11/09/2014

After another KZ2 triumph in the fourth round of the Italian CSAI Karting Championship, Lorenzo Camplese is one of the only two title contenders left. The other is Maranello Racing teammate Marco Zanchetta.

Circuito Internazionale d'Abruzzo – Ortona (CH) – 7 September 2014 22 drivers line up at the start of the fourth round of the Italian CSAI Karting Championship, including Lorenzo Camplese and Marco Zanchetta, the two Maranello drivers eveyone’s watching. They are the ones who in previous rounds stood out as the strongest candidates for the title and the men to beat. It’s clear as early as qualifying practice that the situation won’t be any different in Ortona, with Camplese second fastest by just 150 thousandths and Zanchetta seventh. As soon as the first heat starts, Camplese then restores order, winning with authority and giving the impression he could push even further. Zanchetta, instead, has a bit of a tough time and ends tenth. In the heat two, he then rises to sixth place, while Camplese ends 4th. The results translate into place two (Camplese) and place seven (Zanchetta) on the start grid for Race 1. Here, in the race that offers the most points of the weekend, the Maranello duo has to face a top shape rival who leads most of the race. Camplese holds behind him the whole time and on the last lap takes advantage of a small distraction to take control and fly off to victory. Zanchetta does a dashing start and immediately gains several positions, then settles in third place and on the final lap manages to move up one more spot, giving Maranello a fantastic 1-2 finish. In Race 2, which starts with the grid inversion for the top 8 finishers of Race 1, Camplese gets caught up in the stampede at the start and slips to the rear of the field, but with a set of great overtakes manages to close 8th. Zanchetta continues on a steadier pace and, after spending most of the race in 6th place, does the right move and rises to 4th – enough to collect the points he needs to be the only viable alternative to Camplese for the 2014 title win. However things go, one thing is sure: the championship belongs to Maranello. “This was a very satisfying weekend that preannounced us as winners of the Italian KZ2 title hunt. Once again, we want to thank our drivers for their determination and the team for their hard work, especially Stefano Griggio, who, aside from some misfortunate episodes, has done a great job of maximizing our equipment’s performance and leading us to another major victory.” It is with these words that Maranello Kart manager Luca Iannaccone commented the weekend.