The first round of the 2013 CIK FIA World Karting Championships for the premier KF division took place this past weekend at the PFI International Circuit in Lincolnshire, Great Britain. The event saw 53 drivers entered in the class, all seeking World Championship Glory, while the support of the KFJ International SuperCup brought an extra 26 racers to the track.
Leading Canada’s charge at the World Championships, Lance Stroll had an eventful weekend. Driving his Chiesa Corse/Zanardi Kart, Stroll struggled in qualifying only managing the 20th best time, and setting him deep in the grid for each of his heat races.
Starting things off with a 4th and a 7th, Stroll kicked into gear for his final two heat races, winning both of them and vaulting up the rankings charts to fifth. Starting the prefinal from third, Stroll stayed out of trouble and held his position, meaning he would start the championship Final from the outside of row three.
Getting bounced around at the start, Stroll would fall all the way back to tenth as he completed lap one. But with 22 laps, the driver from Quebec put his head down and worked his way back up to fifth by lap seven. But with the leaders out of site, Stroll managed his distance to those behind him and finish the race fifth, earning a solid amount of points. The race was won by Max Verstappen as he continues to enjoy a great season aboard his factory CRG.
In the KFJ division, Canadians Devlin Defrancesco and Kami Moreira-Laliberte seemed to struggle throughout the weekend. Although Defrancesco was able to break into the top-ten in the Prefinal, his Final would end eleven laps before checkered, while Laliberte would finish in sixteenth.
The second and Final round of the KF World Championship will be held on November 20-23 in Bahrain. With it being the same week as the SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas, USA, it will be interesting to see who goes where.
