Arnaud Kozlinski of France was crowned 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Champion after a fantastic battle between some of the best karters in the world. Close behind Kozlinski was Aaro Vainio of Finland, followed by Briton Ben Hanley. Hosted in Asia for the first time in history, the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship had to be halted five laps early due to rain, but that did nothing to detract from the enormously exciting on-track action.

Asia karters also did well today, and in the supporting Asian Karting Open Championship, Japan’s Koki Hoshino was the top-finisher in the Formula 125 Senior Open, while Hong Kong’s Lam Ho Yin and Tommy Tang Chi Ming won both the Rotax Max Senior and the Rotax Max Veteran classes.

CIK-FIA World Karting Championship

Kozlinski became the first Frenchman to win a world championship in the sport’s highest category, Super KF, and the 28-year old was ecstatic to have been crowned in Macau: “I can’t believe it,” a beaming Kozlinski said. “After the rain started, I knew it was going to be a long and difficult race and that I could not make any mistakes. I was lucky because Aaro was in front of me and he showed me the way and we escaped together, and then I was able to get by him and get in front.”

Kozlinski, who finished second in both the 2003 and 2004 CIK-FIA World Karting Championships, continued: “I love racing in Asia, and I tend to do well here as I have been here three times now and all three times I was on the podium!”

The day began with the remaining four 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship Qualifying Heats and, with only the top 34 of the 42 competitors moving into the Pre-Final and Final, the sessions were intensely competitive. Once the six sessions were complete, it was Kozlinski who had earned pole position for the Pre-Final, with Vaino second and Frenchman Manuel Renaudie third. Renaudie would finish seventh in the Final.

After comfortably winning the 13-lap Pre-Final with a two-second lead over compatriot Brandon Maïsano, Kozlinski started from pole position for the afternoon Final ahead of Maïsano, Vainio, Hanley, Renaudie, and defending world champion Marco Ardigò of Italy.

The Final began with Renaudie charge ahead and grab the lead. The action-packed race saw Ardigò, aiming for a third consecutive championship title, move up to third by the second lap. Ardigò would later finish ninth.

Eventual champion, Kozlinski re-gained the lead on the fourth lap, only to have Ardigò snatch it from him shortly thereafter. Vainio followed suit demoting Kozlinski to third, before the pair made it past the Italian.


Rain began to fall ten laps into the race and though Vainio held on for the majority of the remaining laps, Kozlinski grabbed the lead from the young Finn just in time to win his first CIK-FIA World Karting Championship. Meanwhile, Hanley, who had been fastest in the practice sessions, had fallen back after an early incident. However, the Briton brilliantly worked his way back up through the field to finish third: “I kind of knew the race would be called (stopped) with the rain, so I took a few more risks,” Hanley said. “At the same time, I’ve now finished third twice now, so it would be nice to finish higher!”

As the race had started in dry conditions, the karts were shot with slick tyres and, once it began to rain heavily, it had to be halted after 20 laps when. Rounding out the top five were Jonathan Thonon of Belgium and Italian Flavio Camponeschi.

Despite just missing out on the cut for Final, Macau’s João Afonso said the experience of racing at the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship had been memorable: “It’s been a great experience and one I won’t forget,” said Afonso, who became the first Macau karter to race at the pinnacle of the sport. “I’ve learned a lot this weekend and it was definitely difficult to race against the some of the best, but I’ve enjoyed myself.”

Racing in just his first year at the top level of the sport, the 16-year old Vainio was ecstatic. “When I heard the World Championship was going to be in Macau, I thought: ‘Super!’. It’s been a great competition here. I’m extremely happy to be second. I was leading, but it started to rain and Arnaud started to catch up to me. I knew he was a bit faster, and so I just had to do my best. Second is not bad at all.”

 

Pos.	No.	Name	Entrant	Gap
1	20	Arnaud Kozlinski (FRA)	CRG (ITA)
2	11	Aaro Vainio (FIN)	Maranello Kart (ITA)	+1.008
3	38	Ben Hanley (GBR)	Marnello Kart (ITA)	+6.103
4	18	Jonathan Thonon (BEL)	CRG (ITA)	+7.376
5	35	Flavio Camponeschi (ITA)	Tony Kart Racing Team (ITA)	+9.255
6	12	Yannick De Brabander (BEL)	EGP Racing (BEL)	+12.612
7	6	Manuel Renaudie (FRA)	PDB Racing Team (NDL)	+13.832
8	37	Alessandro Bressan (ITA)	Kosmic Racing Dept (ITA)	+15.379
9	1	Marco Ardigò (ITA)	Tony Kart Racing Team (ITA)	+15.841
10	16	Simo Puhakka (FIN)	PCR (ITA)	+16.917

 

For the first time, Jordan King raced in the rain today. The Briton, who consistently topped practice and qualifying sessions throughout the weekend, saw his efforts rewarded with a well-deserved victory in the CIK-FIA Asia Pacific KF3 Championship held at Macau’s karting circuit on Coloane.

