Marjin Kremers becomes World Champion
47 of the World’s top drivers were present in Lonato to do battle for one of the biggest prize in karting. Defending champion Patrik Hajek was not present in Lonato, so a new champion was gaurenteed. Runner up Rick Dreezen would be looking to go one better this season.
It was Sodikart who dominated took the early lead in qualifying with Adrien Renaudin taking pole position over the Birel-Art duo of Alessandro Irlando and Marjin Kremers. In his final qualfying, Marco Ardigo would end up 10th while Dreezen could only manage 14th. That was till higher than the 2nd Sodi of Anthony Abbasse who was down in 22nd with Pedor Hiltbrand, Paolo De Conto and Jeremy Iglesias for comapny.
3 heats awaited the field, with 2 drivers each winning 2 heats. Those being Kremers and Renaudin. However, thanks to Kremers 2nd in the final heat compared to Renaudin’s 4th, he scores pole for the final ahead of the Frenchman. 3rd is Matteo Vigano who won a single heat with a pair of 3rds. Kremers’ team mate Riccardo Longhi would start the final from 4th thanks to a heat win. Irlando struggled in heat 2 leaving him 7th on the grid while Dreezen fell further down the order thanks to a dnf in heat 3. He would start the final down in 28th. Others not able to make up groupd were Abbasse who started 22nd and Hiltbrand who started 21st.
Kremers and Renaudin fought the entire way through the race. The pair were inseparable, each taking a turn at the head of the field. The pair’s battling also pulled Longhi with them, building a near 1 second gap over the rest of the field in the process. When the flag fell it was Kremers who took victory and the title. Renaudin crossed the line 2nd, but a 5 second penalty saw him drop to 9th. That promoted Longhi into 2nd, making it a Birel-Art 1-2.
Bas Lammers completed a strong comeback to finish 3rd. Another driver on the move was Paolo De Conto. Having qualified 24th and started the final 16th, The Italian fought through to 5th at the end. It wasn’t the fitting send off for Marco Ardigo that most will of hoped for. In his final race, the Italian brought his Tonykart home 7th bringing to end a 23 year career which saw him claim almost 30 international championships.
Kremer’s victory gives Birel-Art their first World Championship since 2005.
Image: Birel-ART
