Franciacorta, Italy, October 12, 2025 – The FIA Karting KZ2 World Championship at the highly demanding Franciacorta track subjected Mach1 Motorsport to the toughest tests of the season. Despite showing competitive pace and strong individual performances, factory drivers Emanuel Mai (#123) and Rouven Wilk (#159) did not advance to the final KZ2 race. The Mach1 team nevertheless maintains a positive outlook regarding the speed demonstrated and the chassis performance.
Emanuel Mai: Super Heat Incident Ends Final Hopes
Emanuel Mai (#123) proved his international caliber throughout large parts of the weekend. Through consistent times and determined driving in the Qualifying Heats, he secured a spot in the Top 72, qualifying him for the decisive Super Heat B (SHB).
However, the Super Heat proved to be the bottleneck: A non-fault collision in the starting phase caused a significant setback, immediately dropping Emanuel Mai out of contention for a top position. He completed the race in P27, but the subsequent 5-second penalty for the front fairing (Front Fairing Penalty) mathematically confirmed his exclusion from the KZ2 World Championship Final.
Rouven Wilk: Qualification Chance Lost in the Heats
For Rouven Wilk (#159), the World Championship challenge ended after the Qualifying Heats. Although the Mach1 chassis demonstrated high base speed, his points total was severely impacted by misfortune. Two separate, unforced race incidents in the Heats caused major setbacks, resulting in him accumulating 83 points and narrowly missing the required qualification threshold for the Super Heats.
Team Statements: Performance Analysis and Future Focus
Team Principal Ralf Wilk analyzed the weekend objectively:
“From a sporting perspective, the result is disappointing because we had the pace for the Final. The Heats are often a bottleneck if the qualifying does not go optimally, and then an unforced race accident in the starting phase of the Super Heat is a hard blow against the entire preparation. With Rouven, the race incidents in the Heats took away our chance.”
Mach1 Kart CEO Martin Hetschel confirmed the technical strength:
“Our performance in the Heats confirms that our Mach1 chassis is absolutely operating at the required level of the World Championship. We will now meticulously evaluate the collected data to further optimize the efficiency specifically in qualifying. Our focus is on the next season, to fully unleash our potential.”
The Mach1 Motorsport team thanks its partners for their support and is determinedly looking ahead to future racing events.
