after suffering some issues with the equipment early in the event, decided not to complete all the Masters heats Saturday. The victory in all three of the races instead belonged to first round winner Lefevre, who was joined by Philippe Pecheny on the front row of the pre-final grid Sunday. Luca Blasi ranked 3rd and Mario Barros 4th by just 2 points.
In the pre-final, Lefevre got a good start and remained unchallenged for the entire 13 laps as Adams struggled to find the straight line speed he needed to close the gap, although he gained through the tighter sections of the track, only to lose it on the long 180 metre stretch. However, he did set the quickest lap of the pre-final while Pecheny and Barrios a distance behind had a good battle between themselves for 3rd place, followed by Blasi in 5th. Once again, Lefevre led the final from the lights with Pecheny chasing after Adams fell down the order through turn 1, but he come through to pass Barrios for 3rd on lap 3. Next time around, Adams was in 2nd and closing the gap to the leader, as the ongoing Masters rivalry continued between Pecheny and Barrios fighting for a place on the podium. By the half-way mark, Lefevre was under pressure from Adams, who managed to get by in lap 8 only for Lefevre to take advantage of the ‘Zuera slipstream’ and regain 1st position. It was short-lived, as Adams fought back and held the lead with enough pace to pull a gap. In the meantime, Barrios had lost momentum in the battle for minor placings, dropping to last and having to work his way through again to P3, but the dicing went on until the late stages of the race.
Adams set the best race lap for both finals and proved too strong by the end of the 16 laps, drawing out the gap across the finish line to almost three seconds ahead of Lefevre, who now holds a comfortable lead for the Parilla X30 Masters European title in the 2011 Tag Challenge International with one round remaining. Adams goes into 2nd in the overall standings on his successful debut in Spain, while Ludovic Breton, who in fact missed the Zuera meeting, sits just two points behind the second round winner. Elated with 3rd, Pecheny led his Eurokarting team-mate Blasi to the flag and Barrios had to settle for 5th.
Christophe Adams – “We had a few challenges this weekend, but for me it was okay for my first time racing in this class. I started 2nd in the final and at the first corner I was last, but we found improved performance form the engine after the pre-final, so it was good. In the end I’m happy; though in the beginning I was not so happy because I was lost a little with the settings not knowing what was best. I still had a lot of fun and enjoyed racing here in Zuera, and to be part of the TAG Challenge International series. I want to thank Tyson at Tys Design for making it possible to race here and do two classes. It was a lot of work, but we did it and it was a very good result for us to be on the podium as the winner.”
RGMMC - 2011 TAG Challenge International race schedule
The third and final round to decide the 2011 TAG Challenge International champions in the IAME Parilla X30 classes will take place at the ProKart Raceland circuit at Wackersdorf, Germany from August 4 to 7. All results from Round 2 at Zuera can be found at the official series homepage - http://www.tagchallenge.com
Go to YouTube the check out KARTWORLDTV for some great interviews and highlights from Zuera, as well as the opening round at Salbris. Just type in “RGMMC Tag Challenge – Zuera 2011” or follow the direct link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K6j7sNMOE0&feature=related
FINAL RESULTS
TAG Challenge International, Round 2 (Zuera, Spain)
IAME X30 Seniors
1 – Jeremy Peclers Belgium
Kosmic/RSD Karting
2 – Nicolas Amiel France
Alpha/Alpha Karting
3 – Nicolas Perez France
Alpha/Alpha Karting
IAME X30 Juniors
1 – Etienne Mordret France
Zanardi/CBK
2 – Paolo Besancenez France
Sodikart
3 – Florian Latorre France
Sodikart/Eurokarting.be
IAME X30 Masters
1 – Christophe Adams Belgium
Kosmic/Tys Design
2 – Luc Lefevre Belgium
Kosmic/RSD Karting
3 – Philippe Pecheny Belgium
DR/Eurokarting.be |
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