“I don’t mind rain. I’m quick in the rain but I have never been out racing in the rain,” he said following his win. When asked what was going through his mind before the race, King replied: “I was thinking about what lines to take on the track. Once I was out on the rolling lap, I then tried to find those lines.”

King, driving a Maranello kart, added: “My engine was sputtering as I came out of pit lane. I then had to adjust my carburettor to find which position was near perfect. Then water was beginning to seep into the engine, and towards the end it got worse but I managed to hold on.”

King’s lead was 2.782 seconds by Lap 17. When asked about the prospect of returning to Macau, King said: “I won’t be in F-3 in a month! Maybe in the next 2 to 3 years, we’ll see what happens!”

By the flag, King had opened up a margin of 6.233 seconds from New Zealand karter Arie Hutton. Hutton, driving a Tony Kart, dropped to 3rd place after the first lap but managed to grab 2nd by the flag. Challenging Hutton at every turn was 3rd placed karter Giuliano Niceta, also in a Tony Kart. Niceta, winner of the CIK-FIA KF3 World Cup last month, was looking for a way past Hutton but to no avail.

2009 CIK-FIA Asia Pacific Karting Championship – KF3
Top 10 Results

 

Pos	No.	Name	Entrant	Gap
1	103	Jordan KING (GBR)	Maranello Kart
2	102	Arie HUTTON (NZL)	Hutton, Robert	+2.782
3	101	Giuliano Maria NICETA (ITA)	Morsicani Racing	+3.734
4	117	William WHITELOCK(GBR)	Ricky Flynn Racing	+13.889
5	106	Franco Puey REYES (PHI)	Simon Racing Team	+57.746
6	109	Andhika SASABONE (INA)	Andhika Racing Team	+1 Lap
7	110	Matthew SOLOMON (HKG)	Mattsolomon Racing	+1 Lap
8	111	Giada DE ZEN (ITA)	Tony Kart Junior RT	+15 Laps
9	115	Clio TJONNADI (ROI)	Go Serge Motorsport	+17 Laps
10	112	Kevin SUSILO (ITA)	DR Srl	+19 Laps

 

KART No. 車號	ENTRANT	中文姓名	COUNTRY 國籍	TEAM 車隊
101	Giuliano Maria NICETA	拿斯達	ITA / 意大利	Morsicani Racing
102	Arie HUTTON	候頓	NZL / 新西蘭	Robert Hutton
103	Jordan KING	京治	GBR / 英國	Maranello Kart
104	Gustavo MENEZES	文尼沙	SWE / 瑞典	Tony Kart Junior RT
105	Jordi ORIOLA	佐迪	ESP / 西班牙	Genikart-LTP
106	Franco Puey REYES	韋爾	PHI / 菲律賓	Simon Racing Team
107	Philo PAZ PATRIC ARMAND	阿曼	INE / 印尼	Tony Kart Racing Team
109	Andhika SASABONE	沙沙邦	GBR / 英國	Andhika Racing Team
110	Matthew SOLOMON	所羅門	HKG / 香港	Mattsolomon Racing
111	Giada DE ZEN	迪辛	ITA / 意大利	Tony Kart Junior RT
112	Kevin SUSILO	蘇士盧	ITA / 意大利	DR Srl
114	Andrew TANG	鄧安地	SIN / 新加坡	Maddox
115	Clio TJONNADI	杜拿迪	INE / 印尼	Go Serge Motorsport
117	William WHITELOCK	韋洛克	GBR / 英國	Ricky Flynn Motorsport

