At European Junior Karting Championships

Junior karter Kazeem Manzur battled against the cream of young European driving talent and the changeable weather conditions to secure a highly creditable top ten finish at the 2006 CIK-FIA European ICA-J Championships.

The British Team Zanardi driver showed his talent and intent by posting the fifth fastest time in official qualifying late Friday afternoon, just six one-hundredths of a second behind the fastest qualifier on the 1.36km circuit at Mariembourg, Belgium.

This strong qualifying performance boded well for the heat races on the Saturday, and Kazeem did not disappoint – netting a fifth place finish in his first qualifying heat, followed by a second position in his second race and sixth in his third and final heat to earn him seventh spot in the Intermediate Classification.

From seventh on the grid in the Sunday pre-final, misfortune struck for Kazeem, when battling with understeer that plagued him throughout the meeting, he spun early in the race, dropping him to thirty-fourth and last in the race. Undeterred, Kazeem put in a truly spirited performance, lapping at times two seconds a lap faster than the opposition to haul himself up to fourteenth position by the end of the race.

With the pre-final finishing order determining the grid for the final, Kazeem found himself midfield for the big race. Competing with the best European junior drivers meant that the racing was tight and opportunities to make big gains limited. Nevertheless, Kazeem fought valiantly to finish in tenth position, just ten seconds behind the winner and champion Miquel Monras