2007 CIK-FIA WORLD CUP KZ1 - EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP KF3 SARNO (ITALY), 30.8/ 2.9

LAUDATO ON THE PODIUM

THE REPRESENTATIVE OF BIREL MOTORPSORT ARRIVED 3RD AND WAS THE FIRST AMONG THE DRIVERS WITH TM ENGINES AHEAD OF HIS TEAM MATES COZZAGLIO (MONZA) AND MICH. BIREL’S COLOURS HAVE ALSO BEEN COMPETITIVE IN KF3 WITH BERETTA AND COLESELLI.

Sarno – The World Cup title for KZ1 and the continental titles for the categories KF3 and KZ2 were awarded in the beautiful setting of the track in Campania. Birel did not manage to achieve success on all fronts, although it showed excellent competitiveness in all categories. Victory went to Thonon (KZ1), Harvey (KF3) and Knopper (KZ2)

World Cup KZ1 – In the top categories expectations were high for the contest among all the big names, who were also joined by the best specialists of KF1. Following the qualifiers and the preliminary legs Thonon, Ardigò and Laudato stood out as the best candidates for success, although Cozzaglio (Monza-Tm) and the French Mich (Birel-Tm) also gave a good performance, which was confirmed in the pre-final. Forè on the other hand did not shine (he was also penalised by going off track, which resulted in a change of chassis) and neither did the couple from Intrepid, Toninelli (Tm engine) and Manetti (Maxter engine), the latter even being obliged to spend the whole race trying to catch up. Sauro Cesetti on the other hand had a very problematic weekend: at the start of one of the legs Lammers bumped into him, whereas in the Pre-final, following a recovery which allowed him to catch up with the top ten, he was once again involved in a collision, this time with Spinozzi. At the start of the Final Laudato thrilled the public with a perfect sprint which surprised both Toninelli and Ardigò from the 2nd row. But the sprint by the winner of the 2005 edition did not last long: first Thonon, then also Ardigò managed in fact to re-conquer the first two positions. Laudato therefore ended in 3rd place in front of Cozzaglio, Mich, Lammers and Kozlinski. In the meantime Cesetti managed to climb up from the rear, quickly reaching the 15th position. In the middle of the race the top positions were consolidated, with Thonon keeping in check all attacks by Ardigò thus conquering the 1st place; this effectively made amends for the bad luck he had last year, when he lost the title by adjudication to Forè because of an early start. Ardigò arrived 2nd whereas Laudato was the first among drivers with Tm engines to conquer the podium; in terms of the whole weekend this must be seen as a positive result. This is also true for Cozzaglio (Monza-Tm) and Mich (Birel-Tm), respectively 4th and 5th, in front of Giulietti (Tony Kart), Nolè (Crg) and Puhakka (Pcr), all with the same engines as the Birel drivers, but with chassis of three different makes. Forè (Maranello-Maxter) ended in 9th position, followed by Kozlinski (Crg –Tm) and Cesetti, who managed to climb up to 11th place. In terms of Birel’s drivers performance it should be noted that all chassis used by the official drivers were the prototype versions: Laudato and Cesetti used the CR 31 model, Thomas Mich the CRX 32 model and Cozzaglio the latest evolution of the Monza brand. The positive results obtained on the track rewarded the work carried out by Birel’s engineers, as emphasised by Francesco Laudato: “as far as the chassis is concerned, we cannot but be satisfied, particularly when comparing our performance with that of the manufacturers and drivers who use the same engine we use: the first three Tm drivers to reach the finishing line belonged to the Birel and Monza teams. This result stems from the technical solutions we have developed, which will soon be implemented on the 2008 range of chassis; in view of the next season this result is therefore even more reassuring. Climbing the podium here at Sarno is in any case a positive result and a reward for the team that has been carrying out very effective development work throughout the season, particularly as far as the Open is concerned.”

European Championship KF3 – Following the preliminary legs and the Pre-final, which establishes the starting grid for the race which awards the continental title of the category, Harvey and D’Agosto obtained the pole positions. But just behind them the 2nd row was characterised by Birel’s red with Matteo Beretta and Marc Aurel Coleselli. Bad luck for Kevin Ceccon (Birel-Tm) who, together with Camplese (Birel-xtr), was among those who went off track at the start of the pre-final: this resulted in both drivers being relegated to the back rows. At the start of the Final Harvey took the lead, whereas D’Agosto was involved in a collision and completed the first lap behind the 15th position. Excellent start by the British Grice and by Ceccon. Things were made easier for Harvey by the collision which involved D’Agosto, who was behind him and who, already from the first laps, was gaining ground over his pursuers. During this phase both Beretta and Coleselli were very fast, although instead of attacking Thorp they were involved in some alternations which had the result of facilitating their opponent. During the last stages of the race this battle within the ‘Birel house’ even resulted in a slight collision between the two rivals and in Beretta dropping back to 9th position. In the meantime Grice managed to climb back up and catch up with Coleselli, whereas Kevin Ceccon managed to join the top ten. The last few laps saw a fierce struggle for the podium; Harvey was the undisturbed leader with a margin of almost 5” over Thorp, Grice reached 3rd place after overtaking Coleselli, and his countryman of the Tony Kart team reaching the 2nd position. Behind Coleselli were also Ceccon and Bailly and in the ensuing struggle several collisions occurred which resulted in a mad rush in which the young Coleselli only ended up 9th after having been a protagonist for the whole weekend. Harvey won both the race and the title, sharing the podium with his countrymen Grice and Thorp. Bailly conquered 4th place, Beretta was 5th leading a sprint including, in order of arrival, Rajala, Ceccon, Maisano, Coleselli and D’Agosto.

European Championship KZ2 - In Race 1 success went to Knopper, who staked his claim to the category’s title to the prejudice of Santolini, who only arrived sixth. The Dutch driver Danny Bleek came 2nd, whereas the representative of the team Birel Yoka, Patrik Hajek conquered the 3rd step of the podium ahead of Gallepe and Dreezen. Among Birel’s drivers Fuchs (15th) also gained some points. In Race 2 Knopper sprinted from the pole position leading the race until the end and conquering the category’s title with 95 points, 8 ahead of Dreezen, who ended the race behind him. Santolini arrived 3rd, both in the race and in the championship. 4th place went to Vasiliauskas who preceded Di Carlo, Carlton and Hajek.