The young Finn Aaro Vainio dominated his race at the European KF3 Championship round held at Varennes. Fast, steady, perfectly capable of managing all the difficulties of this kind of competitions - especially collisions - Vainio fully deserved his European title, while quite a few brilliant drivers did not gain access to the final phases. In KZ1, Davide Forè climbed on the third step of a podium of champions.

Last weekend, the Jean Brun circuit at Varennes-sur-Allier hosted one of the most important karting meetings of the year and awarded two European titles in KF3 and KZ2, as well as the World Cup for KZ1. The foundation "Julie Tonelli pour l'Enfance" was there too, of course.

For the KZ2 category, it was the last of three European Championship rounds. The candidates to the title were already within reach of their final result, but many non professional drivers, including numerous Frenchmen, were still savouring the opportunity to race in a prestigious competition. Given the number and the level of participants, not all them could take their qualification for granted. Among those wearing Julie's colours Intrepid / TM drivers Cédric Erbland and Nicolas Harmuth, as well as Maxime Bailleul at the wheel of his Mirage / TM and Geoffroy Lelièvre on Energy / TM had to throw in the towel at the end of the qualifying heats. For Nicolas, the first of the non qualified drivers, disappointment must have been great because a penalty of 10'' prevented him from gaining access to the finals, which otherwise would have been within his reach. Bailleul paid dearly his two withdrawals. Cyril Lefevre (Energy / TM) was 21st at mid race after he ranked 50th in timed qualifying and finished around 25th place in the races. Austrian Jesse Streibl (Monza / TM) qualified with the 25th place, fell in 32nd position after he abandoned Race 1 and came back to a solid 22nd place in Race 2.

As usual, the World Cup for KZ1 gathered the world elite of karting and it can certainly be said that competition was up to expectations. Alessandro Piccini (Maranello / TM) had a disappointing performance: a withdrawal and a penalty in the heats compromised his chances for the final, despite an interesting 13th in timed qualifying. At the wheel of his Sodikart / TM, loyal Alban Varutti waited for the rain to stage one of his best performances, which however evaporated when the track became dry again. We will remember his 3rd place in the first heat and a temporary presence in the top 4 in the pre-final. Davide Forè had a good progression, 7th in the final and 12th at the start of the pre-final. He achieved a brilliant 3rd place in the final.

In the KF3 category, many of the leaders were already out before the finals. Changing track conditions, intense competition with aggressive driving at the limit of admissibility and the best drivers had to give up. It was the case of Dutch Nyck De Vries (Zanardi / XTR) and Belgian Guillaume De Ridder (Kosmic / Vortex), but also of Michelle Gatting (Gillard / XTR) and Kevin Giovesi (Maranello / TM). Little known at international level, Danish driver Thomas Krebs (Maranello / XTR) certainly was not intimidated: he reached 13th place at intermediate time, and was 19th in the final after a bit of trouble in the pre-final. The hero of the day was our Aaro Vainio who won all his races on a Maranello / Maxter and fought hard until the very last lap in the final to skilfully regain the lead of the race and win the European Champion title. What a talent!