Veering slightly off the original path of our CKN Summer Tour, we hopped on a plane and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to attend one of the most prestigious karting series in the world, the Rotax Max Euro Challenge for its second round of 2014 in Castelletto, Italy at the 7 Laghi Kart Circuit.
Located just south of Milan in Italy’s northern region, Laghi is a very fast and impressive 1.25KM circuit that has hosted many international events over its long history.
We arrived at the circuit on Wednesday afternoon to get settled in and to check out the facility along with the opening day of practice. Only three classes are in action this weekend; Rotax Junior, Rotax Senior and Rotax DD2, with some DD2 Masters mixed in as well.
A total of four drivers are racing this weekend from Canada; Gianfranco Mazzaferro with Dan Holland Racing/FA Kart in Rotax Junior, Zachary Claman DeMelo with the Intrepid Driver Program in Rotax Senior, Alessandro Bizzotto with Factory CRG in Rotax DD2 and Ben Cooper with the KMS/Birel Racing Team in Rotax DD2.
There are also a handful of American drivers here that we will be keeping tabs on as well. Overall there are 172 drivers pre-entered into the event; 60 in Rotax Junior, 65 in Rotax Senior and 47 in the combined Rotax DD2/DD2 Masters division. It appeared yesterday as if more drivers have joined the action.
Thursday will feature another full day of practice before Friday’s Qualifying sessions. Saturday is for heat racing in anticipation of Sunday’s prefinal and Final races.
Our coverage of the event will focus in on our Canadian racers in attendance, but also give you a feel for the event as a whole, similar to how we cover the Rotax Grand Finals each year.
**Note: We are six hours ahead of our regular eastern timezone, nine hour ahead of the west.
