12TH WINTER CUP - LONATO (ITALY), FEBRUARY 18TH 2007

POSITIVE THE 1ST EXIT OF THE NEW MOTORS "KF"

THE LONATO COMPETITION INAGURATED THE KF "LONG LIFE" MOTORS OF NEW GENERATION. POSITIVE THE COMMENTS OF THE PRINCIPALS EMPLOYEES.

The 12th edition of the Winter Cup, the classical competition which every year contends with each other on the Lonato track and which opens the season of the International karting, it will go down in history taken part with the new denominated motors "KF". The new rules Cik, which have introduced 125cc motors with management of the limited power through an electronic switchboard and the electric starting for all the International classes, have really created the greatest technical evolution of the last decades. From this evolution, the international sporting authority and all principal builders expect a raising of the karting through the reduction of the costs of management. The expectation for this competition of debut was elevated, also because the short times between the ratifications (happened at the end of January) and the Lonato competition, could create obvious problems of youth for the new motors. All the principal employees were present on the track, also to appraise the potentialities of the single motors trying to understand who, among the various builders, had the possible advantage over the others. The result of the competition has substantially shown both a good reliability of all the motors, and an equilibrium in terms of performances among the most greater marks. Certainly, it is premature to weigh up successes and failures, but the impressions of the employees on the quality of the technical choices sustained in terms of rule, seem to have reached the expectations. In Birel firm was in particular a lot of satisfaction for the potentialities expressed from the new motor Tm. The firm of Pesaro was among the lastest to complete the project and it has defined only the definitive version of the ratification only in the end of 2006, accumulating some months of delay on principal competitors. But the know - how of the Tm, which boasts about a long experience also in motorcycle field, is very elevated and the potentialities seen in Lonato are very encouraging for the continuation of season. The Birel has chosen to line up in competition as logical continuation of the winter tests of development, the only tester Giacomo Patrono and the debutante Mario Turchetto, both in KF2. Turchetto suffered some inexperience and a pair of technical problems not succeeding in qualifying for the Final, while Patrono put himself in the limelight evidence for all the weekend bringing in competition the colors of the new Monza chassis. In the manches he was always among the first ones, as well as in semifinal where he achieved the 2° place after having driven the competition in the first phases. In Final he sprinted very well behind De Brabander but some problems of set up have gradually relegated him to the 7° final place. In evidence in the KF2 also the representative of the team Birel - GKS Robin Frjins who won the 3° place behind De Brabander and Da Costa. In KF3 the Birel colors were defended by the young Kevin Ceccon of the team Gandolfi who, in the month of January, was devoted to the first developments of the motor Tm destined to the class of the young ones. His weekend was very comforting: after having gotten the qualification in Final with a good 5° place in Semifinal, Ceccon has completed the competition in 9ª position carring off excellent times. The win, instead, was achieved by Viktor Oberg, who preceded Thorp. In KF1 Birel team has chosen not to line up own official pilots who, this week, will take to the field for further private tests. The same choice has been made from other top team, so that, the competition of the class queen resulted not particularly crowded. The win was achieved by Chrisetnsen (motor blade) who preceded Piccioni and Varutti. The next general test for the new motor KF is planned on March the 4th on Parma track with the Trophy Margutti.