2007 OPEN MASTERS, LONATO (BS) – 4TH ROUND, 10.6.2007

VIGANÒ (KF3) AND COZZAGLIO (KZ2) BOTH LEADING THEIR RESPECTIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS

IN KF3 THE DRIVER FROM THE MGM TEAM WON RACE 1 AND ACHIEVED 3RD PLACE IN RACE 2, WHICH WAS WON BY A GREAT CECCON (BIREL–GANDOLFI TEAM). IN KZ2, DESPITE AN ACCIDENT IN RACE 1 COZZAGLIO ACHIEVED 6TH PLACE IN THE 2ND FINAL AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERSHIP. GOOD PERFORMANCE ALSO FROM LAUDATO.

Lonato (Bs) – International karting provided a great show on the Lombard track on the occasion of the 4th trial of the Open Championship, a series in which the main teams and drivers are taking part, alongside their engagements in continental and world-championship events. The championship includes 5 events; the 4th and penultimate one held at Lonato clearly determined the drivers and teams who will be fighting for the titles. Both Matteo Viganò in KF3 and Manuel Cozzaglio in KZ2 have both taken a great step forward. The driver from the Mgm (Birel-Xtr) team won Race 1 and came 3rd in the 2nd race, therefore taking the lead in the general tables with 95 points. Behind him with 85 points, the British driver Harvey who, at Lonato, only managed a 7th and an 8th place. Brilliant results for the driver of the Gandolfi team Kevin Ceccato who, in race 2, achieved the first victory in KF3 for the Tm engines. Thanks to his success, the driver from Bergamo also reached the 3rd position in the tables, only 16 points behind his team mate Viganò. In KZ2 on the other hand Manuel Cozzaglio only gained 10 points although he took advantage of Ardigò’s double stop and took the lead with 3 points over the same driver of Tony Kart. Throughout the weekend Cozzaglio was always among the fastest drivers but at the start of Race 1 he collided with Ardigò and both drivers were obliged to withdraw from the race. In Race 2 they both started in the back rows but the outcome of each driver was different: Ardigò had another collision and had to withdraw once again, whereas Cozzaglio managed to climb up and achieve a very good 6th place. Very positive results also from Laudato, who arrived 2nd in Race 1 behind Toninelli and was in the lead in Race 2 until, 5 laps from the end, the rear left tyre gave in obliging him to withdraw. In KF1 both Cesetti (6th in Race 1) with his lame engine and Croxford (8th in Race 2) with Tm engines had to work hard; both drivers are making good progress in the top category.

KF3 – In the preliminary legs Matteo Viganò achieved the pole position for Race 1, in which he managed to keep the lead from the first to the last lap. Harvey, the direct contender to the title, only managed 7th place, finishing at almost 10” from the Mgm team driver. Grice and Otero climbed the podium ahead of Favaro, Munoz and Goff. Among Birel’s drivers great results were achieved by the very young Coleselli (9th) and Ceccon who, after starting in the back rows due to problems experienced during the legs, managed to climb up to 10th place thus preceding his team mate Beretta. In race 2 Viganò took once again the lead but 6 laps from the finishing line Goff launched an attack which he managed to fend off during the following lap. Ceccon then joined the two and, during the last lap, managed to take the lead. The Gandolfi team’s driver, who also managed to complete the fastest lap of the race, crossed the finishing line at only 85 thousandths of second from the British driver Goff, whereas Viganò arrived 3rd. Suvanto arrived 4th followed by Favaro and Coleselli, who also had a good race. Harvey only managed 8th place and for Viganò this meant taking the championship leadership 10 points ahead of the British driver. 16 points behind his team mate, Ceccon climbed to 3rd place. In the last event at Val Vibrata anything can happen.

