Two months after hosting the French round of the CIK-FIA U18 World Championship, the circuit of Essay will be back in the spotlight for the last GPO of the season 2011, which will crown the winners of the FFSA French Karting Championship. Unless something extraordinary happens, Thomas Mich will wear his crown in KZ2, Esteban Ocon has strong chances of winning the title in KF3, but the name of the KF2 champion will only be known at the end of the duel between Victor Sendin and Pascal Belmaaziz. As many as sixty Minime/Cadet drivers coming to Normandy for their French Cup will further animate the meeting.
The final round of the French karting season will be held on a highly technical track, which will put drivers' talent heavily to the test, i.e. the circuit of Grand Ouest - Pays d'Essay, in Orne, near Alençon. A few new drivers will join the caravan of the French Championship for the occasion and the show will most certainly be an interesting one. Although in KZ2 the Championship title is already virtually in the hands of Thomas Mich (Birel/TM) - who is out of reach in the classification - races will be made more exciting by the very intense fight for the title of vice champion and the places of honour. At Essay, there will be no room for mistakes for Anthony Abbasse (Sodi/Maxter), who is currently second in the provisional classification, if he wants to maintain his lead over a Mathieu Gaillard (Energy/TM) in full progression or a Charles Fiault (Sodi/Maxter) thirsty for revenge after his unrewarded efforts at the latest GPO at Laval. Drivers such as Emilien Grosso (Intrepid/TM), Christophe Benoit (Birel/TM), Julien Goupy (Praga/TM), and Alexandre Baron (Sodi/Maxter) could also put in their two penn'orth in the competition.
In KF3, Esteban Ocon (FA Kart/Vortex) keeps a solid lead with a view to the national title, but two drivers could still claim the final victory: Paolo Besancenez (Sodi/Parilla) and Etienne Mordret (Zanardi/Parilla), though they might be more focussed on the conquest of the French vice champion title, a distinction that Valentin Moineault (Sodi/Parilla) or Dorian Boccolacci (Birel/BMB) would not mind at all. In any case, the spectators who will follow this category will definitely not get bored. Five newcomers to the GPOs have entered the Essay meeting: Thomas Drouet (DR/Parilla) and Bastien Leguay (FA Kart/Parilla), who come from the Nationale, Paul Boutonnet (Sodi/Parilla) and Gabriel Aubry (Birel/BMB) after a season in Cadet, and Erwan Julé (Intrepid/Parilla), who is accustomed to international performances in KF3.
What is certain is that there will great suspense about the final outcome in KF2 considering the duel announced two months ago between Victor Sendin (Tony Kart/Vortex), who has the highest number of points, and Pascal Belmaaziz (DR/Parilla), who is the favourite according to those who are already doing the calculations for the two races. It is worth mentioning that the two drivers are very close in the standings and their character will push them to fight hard instead of spending their time doing brainy calculations. It is the not-to-miss match, especially considering that there a few drivers willing and able to take their chances: the diabolical Léo Roussel (Sodi/Parilla) and the Belgian Guillaume De Ridder announced on a Kosmic/Vortex, both fighting for the 3rd step of the final podium, the Corsican John Filippi (Exprit/Vortex), who is now displaying formidable effectiveness, Rémy Deguffroy (Tony Kart/Vortex), and Anthoine Hubert (Sodi/Parilla), winner of the French round of the U18 World Championship on this same track in August.
