The conditions for the third racing weekend of the German Kart Championship couldn’t have been better. The sun shone from the sky on all three racing days and made the finals on Sunday especially challenging for man and machine. The focus was on winning the half-time Championship: Maxim Rehm (DKM), Jens Treur (DJKM), Jorrit Pex (DSKM) and Ben Dörr (DSKC) secured this unofficial title.
The races were balanced. There were narrow fights for positions in all classes up until the end. There were three double winners in the end: Jens Treur (DJKM), Jorrit Pex (DSKM) and Matteo Spirgel (DSKC). Only in the DKM, Maxim Rehm and Luca Griggs shared the victories.
DKM: Maxim Rehm and Luca Griggs share victories
Maxim Rehm (Rehm Racing) dominated qualifying and the heats with a strong performance. The Baden-Wuerttemberg resident therefore gained pole position for the first final race. Things weren’t easy for him then though. Kiano Blum (TB Racing Team) caught up with him towards the middle of the race and put a lot of pressure on Rehm, who kept his nerves and won narrowly in front of the Austrian.
Juliano Holzem (Dörr Motorsport) came in third, followed by Lenny Ried (Lanari Racing Team), Kevin Lantinga (Falcon Racing Team) and reigning Champion Niels Troeger (SRP Racing Team).
Reigning vice Champion Luca Griggs (Falcon Racing Team) caused a surprise in the second final race, starting from eleventh place with four new tires. Due to an impressive pace, he raced through the field and took the lead in the middle of the race. He then achieved an advance of about six seconds until crossing the finish line and thereby celebrated his first victory of the season.
Rehm still won the half-time Championship. He fought a narrow fight for second place with Blum, but in the end the German prevailed while Blum fell back behind Lantinga to fourth place during the last bend. Holzem completed the top five.
Championship ranking DKM after 6 of 10 races:
1. Maxim Rehm (155 points)
2. Kiano Blum (131 points)
3. Kevin Lantinga (108 points)
4. Niels Troeger (105 points)
5. Lenny Ried (97 points)
DJKM: Double victory and half-time title for Jens Treur
Dane Tobias Bille Clausen (Shamick Europe) drove the best time at qualifying of the juniors and also won one heat. Jens Treur (Falcon Racing Team) gained pole position after the heats though: With a victory and a second place he had the least penalty points in the evening and led the field into the first final race. The Dutchman also set the pace here and couldn’t even be deterred by strong Tom Kalender (TB Racing Team) towards the end.
Behind the two leading drivers, there was a thrilling fight during the last few laps. At first, only Maxens Verbrugge (TB Racing Team) and Clausen fought for third place, but Simon Rechenmacher (TB Racing Team) and Portuguese Rodrigo Seabra (Lanari Racing Team) came close too. The four drivers fought until the finish line. In the end, Verbrugge came in third in front of Rechenmacher and Sabrea. The latter received a spoiler penalty though and fell back to ninth place behind Clausen. New fifth winner was Luca Schwab (TB Racing Team).
Kick-off winner Treur also couldn’t be stopped during the second race. With a confident performance, he drove towards a double victory and thereby further strengthened his Championship lead.
There was no change on second position as well: Kalender stayed in the winner’s wind shadow, but never got a chance to attack. Regarding the further positions, there was a group of six divers who fought for the remaining cup ranks. At first it looked like Schwab was going to prevail, but he lost all chances due to a technical flag. Rechenmacher took his place followed by Clausen and Verbrugge.
Championship ranking DJKM after 6 of 10 races:
1. Jens Treur (166 points)
2. Tobias Bille Clausen (143 points)
3. Tom Kalender (122 points)
4. Maxens Verbrugge (105 points)
5. Simon Rechenmacher (104 points)
DKSM: Jorrit Pex celebrates impressive double victory
Overall leader Jorrit Pex (SP Motorsport) already made it clear on Saturday that he wanted to achieve his first victory of the season this weekend. He led the field at qualifying and the heats and gained the maximum amount of points. He tied in with this performance in the first final race. At first, he lost the start to Tim Troeger (SRP Racing Team), but the Dutchman drove past Troeger again soon and celebrated his first victory of the season.
The places behind the winner were taken quickly too. Troeger led the field of pursuers in front of Guust Specken (CRG Holland), David Trefilov (SRP Racing Team) and Daniel Stell (Haak Motorsport).
The second final race was truly exciting then: Troeger won the start again and Pex countered shortly after. Until the middle of the race it looked like an easy race for the seven-time Champion. But the competition with new tires came close and tried everything to drive past him. The routine driver showed his entire skill set and defended his lead until the finish line. Valentino Fritsch (BirelART Racing KSW), Stell, Kris Haanen (SP Motorsport) and Alexander Schmitz (BirelART Racing KSW) followed in his wind shadow. The two latter drivers showed impressive catching-up races from 13th and 14th starting positions. Double winner Pex was in the best mood in the subsequent interview: “We already knew before the start that it was going to be a tough race with four old tires. I tried to drive off a bit, but my opponents were very fast. I had to keep my rhythm then to win.”
Championship ranking DSKM after 6 of 10 races:
1. Jorrit Pex (167 points)
2. Daniel Stell (114 points)
3. David Trefilov (105 points)
4. Kris Haanen (103 points)
5. Guust Specken (85 points)
In four weeks, the German Kart Championship’s fourth event is going to take place. Then, the Championship presented by Point-Racing is going to travel to the Arena E in Muelsen.