KF2 – After the qualifying heats all eyes were on the German driver Burkhard Maring who, following the double success at Jesolo, is leading the championship. For the KSB team’s driver, who started in 10th place, Race 1 was full of ups and downs. Toman Libor, of the New team, had better luck and ended in 8th position. Turchetto (14th) experienced a few set-up problems, whereas De Conto only managed 19th place. At the start of Race 1 Burkhard was immediately involved in a collision and had to re-start the race in last position. Libor on the other hand did well and managed to climb to 4th place, just behind Monras, Camponeschi and Fontner. De Conto managed to reach the group at the front but in the 3rd lap he collided with Panackova and was obliged to retreat to 25th place. Just before crossing the finishing line Monras managed to keep at bay the last attack by Camponeschi and Fontner winning the race, whereas Stevens (Burkhard’s direct opponent) finished in 5th place preceded also by his team mate Da Costa. For Birel’s drivers on the other hand this was an unlucky race, also because of a collision which resulted in Libor was not scoring any points. Similarly, neither Burkhard nor Turchetto scored any points. Race 2 was won by Fontner, whereas the best of Birel’s drivers was De Conto, who managed to climb back to 12th place. Burkhard arrived 15th and managed to gain one point, whereas Turchetto finished in 17th place. In the championship Stevens (3rd at the finishing line in Race 2) totalled 105 points, 15 more than Burkhard who will need to achieve double success in the last round at Val Vibrata.

KF1 – In Race 1 Gary Catt took the lead and exploited at best the great competitiveness of his engine thus also winning the title. Kozinski ended in 2nd place, thus highlighting the great potential of Tm engines, whereas Forè finished in 3rd position. Sauro Cesetti had an intense weekend as he tested different solutions, both in terms of engine and chassis. In Race 1, following a difficult start, he managed to climb back from 8th to 5th place but then lost one place to Convers in the last lap. A technical problem obliged Croxford to withdraw from a potentially good race. In Race 2 the two official drivers met with opposing fate: Croxford managed to climb back from the back and reach 8th place, whereas Cesetti had a problem with the ignition and was obliged to withdraw.

KZ2 – In Race 1 Toninelli took the lead, closely followed by Laudato and Manetti, whereas Ardigò and Cozzaglio, the two main contenders to the title, were not able to finish the first lap because of a collision. The three leaders proceeded apace in a continuous challenge. None of them however managed to find the occasion to overtake their direct opponent and they therefore reached the finishing line in the same order. Iglesias ended the race in 4th place in front of Thonon. Race 2 offered a chance for both Cozzaglio and Ardigò to recover, although the latter was immediately involved in another collision and had to withdraw after a few laps. Cozzaglio on the other hand did very well and after the first 3 laps he was already in 16th position, close to the scoring zone. In the meantime a great Laudato on the lead managed to surprise Toninelli at the start and gain ground over the opponents. Once again Manetti finished in 3rd place in front of Iglesias. Cozzaglio’s impressive progress continued as he re-entered the scoring zone before the end of the 5th lap and then went on to join the top ten halfway through the race. In this stage of the race he wasted much time trying to overtake Van Dreeven although, thanks to a decisive lunge forward, he managed an incredible, 7th place. Laudato in the meantime was speeding towards his first seasonal victory in the Open, but 4 laps from the end the unthinkable happened: the rear left tyre gave in and the driver was obliged to withdraw. A real shame because, had he won, Laudato would have totalled 100 points, thus re-joining the race for the title. A partial consolation for the Birel team was represented by the great performance of the solutions tested at the weekend which, in terms of European and world championships of this category, certainly raise hopes. For Cozzaglio on the other hand this was an exceptional race which catapulted him forward to the lead of the championship and confirmed the great competitiveness of the Monza chassis. On this matter suffice to think that while catching up despite many overtakings, the driver from Brescia managed to score identical times to those of the leading drivers. The only flaw of Race 2 occurred after the finish, when Van Dreeven deliberately bumped into the back of the same Cozzaglio, who ended up against the guardrails. Apparently the Dutchman’s behaviour was motivated by a collision which had occurred previously during the race, and it was rightly punished by the Referees who excluded the driver from the race. In the championship, with only one race to go, Cozzaglio leads with 133 points, followed by Ardigò with 130, Toninelli with 104 and Laudato with 75.