On the menu during a mostly sunny early September weekend in Sarno, not far from Naples, was some fine racing. A field of past, present and future champions served up some intense emotion out on the long, technically challenging 1.7 km track, with its somewhat unusual surface. No way were Julie Tonelli's drivers going to miss out on such a major European and world event as this one taking place on Italian soil, where the racing is always hotly contested not to say extreme.

With three major titles at stake, the Sarno meeting was one of the 2007 season's top events. In KZ1 and KF3, the title was decided under traditional rules, the crown going to the winner of Sunday's final. In KZ2 the championship race was still wide open with five possible winners. So the tension in the air was palpable as the clock started to register the lap times. The usual crowd of Julie supporters were there, sporting her pink butterfly colours as they have done all season.

The standard was especially high in KZ1, thanks to the notable participation of some of the world's top KF1 drivers. Armand Convers, unused to having to change gear and driving a kart that was not performing too well, didn't manage to get through qualifying. Neither did Pierre Ragues, who was doing fine until the rain set in, cutting short the repechage heat. Private entrant Gianni Gazzurelli didn't make the cut either, but was thrilled with the chance to race against some of the top works drivers. Young Thomas Mich was amongst the front-runners all weekend, finishing the final in a superb 5th position, ahead of a lot of far more experienced drivers than him. Alessandro Piccini was looking good for a podium place in the final until falling foul of a prang which put him back down in 18th place. Omar Mambretti, who lacks race practice this season, is gradually finding his form, progressing from 39th position in the timed laps up to 13th place in the final. Last but not least, Davide Foré, hit a number of problems in the race, and was unable to make good his undoubted chances of victory.

In KZ2, Joffrey Demanse was the best of the drivers sporting Julie's colours. 5th after the heats, Joffrey lost all chance of victory after a crash when he was lying 4th in the race. But a spectacular 16-place climb in Race 2 saw him finish the race in 11th place, which put him in 9th place in the final European championship standings. Tony Lavanant, still feeling the effects of his back problem, managed to grab 7th place after the heats. He had to retire from Race 1 and didn't start Race 2. He finished 10th overall in the championship. With each outing, Enzo Zéférini confirms all the good things that have been said about him after such good performances in 2007. Enzo scored a useful 10th fastest lap in the time trials and came through the heats in 12th place. Unfortunately he was forced to drop out of Race 1 when he was lying 8th. After moving up 12 places in Race 2, he crossed the line in 16th place which took him to 15th overall in the final championship standings. Finally, Austria's favourite Frenchman, Morgan Weber, got better with each heat and peaked in 9th position in Race 1.

Over in the juniors in KF3, we can only sit back and admire what Brandon Maïsano has achieved this season. He was always up there with the fastest drivers in the race. Good to see that he has now mastered the art of getting off to a good start and how to manage his races carefully without sacrificing his attacking instinct. However, having been shunted of the track twice, he had to make do with 8th place. Neither Kevin Mourey nor David Rambeau managed to qualify, following prangs in the heats. Guillaume De Ridder did better and raced a superb prefinal, climbing 13 places through the field. He dropped out of the final; there was no way he was going to be able to continue with a nose panel covering his eyes! Young Jordon Lennox-Lamb, who is currently lying 5th in the British championships, finished a creditable11th, up from 26th in timed practice.