Temperatures were high in Salbris for the 3rd and final round of the European KF1 championship which took place on the same day as the European KF2 finals. The various European champions were naturally among the hot favourites for honours but there were a lot of long faces in the ranks of the outsiders. Disappointingly for them, endless technical hitches and numerous pile ups were the order of the day. But passion is what drives these contestants and there were no breakdowns on that score. The same goes for the drivers' commitment to the Tonelli culture: the famous pink kart decals were much in view and there were many Julie tee-shirts to be seen in the paddock.

Let's leave the race winners to savour the media spotlight and take the plaudits of the crowd and turn our attentions for once to those who, at the end of a hard day, need to renew their motivation. The two big end-of-season races will provide some of them the chance to fight another day, with their dreams intact. It is this sort of attitude that probably explains why Julie loved this sport so much and why Gérard Tonelli is counting on the kart driving community to spread the word about the Julie Tonelli Children' Foundation.

The field entered for this European KF1 championship meeting was somewhat meagre for a race at the highest level of karting. We all know that the new regulations governing KF1 engines have made life very difficult for a number of drivers in this class of racing. The scale of the problem can be gauged by the fact that an established champion such as Davide Foré had such an average season. Despite his vast experience and the backing of a major factory, Davide was never able to punch his weight at Salbris. 4th after timed practice, 4th after the qualifying heats, penalised in race 1 and 5th in race 2: these are not results with which someone of Davide's calibre could be satisfied. But the Italian driver got straight back to work afterwards in order to be ready for Sarno in KZ1 and Mariembourg in KF1. Armand Convers also had reason to be disappointed. So much bad luck! He had to drop out of race 2 after a prang on the very first lap when it looked as though he might get a sniff of the podium. Mike Courquin managed a rueful smile as he recalled the string of mishaps that ruined his hopes of doing well in the last European race of the season. As for Benjamin Bailly... well, Salbris turned out to be one of the worst experiences of his career!

Glenn Keyaert is another driver who seemed to be getting more than his fair share of mishaps. The 20-year old remains one of the most likeable drivers in the paddock. He never complains when things don't go his way. Glenn came up through the traditional path in karting, starting out in the regional "Minime" class in his native Belgium when he was 9 years old. After two years in the Cadet class and then two more with the Juniors, he pushed open the door to the ICA class and went on to international racing in 2003, a season in which he won the European qualifying race in Francorchamps. But a prang put paid to his chances in the final. He was crowned Belgian ICA champion in 2004, but broke a spark plug in the European finals. Glenn entered FA racing in 2005 and broadened his participation in Europe in 2006 by entering for the French and Italian series. The World Cup race in Angerville ended when he was involved in an unfortunate shunt with a team-mate. He has been quick in the French championships this season and also in Europe with a 1st down in Ugento. Glenn remarked that it is becoming increasingly difficult for a private entrant to compete with the KF1 works drivers. For one thing, race parts are hard to come by. He too already has his sights firmly fixed on Mariembourg, a circuit on which he plans to do a lot of practice between now and September. Glenn has been a faithful supporter of the Julie cause since the famous 2004 FFSA Grand Prix in Ostricourt. In particular, he was impressed by what he read on www.julietonelli.com about all that Julie's parents were doing for karting. A number of drivers lost their illusions and their dignity in this European KF2 final race. Loïc Réguillon, Norman Nato and Burkhard Maring, all of whom you might have expected to be front runners, all experienced setbacks. Robin Frijns even managed to hurt an ankle in his last heat! The two female KF2 drivers, Lucie Pankova from the Czech Republic and Veera Virtanen from Finland, never made the cut after qualifying despite their undoubted class.

We'd like to express our thanks and say "well done" to all the drivers who sport Tonelli colours in the European championships.