KART No.車號	ENTRANT	中文姓名	COUNTRY 國籍	TEAM 車隊
1	Marco ARDIGÒ	阿迪高	ITA / 意大利	Tony Kart Racing Team
2	Libor TOMAN	杜文	CZE / 捷克	Birel Motorsport
3	Gary CATT	卡特	GBR / 英國	Tony Kart Racing Team
5	Davide FORÈ	科爾	ITA / 意大利	CRG
6	Manuel RENAUDIE	雲奴迪	FRA / 法國	PDB Racing Team
11	Aaro VAINIO	華尼奧	FIN / 芬蘭	Maranello Kart
12	Yannick, DE BRABANDER	迪巴賓達	BEL / 比利時	EGP Racing
14	Jason PARROTT	柏羅特	GBR / 英國	MGM Racing
15	Oliver ROWLAND	路蘭	GBR / 英國	Chiesa Corse
16	Simo PUHAKKA	普哈卡	FIN / 芬蘭	PCR
18	Jonathan THONON	科朗	BEL / 比利時	CRG
19	Sauro CESETTI	施錫堤	ITA / 意大利	Birel Motorsport
20	Arnaud KOZLINSKI	高斯連斯基	FRA / 法國	CRG
21	Robert FOSTER-JONES	科士達-鍾斯	GBR / 英國	Ricky Flynn Motorsport
22	Miika KUNRANTA	官蘭特	FIN / 芬蘭	MGM Racing
23	Richard BRADLEY	巴特利	GBR / 英國	Maddox
24	Luca GIACOMELLO	基亞高美路	ITA / 意大利	Chiesa Corse
27	Sinan VAN DER RAAD	雲達拉特	NED / 荷蘭	PCR
29	Laura TILLETT	泰爾列	GBR / 英國	PDB Racing Team
30	Tin SRITRAI	舒里猜	THI / 泰國	Birel Pacific Motor Sport
31	Kazuya ISHII	石井和也	JPN / 日本	Birel Pacific Motor Sport
32	Davide GAGGIANESI	加基安尼斯	ITA / 意大利	Genikart-LTP
33	Joao  AFONSO	阿方素	MAC / 澳門	Joao  AFONSO
34	Armand CONVERS	康華斯	FRA / 法國	Kosmic Racing Dept
35	Flavio CAMPONESCHI	金普尼斯治	ITA / 意大利	Tony Kart Racing Team
36	David ZHU	朱戴維	CHN / 中國	Tony Kart Racing Team
37	Alessandro BRESSAN	比辛	ITA / 意大利	Kosmic Racing Dept
38	Ben HANLEY	漢利	GBR / 英國	Maranello Kart
39	CAO Hongwei	曹宏煒	CHN / 中國	Tony Kart Racing Team
40	CHONG Chuen Yee, Vica	莊存義	HKG / 香港	Org Sun Racing
41	Zdenek GROMAN	哥魯文	CZE / 捷克	Hagemann Racing
42	Tereza GROMANOVÁ	哥魯文路華	CZE / 捷克	Hagemann Racing
43	Brandon MAISANO	馬爾沙奴	FRA / 法國	CRG
44	Tanart SATHIENTHIRAKUL	沙天迪拿高	THI / 泰國	Maddox
45	WONG Tim Wai	黃添偉	HKG / 香港	Advance Racing
46	Mark LITCHFIELD	列治菲	GBR / 英國	Maranello Kart
47	J. Stefano MARCELO	馬些路	PHI / 菲律賓	Tony Kart Racing Team
48	Aurélien FORGERON	科基朗	FRA / 法國	Chiesa Corse
49	Tom GRICE	格拉斯	GBR / 英國	Birel Motorsport
50	Eddy TININI	田年尼	ITA / 意大利	CRG
51	Andi JAKILE	查基利	INE / 印尼	Shadaff Motorsport
52	Gianni GAZZURELLI	加蘇拉利	FRA / 法國	Gazzurelli, Gianni

Under a bright afternoon sun, the 42 karters competing in the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship completed another successful day of practice ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying practices and heats at Macau’s Coloane circuit. The field, which includes defending champion Marco Ardigò and four-time world champion David Forè, both Italian, spent the practice sessions working on the perfect set-up for Sunday’s race to decide the world’s best karter of 2009.

Hosted in Asia for the first time CIK-FIA history, the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship has attracted a sterling international field to Macau for the competition. Also part of the Macau International Kart Grand Prix is the 2009 CIK-FIA Karting Asia-Pacific KF3 Championship, as well as a host of support races as part of the Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC).

A few showers Friday morning turned into bright sun by mid-day, and the over 170 competitors from 20 countries and regions were excited to be out on the 1.203-km circuit.

With Macau hosting this year’s competition, competitors throughout Asia who do not have the budgets to compete in Europe have been given the opportunity to compete at the pinnacle of the sport. Mainland China’s David Zhu and Cao Hong Wei become the first Chinese nationals to compete at the CIK-FIA World Karting Championship.

“I really enjoy the sport because the kart is so small and yet it goes so fast,” said Zhu, who started karting at the age of 12. “I find karting very interesting. All of the competitors are extremely fast and I find it quite hard. Today was okay, not bad, but I know I will have to get faster this weekend!”

One of the front-runners for Sunday’s 2009 CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific KF3 Championship, 13-year old Guiliano Niceta of Italy, has been enjoying his first experience racing in Asia. Said the winner of last month’s CIK-FIA KF3 World Cup: “I like the circuit and I will work hard to find the best set-up for my kart.”

