The final result achieved in KZ1 by Beitske Visser on the first round of WSK Euro Series 2011 is quite far from the goals she set for herself when she came to the Naples region. On the Sarno karting circuit, after a collision during Saturday's final and a hard rainy Sunday, the Dutch girl was already looking forward to the next race to soon find her way to the lead of the pack...
For Beitske Visser, her third meeting of the season started with a 15th time in timed qualifying, which she soon improved in the qualifying session, as she herself explained "In the first heat, I climbed up to 6th by setting times which were pretty close to those of the leaders. The second heat was less good, I could not do better than 8th. With Intrepid/Praga team and Tec-Sav, my engine tune up specialist, we analysed what had happened at the start of the weekend and we changed several parameters for the final. I was determined to catch up, but I was bumped into at the start and I had to retire, without even completing a lap!"
With the new WSK format, a new series of heats and a second final are held on Sunday. But also this time, she was the victim of drivers who too often show unsporting behaviour. Is it maybe because Beitske is the only girl in this 125cc gearbox category? The Dutch girl could not do better than 15th the whole day. "In addition to that, it began to rain in the morning and we were forced to start from scratches with adjustments. It was a pity, because Intrepid team performances as well as mine had kept improving on the dry and I hoped I could be back in the top 10". But Beitske Visser has a busy racing calendar and she is already looking forward to an opportunity to forget her disappointment. Maybe the right chance could already come next 20th of March, at the Andrea Margutti Trophy in Castelletto di Branduzzo...
What an Elite Group of Participants !
This was most certainly the hardest fought race that Beitske Visser has attended since the start of her career. Let's not forget that she is just 16 (her birthday was last 10th March) and that this was her second meeting in the KZ category (125cc gearbox). In Sarno, she raced against 6 World Champions, 4 European Champions and 7 World or European vice champions! But Beitske has already had the opportunity to beat some of them on the track. So her goal, that of winning, remains unchanged...
Sarno, A Cursed Track ?
Situated in Italy, near Naples, at the foot of the Vesuvius, the Sarno karting facility is one of the most important in the world, in addition to being particularly suited to KZ1. Beitske Visser feels especially at ease in there, though she has too often been left empty handed. Already in 2010, at the European KZ2 Championship as well as the WSK Euro Series, finals did not end very well for this fast Dutch driver, who would like to ward off bad luck in this corner of Italy.