Qualifying is underway in Zuera, Spain at the third round of the Rotax Euro Challenge. There are six Canadians in attendance this weekend and overall it was a very positive round of qualifying.
Ben Cooper (KMS/Birel) has put himself on the pole-position in the Rotax DD2 class, just nipping Sweden’s Andrea Backmann (Strawberry/TonyKart) by 0.017 seconds. Alessandro Bizzotto (CRG SPA/CRG) posted the 14th quickest time, while Fred Woodley (Maranello SPA/Maranello) was 22nd. This weekend’s class only has 30 drivers entered, down quite a bit from round two in Italy.
In the largest class of the weekend, Zachary Claman DeMelo (Intrepid Driver Program/Intrepid) was the second quickest, but a remarkable 0.288 seconds from pole sitter Harry Webb (Strawberry/TonyKart). The field is quite spread apart on the lengthy Zuera track where drafting would be vital to a good qualifying lap.
It was a tough go for our Junior drivers in Qualifying. Nataël Cantin (KMS/Birel) posted the 23rd quickest time in the 41-strong Rotax Junior class while Gianfranco Mazzaferro (DHR/FA Kart) was 35th overall. Both drivers will need to race forward through the heats. Mazzaferro’s teammate Dave Wooder of the Great Britain was the fastest in the session.
Each driver will now compete in three heat races to set the grid for Sunday’s pre finals.
