Text & photos: www.rotax-kart.com

The temperatures on the Italien circuit during the first round of the Non-Qualifying Practice sessions was around 16 degrees in the air with minimal wind, making the morning very similar to the first sessions yesterday.

Micro MAX

The second day of on-track action at the 2019 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals started once again with the Micro MAX category. The session was led by the young Argentine driver, Ayrton Perez (1:10.483) followed by Lenn Nijs (1:10.561) & Griffin Peebles (1:10.601). Just as it did on Monday, the air temperature rose to 26 degrees and the wind picked up. The second Micro session of the day started at 11.08 and it was Jay Urwin who posted the fastest time (1:09.632) followed by Peebles (1:09.776) and Perez (1:09.815).

The final session of the class was led by Nijs who set his best time on lap 6 (1:09.436) narrowly edging out Tommie Van Der Struijs by just 0.003 seconds (1:09.493) and Christian Costoya Sanabri (1:09.482) 0.046 seconds off the fastest time. Monday’s fastest driver Jay Urwin only managed a 1:10.218 which left him down in 19th.

The Micro MAX will return for their final non-qualifying session tomorrow at 8.28 am (CET).

Mini MAX

The Mini MAX headed out onto the track shortly after the Micro MAX’s and again it was Jayden Thien who set the fastest lap with a 1:05.526 against yesterday’s fastest driver Andy Ratel with a 1:05.706. In the second session, it was Ratel (1:05.364) who stole the top spot from Thien (1:05.382), leaving Costa Toparis in 3rd with a 1:05.411. The third and final session of the day was led by Toparis who set the fastest Mini time of the weekend (1:05.291). Behind was Thien (1:05.330), Simon Kristensen (1:05.429) and Ratel (1:05.446) to round out the Top four.

The Mini MAX will be back on track at 8.41 am (CET) tomorrow.

Junior MAX

Just as yesterday, the Junior MAX drivers were split into odds and evens due to the number of entered drivers. The odd-numbered karts went first and it was Oli Pylka who set the best time of the session on lap six with a 1:01.126 followed closely by Sacha Maguet (1:01.146) and Connor Zilisch (1:01.185). The even-numbered karts followed with Clay Osborne on form again setting the best time (1:00.876). He was followed by yesterday’s fastest driver Jason Leung (1:00.913) and Sami-Joe Abi Nakhle (1:00.950).

The second Junior MAX odd-numbered session had an entirely different top three from session one. Kris Haanen finished first with a 1:00.469 followed by Luca Mars (1:00.540) and Mike Van Vugt (1:00.582). The even-numbered karts were led by Leung (1:00.477), Marcel Surmacz (1:00.490) and Abi Nakkhle (1:00.495).

The third and final Non-Qualifying Practice for Tuesday was ruled by Osborne whose best lap was a 1:00.491 behind him in the even-numbered class was Surmacz (1:00.581) and Charlie Wurz (1:00.610)

The Junior MAX will return tomorrow at 8.54 am (CET).

Senior MAX

The odd-numbered kart of Paul Fourquemin set the pace in the first Non-Qualifying Practice of the day with a 1:00.061. He was followed by Matteo Richter (1:00.100) and Elia Galvanin (1:00.112). The fastest time in the even-numbered group was set by Yuga Furutani (1:00.064) followed by Oakley Pryer (1:00.087) and Lachlan Robinson (1:00.103).

In the second round of sessions for Senior, the odd-numbered karts of Fourquemin, Clayton Ravenscroft & Rhys Hunter were the first of the seniors to break the one-minute barrier. Fourquemin set the fastest Senior MAX time of the week so far with at 59.899 seconds with Ravenscroft (59.902) in second and Hunter’s (59.946) in third. The even-numbered karts were slower than the odd ones. Axel Saarniala took the top spot with a 1:00.061, Ryan Norberg with a 1:00.135 and in third Tereza Babickova with a 1:00.149.

