KOZLINSKI CLAIMS TITLE // WORLD KARTING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009

With motorsport in France seemingly in decline over the last few years, Frenchman Arnaud Kozlinski restored some pride to the Gallic nation by claiming the World Karting Championship title. The top FIA CIK class of 100cc karting SKF held its annual World Championship meeting this year for the first time at Macau within the "Peoples Republic of China".

The three day event saw racing take place at the Kartodromo de Macau and after serious problems with track surface break up during practice the 2009 CIK-FIA World Karting Championship SKF Final went ahead but had to be red flagged five laps early due to heavy rain... [read more]

Battling through the changeable conditions was the 28 yr old Kozlinski nicknamed "Koko" within the paddock aboard his CRG Maxter.
 
Arnaud was understandably overjoyed with the win and commented  "What a relief !, In 2008 I was leading the race until I had motor problems, just as I had one month previously when I was about to be crowned European Champion. Emotionally that was all very difficult ! But I was determined to return even stronger and I dedicate this victory to everybody who has supported me, particularly my parents.

He went on to say "When I saw the first spots of rain early in the final, I said to myself the race is going to be long and difficult. . I was lucky to have Aaro Vainio in front of me. He was very quick and in some respect, he showed me the tricky places. Both of us had an opportunity to pull away from those behind us. Then I had an opportunity to take advantage of what I had learned and pass him". Coming home in second place after leading for much of the final was 16 year old Finish driver Aaro Vainio (Below) who defiantly will be one to watch in the future as his career will surely take him up the motorsport ladder. Vainio who captured the European title during 2009 commented " I am really happy 2nd in the World Championship and European Champion in one year is quite a record to achieve"

Briton Ben Hanley (Maranello-Maxter) placed a great third after a race long battle with Belgian Jonathan Thonon (CRG-Maxter) (Below) who had to be content to just miss out this time on a podium spot.

Eagle eyed CTD readers may notice the addition of small on-board cameras to each of the competing karts pictured in this report. Well back at the  CIK-FIA event at Sarno (Italy) the cameras were trialed to enable the officials of the race to observe the drivers’ actions on track more efficiently. The result was that they particularly seemed to lead to an indisputable improvement of drivers track behaviour. At the end of the weekend, no fewer than 360 recordings were collected and, on the basis of reports forwarded by the officials and marshals of the event, a very large number of actions were examined and resulted in approximately ten penalties, including three exclusions for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

So given the encouraging trial they were fitted to all karts for the World Championships. It is also worthy of note that interested drivers can get the pictures of their performance in order to study or keep a memory of a particular on track battle.


2009 World Karting Championship Final SKF Results:
1 CRG I Kozlinski, Arnaud F CRG / Maxter / B'stone 18 49.545
2 Maranello Kart I Vainio, Aaro FIN Maranello / Maxter / B'stone 18 +1.008 49.625
3 Maranello Kart I Hanley, Ben GB Maranello / Maxter / B'stone 18 +6.103 49.689
4 CRG I Thonon, Jonathan B CRG / Maxter / B'stone 18 +7.376 49.683
5 Tony Kart Racing Team I Camponeschi, Flavio I Tony Kart / Vortex / B'stone 18 +9.255 49.582
6 EGP Racing B De Brabander, Yannick B Intrepid / TM / B'stone 18 +12.612 49.640
7 PDB Racing Team NL Renaudie, Manuel F Gillard / Parilla / B'stone 18 +13.832 49.909
8 Kosmic Racing Dept I Bressan, Alessandro I Kosmic / Vortex / B'stone 18 +15.379 49.737
9 Tony Kart Racing Team I Ardigo, Marco I Tony Kart / Vortex / B'stone 18 +15.841 49.627
10 PCR I Puhakka, Simo FIN PCR / TM / B'stone 18 +16.917 49.465


Photo: CIK-FIA
Editorial: Neil Tozer