PRESS RELEASE - TKART - New excitement in the championships.

The second race of the German Kart Championship in Genk (Belgium) showed a lot of variety. At the foreign round of the DMSB grade series the fields of participants were strongly manned again and showed thrilling races. New winners caused movements on the overall list of rankings, which are led by Jorrit Pex (DSKM), Bent Viscaal (DJKM) and Richard Verschoor (DKM).

After the season kick-off in Wackersdorf, the DKM crew travelled to Genk. The highest German kart racing series took place on the 1.360m long track in Belgium for the fifth time. A few weeks before the CIK-FIA KZ and KZ2 European Championship, lots of drivers used the race for preparation and caused strong fields of participants – 123 drivers started during the three racing days.

The thrilling races caused a lot of joy among the audience. Coined by lots of fights for positions and fair overtaking maneuvers there were a couple of shifts in the individual championship rankings. Alexander Schmitz, Jorrit Pex (both DSKM), Bent Viscaal, Emil Dose (both DJKM) and Hannes Janker (DKM) finished the races as winners.

The weather caused a little commotion though: After midsummery temperatures during the free trainings on Friday it rained on Saturday morning and the rounds of qualifying temporarily took place on the wet track. The sun shone again for the heats and the final races then and the drivers enjoyed optimal conditions.

DSKM: Jorrit Pex is back with a victory

Counting 62 drivers, the shifterkarts were strongly manned and impressed due to a high quality. In four heat groups, the drivers fought for a ticket to the final races. The fastest driver after qualifying was local hero Rick Dreezen (KSW BirelART Autria) – the BirelART-factory driver and three-time DSKM champion used the races as preparation for the European Championship. A technical defect during the heats threw the Belgian back to 18th place though. “Unfortunately things like this happen in motorsports. Now I’ll have to fight my way forward tomorrow”, Dreezen explained in the evening. At the front, German Alexander Schmitz (KSM Racing Team) dominated the events in the meantime and secured pole position for the first final race due to three victories. “Today was a perfect day: After the bad luck in Wackersdorf we were able to show our real performance”, said Schmitz contently.

At the first final race, reigning champion Jorrit Pex (Pex Racing Team) achieved the best start, but wasn’t able to handle his opponent Alexander Schmitz’ pressure after a couple of laps. The driver from Wesel drove past Pex and was on his way to his first victory of the season at the DSKM – the joy was huge at the finish line: “This was a really good race; we set the speed and won without any bigger problems.” The race wasn’t as comfortable for the following drivers though: They showed thrilling fights and changed positions numerous times. The places were only clear a couple of laps before the end of the race. Jorrit Pex, who had only been on third place for a while, finally came in second in front of repeated kart racing world champion Davide Foré (Renda Motorsport). Daniel Stell (TB Motorsport Racing Team) and Maik Siebecke (SRP Racing Team) achieved further German successes on fourth and fifth places. A subsequent five-seconds-penalty threw Daniel Stell back to eighth place though.  Behind Maik Siebecke followed Jeremy Iglesias (CPB Sport), Dominik Schmidt (TB Motorsport Racing Team) and Guust Specken (PDB Racing Team) on fifth to seventh positions. Menno Paauwe (Paauwer Kart Racing) and Andreas Backmann (Kosmic Racing Dept.) completed the top ten on ninth and tenth places.

After his great victory at the first race, Alexander Schmitz was seen as a huge favorite for the second race as well. But he fell back behind Jorrit Pex and Davide Foré during the starting phase already and didn’t stand a chance against these two this time. He explained this in the evening: “Our engine setup unfortunately wasn’t right, which is why I couldn’t keep up with the two.” With a victory, Jorrit Pex was back at the top. The Dutchman was very happy and is now leading the overall list of rankings: “I didn’t expect to win against Alex - he was really fast this weekend. We’d adjusted our setup for the second race, which was the right thing to do in the end.” Davide Foré achieved a place on the podium by coming in second again. Max Siebecke achieved fourth place followed by Daniel Stell, Andreas Backmann, Dylan Davies (CRG Keijzer racing), Jeremy Iglesias, Nicolas Gonzales (CPB Sport) and Fabian Federer (CRG Holland).

Championship ranking DSKM after 4 of 10 races:
1. Jorrit Pex (75 points)
2. Davide Foré (68 points)
3. Menno Paauwe (62 points)
4. Alexander Schmitz (59 points)
5. Maik Siebecke (58 points)

DJKM: Viscaal and Dose share victories

During the wet qualifying, Dutchman Bent Viscaal (KSM Racing Team) showed his potential and earned the first two championship points of the weekend. During the heats he lost his lead to Alexander Smolyar (Kartprom Team) though – the guest driver from Russia won both races and had secured pole position in the evening. Bent Viscaal wasn’t concerned about this though: “I’m the best regular driver; the races went very well and the speed is right.”