The third session for the Senior class started with the odd-numbered kart of Fourquemin taking the fastest time with a 1:00.127 making him the only driver to be fastest in every session. He was followed by Galvanin (1:00.315) and Hunter (1:00.315). The even-numbered karts finished their day with Saarniala setting the fastest time (1:00.131). Behind was Furutani (1:00.151) and Endo Shogo (1:00.181).

The Senior MAX karts will be back at 9.20 am (CET) tomorrow morning.

DD2 Masters

In the first Non-Qualifying Practice for the DD2 Masters, it was Antti Ollikainen who set the fastest overall lap (59.426) followed by Matias Rodriguez (59.426) and Roberto Pesevski (59.603). Unlike yesterday with the added grip on the track, the odd-numbered karts have been faster than the even-numbered. The fastest even-numbered DD2 Master, Arto Savenius finished sixth overall with a (59.726) followed by Rudy Champion (59.746) and Nicholas Verheul (59.812).

The second session for the DD2 Master’s odd numbers was led by Rodriguez with 59.690 seconds followed by Dimitris Zervos (59.756) and Pesevski (59.759). In the even-numbered group, it was Derek Wang who finished at the top of the timesheet with a time of 59.820 seconds. He was followed by Verheul (59.865) and Slawomir Muranski (59.909)

The third session for the DD2 Masters was ruled by the odd-numbered Ollikainen who posted a time of 59.528 seconds followed by Rodriguez (59.806) and Pesevski (59.878). The even-numbers karts were led by Verheul (59.735), Savenius and Muranski (59.896).

The DD2 Masters will start again tomorrow morning at 9.46 am (CET) starting with the odd numbers.

DD2

Even-numbered Nicolas Picot started the day as he finished yesterday with the fastest time in DD2 (58.947). He was followed by Diego Portell (59.027) in second and Jakub Bezel (59.046) in third. The odd-numbered drivers were a little slower than the evens with the fastest time (59.100) set by Petr Bezel. He was followed very closely by Matvejs Makusins (59.109) and Jonathon Marcusson (59.120).

The second session of odd-numbered DD2 karts was fronted by Dimitris Vasileris whose fastest time was 58.906 seconds followed by Ville Viiliainen (58.953) and Bezel (58.993). The even numbers went even faster with Daniel Machacek’s time of 58.748 seconds against Luca Munaretto (58.900) and Portell (58.910).

The third Non-Qualifying Practice session for the DD2 odd numbers was taken by Bezel (58.983) with Vasileris (59.098) in second and Francesco Palladino (59.136) in third. The even-numbered karts finished their day with Cristian Trolese setting a 58.994, Munaretto (59.041) secs and Picot (59.114) in third.

The DD2 karts will complete their Non-Qualifying Practice sessions at 10:12 am (CET).

Rotax THUNDeR (DEKM)

For the first time at the 2019 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals, the DEKM karts took to the track. With everyone learning the layout and getting a feel for the set-ups, it was Jie Kao who silently posted the fastest time (1:05.002), Jasin Ferati finished 2nd (1:05.150) and Benjamin Cartery (1:05.463) finished third.

As the sun started to set over the track, the final session of the day was DEKM with the fastest time going to Ferati (1:04.947) followed by Kao (1:04.950) in second and Ben Pinto (1:05.358) in 3rd.

The DEKM karts will be first on track tomorrow morning at 08:13 am (CET).

OVERALL FASTEST LAP TIMES

  • Micromax: 1:09.436 | Lenn Nijs | No. 11 | BEL
  • Minimax: 1:05.291 | Costa Toparis | No. 108 |AUS
  • Junior Max: 1:00.469 | Kris Haanen | No. 269 | NLD
  • Senior Max: 59.899 | Paul Fourquemin | No.347 | FRA
  • DD2: 58.748 | Daniel Machacek | No. 436 | AUT
  • DD2M: 59.426 | Antti Ollikaine | No. 537 | FIN
  • DEKM: 1:04.947 | Jasin Ferati | No. 609 | CHE

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