After his unfortunate absence from the last round of the OK-Junior European Championship, Anatholy Khavalkin proved that he is fit to play an important role in the rest of the season. The third round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series, held in Kristianstad in a variety of grip conditions, saw Khavalkin put in a strong fight to finish in the top five and move up to 3rd place in the standings. The performance of the Parolin Motorsport team was good in both categories, but the various hazards of the Final stages did not always reward the team’s work up to the end of the meeting.
The Swedish competition was affected by bad weather. On Saturday, the Qualifying Heats were held during continuous alternation of light rain and dry periods. While the drivers had to constantly adapt to the new conditions, the technical staff had to be very reactive to follow the weather’s whims. On Sunday, rain interrupted the OK-Junior Final while the OK Final was started on a wet track.
“From the point of view of preparation for the next FIA Karting European Championship, the Euro Series was very interesting,” analysed Marco Parolin. “We couldn’t imagine more varied conditions. It was not easy for all our drivers. In OK Maksim Orlov was very solid during the entire meeting and finished with a Final gain of eight places bringing his total progress to more than 30 positions. For his return to OK, Lorenzo Travisanutto brought his know-how to the team by ensuring superb Qualifying Heats. Unfortunately his Final race ended in retirement, as did Enzo Deligny, whose speed continued to increase. René Lammers started very well in the OK-Junior class, finishing 2nd in Qualifying and 2nd in the Super Heats. A crash on the last lap of the Final, on slicks in the rain, prevented him from a good result in the top five. Anatholy Khavalkin took three wins in the heats to join the top three at the start of the Final. He battled for a long time between 1st and 3rd positions before finishing 5th just before the red flag was shown because of the risks due to the lack of grip. Zac Drummond was not spared setbacks, but he persevered until the end to finish with a gain of 10 places in the Final.
“We have all the elements to prepare well in a fortnight for the upcoming European event in which the race for the two titles is our main objective.”
OK-Junior
Anatholy Khavalkin
9th in Qualifying, two wins including a fastest time in a heat, 1st in Super Heat 2, 5th in the Final (+5 pl), 3rd in the provisional Championship ranking.
René Lammers
2nd in Qualifying, two wins and twice 2nd in the heats, 2nd in the intermediate ranking, retirement in the Final, 7th in the provisional Championship ranking (+2 pl).
Zac Drummond
18th in Qualifying, two retirements in the heats, 23rd in the Final with a gain of 10 places.
OK
Maksim Orlov
45th in Qualifying, 19th in heats (+26 pl), 10th in Super Heat 1, 13th in Final (+8 pl).
Lorenzo Travisanutto
26th in Qualifying, 9th in heats (+17 pl), retired in Final.
Enzo Deligny
22nd in Qualifying, one retirement in heat, 11th with the fastest time in Super Heat 1, retirement in Final.
As always in an elite category like KZ, the competition was extremely close for the opening of the European Championship from 13th to 15th May at the Genk circuit. The weather remained fine and dry throughout the weekend and temperatures rose above 25° for the first time this season. The harshness of the races led to numerous incidents which further increased the selectivity of the Belgian event.