The KSM-protégé proved that he’s fast enough during the first final race. Bent Viscaal won the start and drove away from his opponents immediately. A small driving error made things exciting again then - Emil Dose, Max Hesse (RS Motorsport), Alexander Smolyar and David Brinkmann (KSM Racing Team) came closer again. Viscaal held off all attacks though and drove towards his first DJKM victory. “This is my first victory at the DJKM, thanks a lot to my team for their great job”, the youngster rejoiced at the finish line. Behind him his team mate David Brinkmann showed a strong catching-up race: the youngster fought his way past his opponents and achieved a double victory of the KSM Racing Team by coming in second. Emil Dose came in third in front of Alexander Smolyar and Max Hesse. Wackersdorf-race winner Max Tubben (CRG Holland) led the field of followers and ended up on sixth place. Max Weering (CRG Holland), Doureid Ghattas (KSM Racing Team), Esteban Muth (TB Motorsport Racing Team) and Felix Arnold (ADAC Hessen-Thüringen e.V.) completed the top ten.

Dane Emil Dose made use of his better tires during the second race. Right after the start he drove past Bent Viscaal and controlled the events until the end of the race. “Wow, to win at my second DJKM race is great. The opponents are really strong and you can’t afford any mistakes. This victory is unbelievable and I’m really close to the leading driver on the overall list of rankings again now too”, he summed up. Bent Viscaal came in on the secure second place in front of his team mate David Brinkmann. Just like during the first race, Brinkmann fell back to seventh position during the difficult starting phase, fought his way back to a place on the podium due to fast times though. The decision regarding fourth position was a close one as well: Max Hesse (RS Motorsport) and Max Weering (CRG Holland) fought a thrilling duel. The decision was made a few bends before the end – both collided slightly; while Max Hesse finished on fourth place, Max Weering fell behind his namesake Max Tubben and came in sixth. From 16th starting position, Ido Cohen (CRG Keijzer racing) fought his way forward to seventh place. Doureid Ghattas came in eighth in front of Noah Milell (JP Racing) and Gleb Zotov (Kartprom Team).

Championship ranking DJKM after 4 of 10 races:
1. Bent Viscaal (90 points)
2. Max Hesse (77 points)
3. Max Tubben (60 points)
4. David Brinkmann (58 points)
5. Emil Dose (52 points)

DKM: double victory for Hannes Janker

At the DKM, the events were coined by new faces. Christian Soerensen (Storm Development) from Denmark drove the best time, but during the heats Jessica Backmann (Kosmic Racing) rushed to the front and stood on pole position at the first race. “I love Genk, it’s sad that we only drive so few races a year on this track. Things are just going perfectly,” the Swede rejoiced in the evening.

During the first finale Jessica Backmann deferred to her male competition though. In the beginning, Martijn van Leeuwen (CRG Keijzer Racing Team) led the field and already had a considerable advance. From behind, Hannes Janker (TB Motorsport Racing Team) came closer quickly though and passed by the Dutchman. This didn’t change until the end of the race. Hannes Janker won in front of Martijn van Leeuwen. The Dutchman was still content: “Of course I would have preferred to win, but due to the fact that Hannes is a guest driver, I still get full championship points.” Regarding the last place on the podium things only quieted down during the last third of the race. After 19 laps Richard Verschoor (RB Racing Team) won against Jessica Backmann and Tom Lautenschlager (TB Motorsport Racing Team). Julius Lassen (TK Racing), Shane Vandenbroek (Daems Racing), Julia Leopold (KSM Racing Team), Felice Tiene (CRG Holland) and Christian Soerensen ended up on the following places. Unlucky driver of the race was Finn Valtteri Semi: On fourth place he had to forfeit the race right before the end due to a broken rear axle.

After his success at the first race, Hannes Janker was unstoppable during the second race as well. Due to a competent performance he was able to improve his top position and celebrated the only double victory of the weekend. “We’ve used these races to further develop our chassis and engine. Things went really well and we’ve gathered a lot of positive insights for the EM next weekend”, Janker summed up. Regarding the fight for the championship, Richard Verschoor fought back: the rookie achieved second place in front of his direct opponent Martijn van Leeuwen. Close to the top three came in CRG-factory driver Felice Tiene on fourth place. The lust cup rank went to fifth Julius Lassen (TK Racing). On the following places were Benjamin Lessennes (CRG Holland) in front of Jessica Backmann, Tom Lautenschlager, Takuya Okada (CRG Keijzer racing) and Christian Soerensen.

Championship ranking DKM after 4 of 10 races:
1. Richard Verschoor (106 points)
2. Martijn van Leeuwen (103 points)
3. Tom Lautenschlager (59 points)
4. Julius Lassen (48 points)
5. Christian Soerensen (46 points)

After the first two season events in Wackersdorf and Genk, the German Kart Championship is going to take a summer break. The third of five events is going to take place from July 31st – August 2nd 2015 – then, the highest German kart racing series is going to travel to the Schweppermannring in Ampfing. Series coordinator Stefan Wagner was content with the course of the foreign round on Sunday evening: “Before the weekend, everyone was looking forward excitedly to the introduction of the new front spoiler holding fixture. Now we can say that everything went well. The behavior on the track was really fair and we saw great races. Regarding the individual championship rankings things are still really exciting. A huge thank you to the Team of VG MC Roetgen e. V./MIG 7 e. V. at the ADAC who have arranged for a smooth course of action once again.” .