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HOT NEWS - TKART - PFI (UK) - The Brit does exactly what was expected of him: he wins race and title – in a final that was incredibly tight, but thrill free.
From the outside, it looked easy: first after the heats, first after the Prefinal, first in the final and first in the championship too. Callum Ilott (Zanardi/Parilla) hands Zanardi Strakka Racing a double win, just a a month after his teammate Rick Dreezen won the title in KZ.
The Brit arrived in Brandon as the runner up in the title hunt behind Nicklas Nielsen (Kosmic/Vortex), but it was clear to all that he the man to beat. In the end he won in part thanks to the discarding of worst results (the worst post-heats standing and the worst final result across all 4 rounds) and in part precisely thanks to the incredible pace he kept after the heats of this last round.
At the start of the Final Nielsen knew that to win the title he would have to close the race in first place and keep Ilott behind. The Dane thus leaped immediately into the lead off grid, followed by Paolo Besancenez (Tony Kart/TM) – who after this dazzling start drops to seventh. Ilott is only third, but after two laps he is already where he was on grid and where he needs to be to the win the title. This is how the race ends: Callum first, Nicklas second. There are moments when the Dane seems ready to close the gap, but it’s just an impression. The top two are actually far apart.
Behind them running third there is Pedro Hiltbrand (CRG/Parilla). The Spaniard is running wild and in the Final finds a speed that until then he had only displayed the first half of the Prefinal.
Too bad that, two laps from the end of the Final, Mark Litchfield (Tony Kart/TM) caught up, followed by an Alessio Lorandi (Tony Kart/Parilla), this time ultra-fast (compared to the Prefinal, when set-up problems held him back). The English driver is on his home turf (they even titled the Litchfield Bridge after him), so he know wehere to overtake the Spaniard, who in the last phase loses 1-2 tenths per lap.
Yet, Alessio Lorandi also understands where to overtake and “hooks” both rivals, claiming the 3rd step of the podium . Litchfield ends fourth, followed by a bitter Hiltbrand.
Sixth behind them there is Lando Norris (FA Kart/Vortex). Starting from fourth place obviously didn’t help, considering that in the first laps he slips as far down as twelfth. The Brit, however, is strong, so strong as to score the best lap.
What about the other title contenders? Tom Joyner (Zanardi/Parilla) ends the day in an anonymous ninth place. Niko Kari (Tony Kart/Vortex) races the Prefinal with new tires in order to make up for unlucky heats and when he starts the Final with used tires, he gets lost. Even so he is one of a very few drivers (including Ilott, Lorandi, Norris and Daruvala) who goes below a lap time of 56".