FIA Karting European Championship, Portimao (Portugal), 8-10 April 2022
Arthur Rogeon has entered for the FIA European Karting Championship for the second year running. Never has the overall level been so high in the OK category with 71 drivers representing 26 nationalities all dreaming of a career in the upper echelons of motor sport. Once again the championship will be run over four meetings with the opening round taking place last weekend on the Portimao circuit in the south of Portugal. The youngster from Mayenne has discovered new working methods with the VDK Racing team that he has just joined: He hopes to score excellent results with them in the very near future in the wake of a weekend marked by numerous glitches.
Compared to almost all his rivals Rogeon’s season kicked off later than theirs; only two weeks before the first European event, in fact. Obviously, the time lost is never easy to make up and Arthur quickly got down to work to get back in the game.
“Because of a late agreement, the VDK Racing team was unable to free itself for the preparatory race in Portimao. So the opening round of the European Championship marked my real debut with Alain and Eric Verdaasdonk’s team. In free practice, we gave both the images taken by my on-board camera and the data we gathered an in-depth examination. This helped us identify all the points that could be improved. Of course, we lacked time to put everything in order in terms of my driving and I had to be content with the 34th time in official timed practice.”
In addition, an engine problem forced Arthur to miss the opening qualifying heat. Fortunately, things went off a lot better in the second one. “I managed to fight my way up to eighth place setting times that were within only one-tenth-and-a-half of the fastest.” Although he was now feeling confident for the remainder of the competition he was soon disillusioned. “I twice had carburetion problems with an engine that flooded at the start which lost me a lot of places.”
Even so, Arthur didn’t give up and in the final heat he scored an excellent ninth-place finish after a scintillating performance in bright Portuguese sunshine. So everything was looking rosy for qualification for the final as the 16-year-old-Frenchman had managed his tyre wear much better than his rivals. But he still had to shine in the super heat, a kind of make or break race for the drivers in the middle of the intermediate classification. He started in 22nd position and put on a brilliant display to pull back 10 places. The young charger from the club of Laval thought that he had clinched his place in the final, but he was given a penalty for a front fairing displaced in the heat of the battle that shattered his hopes.
“Although I’m obviously very disappointed, I really think I showed that with the VDK team I was capable of making it into the top 10. The ambiance in the team is excellent; all the drivers push one another to improve their performances. One of my team-mates scored an excellent result in Portugal and that can only add to my motivation for the next round in the European Championship.”
This will take place in Zuera near Zaragoza in Spain from 28th April to 1st May. Prior to this, a preparatory event (Champions of the Future Euro Series) will be held on the same circuit from 14th to 17th April.
Photo Arnau Vinals