John Norris with Mach1 Kart at the Winter Cup Lonato

New look lights up Mach1 Motorsport

John Norris with Mach1 Kart at the Winter Cup Lonato
John Norris (KF2) Mach1 Motorsport

The start of the German Chassis manufacturer’s Mach1-kart could not have gone better. At the 17th Winter Cup on the South Garda Circuit in Lonato (I), the team proved their international strength and secured an impressive ninth overall-rank in the KF2.

When the Mach1-Motorsport team took the trip to the race inItaly, they were very excited. After numerous training kilometers with the new FIA9 A03 Chassis, this was the first chance to test their new development in a direct comparison and after the first free trainings the spirits were high already in the Swabians’ camp: “We’re thrilled”, says team leader Martin Hetschel confidently.

Irish John Norris was the fastest man of the weekend. After his great overall victory at the Graf Berghe von Trips Memorial at the end of last year, he was able to tie in with that great performance and came in as the excellent 16th of his group during qualifying. He knew how to benefit his position during the Heats as well and secured the direct qualification to the finals due to a solid performance and three top ten placements. At the pre-finale, he thus started from the 21st position and, due to fast lap times, fought his way to the great 10th place. The finale did not start as well though. After a moderate start he lost important positions, but knew how to use the long 25 laps to his advantage and reached the finish line on the impressive 9th position. His comment after the race was thus suitably euphoric: “It’s been an unbelievable weekend for us. The final races went very well and I’m happy with the final result. A big thank you to the team and Blanken Tuning for the outstanding engines.”

Lucas Speck at the Lonato Winter Cup with Mach1 Kart
Lucas Speck (KF2) Mach1 Motorsport

Lucas Speck was the second driver to start in the class KF2. The Rhinelander did not manage to drive an optimal lap during qualifying and therefore had a difficult starting position concerning the total of five Heats. During these runs, he managed to show his untiring will to fight and was able to gain numerous places during each race, which landed him on rank 49 on Saturday evening and secured him the chance to qualify for the finals via the repechage. Despite a great performance, he could not surpass rank 15. Even though he could not participate in the finale, Lucas was content with his first race on the traditional track: “It’s been my first time here in Lonato and I’ve felt comfortable immediately. I ended up being the best German KF2-driver and with these newly gained experiences am now able to confidently start the season in this new Chassis.”

Manuel Valier at the Lonato Winter Cup with Mach1 Kart
Manuel Valier (KF2) Mach1 Motorsport

Manuel Valier (KF2) and Irish Odrhan Henry (KF3) both had their premieres in the Mach1-Motorsport team. It was a weekend of ups and downs for both of them though. Valier had to cope with a lot of electrical problems during free trainings and was therefore only able to drive a few laps, which ultimately showed during qualifying and the Heats. Starting from the end of the field respectively, the likable driver from Munich had a hard time fighting his way forward and in the end barely missed entering the repechage, coming in 70th.

Odrhan Henry at the Lonato Winter Cup with Mach1 Kart
Odrhan Henry (KF3) Mach1 Motorsport

Meanwhile, 13-year-old Odrhan Henry from Ireland entered completely new territory. Starting in such a top-class, international race for the first time allowed him to gain numerous experiences, which he is now hoping to apply in a positive way when guest starting at the German Junior Kart Championship.

On Sunday, team leader Martin Hetschel was happy with the performance of the new Mach1-Chassis and can hardly wait for the season to start: “We’ve worked hard during the last three years and can now reap the benefits. Our Chassis is on a high international level and was able to satisfyingly perform on diverse track conditions throughout the weekend. Until the season starts, we will now complete some more tests, and will enter the first race perfectly prepared.”

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150800353088272.505376.237462378271&type=1


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *