Christian Costoya in the OK-Junior class and Zac Drummond in the OK class both put in strong performances in Qualifying and the heats of the fifth round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series on the difficult English track of PF International. Unfortunately, retirements ruined their chances of a result on Sunday. In the end, it was Qarrar Firhand who came out on top after a very convincing run.
The battles were incredibly tough in England for the final round of the RGMMC series, but the Parolin / TMs put in remarkable performances in both categories in preparation for the forthcoming World Championships. The rain that soaked the track all day on Saturday added to the difficulty of the competition, but the return of dry conditions on Sunday did nothing to detract from the fierceness of the races.
In OK, Gabriel Koenigkan scored two top sixes and two top nines in the Qualifying Heats, while Vivek Kanthan scored two top eights. Zac Drummond was well placed in 7th place out of the 101 qualifiers, and went on to post four fine heats, including a win and three top four finishes. Unfortunately, he retired twice in the Super Heat and then in the Final.
In the OK-Junior class, Christian Costoya started by finishing 9th out of the 114 competitors in Qualifying Practice and went on to score two wins and three top five finishes in the heats. 8th in the Super Heat, he was involved in a collision which eliminated him from the start of the Final. Qarrar Firhand showed great consistency in the top 10 of the heats and secured his best result in 21st position in the Final.
“The competition proved to be a testing one for the whole team,” said Marco Parolin. “The PFI track is very demanding and the rainy conditions on Saturday didn’t help matters. Most of our drivers put in a decent performance, but in the end the success rate was disappointing. We’re going to have to find technical and human solutions in the short time we have before the World Championship.”