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VDK Racing came with high ambitions to Le Mans entering a lineup of competitive drivers used, for most of them, to the requirements of major competitions. If Elie Goldstein, Xavier Dias, Corentin Collignon, Bastien Cochet and Tom Uzan were among the 135 entrants of the Senior class, Franck Chappard and Oliver Goethe decided to take up the challenge of the Pro category while the young Robin Paignat was listed in the Junior field.
As often in this particular region of the French territory at this period of the year, rather versatile weather mixed up the cards, particularly on Tuesday and Wednesday in both qualifying and the opening heats where drivers and mechanics were faced with tricky tire choices to cope with the fast-changing track conditions.
Put in the fourth and final qualifying group in Senior, Elie Goldstein made good use of significant grip improvement to take the third-fastest lap time of his series, which placed him on the second row of the grid for his qualifying heats. Among the fastest drivers early on, the young Belgian confirmed his craft when the racing got underway by fighting constantly at the forefront with two victories and four Top 4-finishes. Bad luck, however, struck at the worst time when a mechanical problem forced him to retire after only a few laps in the Prefinal. Still, Elie turned that setback into strength heading for the Final where he gave fans a “five stars” recovery race from 32nd to 11th place while locking up the fastest lap!
In the same run, Xavier Dias saw the checkered flag two positions further at the end of a week better concluded. Having set the 13th-best time in his qualifying series, he went on to manage lots of changing track conditions during his first heats that he finished not far from the Top 10. As milder weather came back, his track pace significantly improved as he twice reached seventh place followed by a fifth position, which was enough to secure his qualification for Saturday. Xavier, fired up, drew the curtain on his IAME Finals on a high note by making up a pile of positions from the bottom of the Prefinal grid up to 13th place in the final race of the event!
Four times in the Top 10 in his heat races, Corentin Collignon wasn’t eventually rewarded for his pace as he missed the Prefinal qualification despite having collected a similar amount of points as the driver preceding him in the intermediate standings! Tom Uzan, not quite helped by the low grip conditions in qualifying, was forced to come back from a long way down, which he did in brilliant fashion by making up a total of 51 positions in all of his heats, which unfortunately turned out not be enough to snatch his qualification, just like Bastien Cochet whose journey to Le Mans came to a close in the Final B after a week of ups and downs in the midfield where his good progress and anger for results couldn’t be fulfilled.
The Super category, known from 2019 as “Pro” given its switch from 175 to 125 cc X30 engines, looked impressive in Le Mans where some of the best names in international karting gathered with winning ambitions. Among them, Franck Chappard entered the competition with a serene spirit on the same track where he claimed his second OK national title. The Frenchman lost no time in clinching the third-fastest qualifying time, less than a tenth of a second from pole position! He then carried out his early pace in the following first heats with two Top Three-finishes which earned him his ticket for a Prefinal that he concluded in seventh place.
Determined to make the best use of the grid’s inside line, Franck started the last 21 laps of his week at full blast by sneaking up to third position while keeping up with the leaders’ pace until a few laps from the checkered flag when a broken valve deprived him of a podium chance as he had to back off to the 10th rank. Oliver Goethe saw the finish line in 12th position thanks to a hectic recovery effort from 28th on the Prefinal’s grid! A performance, coupled with the race’ fourth-fastest lap, up to a strong potential that he couldn’t quite maximize in rather complicated heats.
In the Junior class, Robin Paignat defended the colors of VDK Racing in his first big international race, a task that the 14-year-old Frenchman carrying out with seriousness and maturity in a 108 driver-field. Focused on his understanding of the track and evolving conditions, Robin showed great progress in each of his runs on his way to Friday’s Final B where he put an end to his week with another midfield recovery.
Eric Verdaasdonk (Team Manager): “The weather sometimes turned some sessions into lottery but it’s part of the game, it’s been the same for everyone. In the Pros, Franck drove very well, it’s just a pity this little problem in the Final. Otherwise, I think he could have caught the winner, certainly step on the podium. Elie was perfect in the Seniors, just like Xavier who did well for his first race with the Kart Republic chassis. Corentin could also have been in the Final but he missed it for not much, it’s really bad luck because he had the pace. Thumbs up also to Robin in Junior despite his lack of experience in this kind of event. In the end, it wasn’t an easy week but everyone worked very hard and we can feel satisfied with our performance as a team!”
With the IAME International Final bow behind, VDK Racing looks already forward to the opening round of the WSK Open Cup in Lonato this week before heading for Belgium and the Karting des Fagnes of Mariembourg, in early November, for the closing event of the IAME Series Benelux.
- Text: Guillaume Alvarez
- Photos: Jules Benichou / Twenty-One Creation
