Under the sun of Essay, two drivers triumphed during the two racing days of the 4th GPO of 2012, monopolising victories in their respective categories: Gabriel Aubry in KF3 and Nicolas Gonzals in KF2. But the meeting was also marked by many intense battles in the packs, on a circuit widely known for its technical layout as well as for its flawless organisation. A pretty high number of spectators showed up during the whole weekend.
In the spotlight already the previous week, during the World Cup for KF3 in Spain, Gabriel Aubry (Birel/TM) had a perfect weekend at the French Championship round held at Essay. Apart from the pole in Sunday's timed qualifying, nothing escaped him. He was the fastest driver in each race and completed without errors his pre-finals and finals. Aubry is current leader of the provisional standings, followed by Besancenez, Bcamel, Lehouck, and Ilott. The young British driver (Zanardi/Parilla) was one of the protagonists of the meeting, with a second place in Final 1 and in pre-final 2, as well as a pole in Sunday's timed qualifying. He was pushed off the track of the start of Final 2 and was forced to catch up from the last place to the 15th. Franois Bcamel (Kosmic/Parilla) regularly battled at the front, and was second in pre-final 1 and in Final 2. In excellent form on Saturday with his two top 3s, the Belgian Maxime Potty (Kosmic/Parilla) was not equally fast the following day. Jules Bollier (Kosmic/Parilla) ran out of luck in Final 2, after ranking third in the pre-final. He was second at the start of the race, but then he lost several positions after being pushed. Julien Darras (Tony Kart/Parilla) showed some good performances on Sunday and finally climbed onto the third step of the podium. On this occasion, Paolo Besancenez (Sodi/Parilla) did not show his usual speed, but concluded with a 4th place in Final 2 anyway. Bryan Elpitiya (Zanardi/Parilla) demonstrated again his burst of speed, and despite a penalty for an early start in Final 2, he managed to finish 5th.
It is a pity that KZ2 drivers did not turn up in large numbers at Essay. Charles Fiault (Sodi/Maxter) dominated the first competition day, by winning timed qualifying, pre-final and final, before leaving Orne for Sarthe on Saturday night, to contribute to the victory of Sarthe RTKF (Sodi/Parilla) crew at the 24H of Le Mans Karting. Charles has left the leadership of the French Championship to Maxime Roy, who was not at meeting, and the second place to Nolan Mantione (Birel/TM) who took over on Sunday in timed qualifying. Mantione crossed the pre-final finish line as winner, but was inflicted a 5-place penalty for an early start in pre-final, though he succeeded to win the final ahead of Christophe Benoit (Birel/TM). On his return to KZ, Amos Mchoulam (DR/Vortex) launched his attack on the leaders and conquered a podium on Sunday.
On his first GPO this year, Nicolas Gonzals (DR/Vortex) got the big slam in KF2. Despite a few problems with the exhaust valve at the start of pre-final 1, he won all four weekend races, with a series of best laps during the races and two poles in timed qualifying. He was followed suit by Victor Compre (Kosmic/Parilla) on Saturday, and by Sbastien Bailly (Swiss Hutless/TM), who still has solid chances of conquering the title. Pascal Belmaaziz (DR/Vortex) put in some excellent performances in the GPOs with three 3rd places, including two during the finals. Paul Boutonnet (Tony Kart/Parilla) progressed as the same pace as his kart adapted to track conditions, but did not achieve victory. However, he is still leader of the Championship provisional standings, ahead of Valentin Moineault (Tony Kart/Vortex), who also did not show any remarkable performances this weekend.
