For the final round of the Italian season, the Open Masters marched Julie off to the Abruzzes region, which is right in the middle of the boot, if you see what we mean. This a land of plenty, with its famous sun-drenched beached stretching endlessly along the Adriatic coast. But to get to the Val Vibrata you have to throw off your beach shoes and head to the mountains. What with high passes and endless tunnels you end up not knowing quite where you are, but the clear blue Mediterranean skies in this beautiful spot attracted a swarm of Julie butterflies.

Back home in France it was hard to tell if we were in summer or winter, but down in Italy we found magnificent alpine terrain and temperatures of 40°C in the shade of the odd gnarled olive tree, with soaring 8000 ft peaks as a backdrop. Our Italian friends had the bright idea of setting up a international standard kart race track up here, on the outskirts of the small town of Sant Egidio. It was good to see that the track, with its good, old-fashioned layout, has recently been resurfaced. We have to say that Julie, in her first full season on the other side of the Alps, has been given a great reception in the land of her forefathers. And what a spectacle it is, this Italian championship! Of course we are in the spiritual home of kart racing - Italy has the highest density of kart tracks anywhere - but more than anything this is the land of motor sport passion. The country hosts the biggest and best kart championship in the world, as the official race commentator kept telling us, all day long! He was right, too. Just think: 32 different countries represented, an average of 210 drivers per meeting, 10 hours of TV coverage going out via satellite, efficient, welcoming organisers, high-class communication at all levels... what more could Julie have hoped for in her first season outside France? It was quite a gamble trying to get the Julie Tonelli Children's Fund known abroad. Gérard Tonelli was counting on French drivers who had known Julie - people like Jérémy Iglésias, Manuel Renaudie and Armand Convers - to get the message out in other countries. It looks as though the gamble is paying off, for no less than 12 countries had drivers sporting Julie's colours during the 2007 Open Masters. Among the big names of the karting world, pride of place must go to Davide Fore’ and Alssandro Piccini - 9 world titles between them! But Julie has also touched the hearts of up and coming drivers such as the Bailly brothers - Benjamin and Sébastien -, Mateo Vigano, KF3 winner Jack Harvey, Miki Monras, Burkhard Maring and Fabio Dell’Acqua. Even better, the Julie Tonelli cause has helped promote less well known drivers like Virtanen, Soldati, Piva, Gatting, Pineno, Rowlnas, … and even a Japanese KF3 driver: Gaku Ishiyma. This 14-year-old youngster first sat in a kart in Japan at the tender age of 5, just for fun. He travelled to Italy without his family to compete in the Open Masters. He just had his manager with him. His thirst for learning and ability to progress are impressive. He started the season slowly but ended up fighting it out with some of the best drivers in the class, stable-mate Sébastien Bailly being one notable example. He got to know about the Julie cause through the Bailly family, and now her famous pink rose stickers adorn his kart. He's starting to make a name for himself in Japan, a country in which press and public alike love their karting. So Julie is off to the other side of the world! In Val Vibrata, Gaku finished 4th then 9th in the finals, which leaves him in 10th position in the championship standings. Not bad at all! He says that for him 2007 was a year of apprenticeship. So watch out for the name Ishiyma in 2008.