Hong Kong’s Matthew Solomon, 13, has been competing in AKOC this year, but has been given the chance to compete in the CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific KF3 Championship this weekend. Solomon elaborated on his strategy for the weekend: “It’s exciting to be here. I am going up against some of the top karters in this class, but I am going to approach this race like any other competition. The standard of racing is much higher, but I will gain as much experience as possible.”

The 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship continues tomorrow with qualifying practices and heats, before Sunday’s championship race.

 With morning qualifying practices determining the starting grid for the qualifying heats of the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship, the competitors were determined to be at the their best ahead of the afternoon racing.

Of the 42 competitors vying for the 2009 world championship title, Great Britain’s Ben Hanley earned pole position, and was the only driver to record a time under 46 seconds throughout the morning qualifying practice sessions. Hanley was followed by Italy’s Alessandro Bressan, Great Britain’s Gary Catt, the young Frenchman Brandon Maïsano, and Aaaro Vainio of Finland. With the top five drivers coming within two-tenths of a second of each other, some competitive racing awaits before crowning Sunday’s 2009 world champion.

With the competitors then separated into four groups for the six different qualifying heats, Hanley was again classified first in qualifying heat A-D, while Bressan finished first in qualifying heat B-C. The top 34 after the qualifying heats will start Sunday’s championship final.

Many of the world’s best karters have arrived in Macau for the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship, the first time the championship is being held in Asia. Among the competitors is two-time defending champion Marco Ardigò, as well as Czech karter Libor Toman, who was second in 2008, and Catt, who finished third in last year’s championship. 

After the two 2009 CIK-FIA Karting Asia-Pacific KF3 Championship morning qualifying practices, Briton Jordan King had clocked the fastest time of 49.16 seconds over the 1.203km circuit.  Spanish karter Jordie Oriola was second fastest in the sessions, just 0.076 behind the leader, while Kevin Susilo of Indonesia was the top Asian karter and had the third-fastest time of 49.351. The sessions were highly competitive, with the top six karters coming within 0.4 seconds of each other.

After the morning sessions, the Stewards of the meeting decided to postpone the remaining CIK-FIA World Karting Championship and KF3 qualifying heats for the day due to issues with the track surface.  A revised provisional race programme will be issued for Sunday.

2009 Macau International Kart Grand Prix
(46th CIK-FIA World Karting Championship)

Free Shuttle Bus Service

Macau, October 8, 2009 – The 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship got underway in Macau today, the first time the event is being held in Asia, and where the world’s best karter will be crowned on Sunday.

Over 170 karters from 20 countries and regions are taking part in the competition, which includes the headlining 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship and the 2009 CIK-FIA Karting Asia-Pacific KF3 Championship, as well as numerous support races as part of the 2009 Macau International Kart Grand Prix.

Thursday’s free practice sessions saw the Kartodromo de Coloane light up with a flurry of action as the 43 competitors taking part in the CIK-FIA World Karting Championship took to the circuit for their first practice session. While some karters were racing in Macau for the first time, others, such as two-time defending world champion Marco Ardigò (ITA), were returning to the SAR for what has become an annual visit.

Ardigò first raced in Macau in 2005 as part of the Macau International Kart Grand Prix. He has since returned each year, and was last year’s CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific Champion in Macau.

“Today’s practice has gone well, but there’s still a long way to go until Sunday’s race,” said Ardigò, who hopes to win a third consecutive title. “At this point, I don’t feel stressed about the race, but it’s probably too early for that! The level of this championship is extremely high. When I first came here it wasn’t a world or regional championship, but when I came here in 2005, I did well and I seem to have always had strong results on this circuit. We’ll see what happens this year.”

João Afonso knows all the intricacies of his home circuit, but the first Macau karter to compete at the pinnacle of the sport spent Thursday taking everything in: “This is by far the most powerful kart I have driven,” Afonso said. “It’s been a fantastic experience today and it will be an exciting race, although it’s the toughest competition I will have ever faced.”

All three of last year’s podium finishers are competing in Macau, with Libro Toman (CZE) and Gary Catt (GBR) also hoping to take home the victor’s laurels. Still, there is plenty of other stiff competition.

Said Manuel Renaudie (FRA) of the championship: “I’ve raced here before for the Asia-Pacific championship and placed third here last year, but it’s something special this year, to have the world championship in Macau. I really enjoy racing on the circuit and having achieved some good results this year, I’m confident enough for Sunday’s race.”

The 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship continues tomorrow with official practices, before Saturday’s qualifying practices and heats and Sunday’s race.