14 September 2022 – FIA Karting World Championship preview, Sarno (Italy), 15-18 September 2022
September is the month in which Arthur’s season reaches its peak with two big moments: the KZ2 World Cup at Le Mans where Arthur showed his speed in what was a new category for him even if it didn’t yield concrete results, and the OK World Championship at Sarno. The youngster from Laval, France will set off brimming with confidence in his quest for the Holy Grail in a technical environment he’s mastered at a circuit on which he’s already competed in numerous international races.
KZ2 World Cup – A downer
It would be a real understatement to say that Arthur was bitterly disappointed at the end of the qualifying heats for the KZ2 World Cup on the Le Mans circuit. He was full of hope after free practice in which he was super quick and he almost pulled off a coup in qualifying. “I messed up in one single corner in sector 2 of the circuit and based on sectors 1 and 3 I had every reason to be frustrated,” said the French driver. Arthur was 10th out of the 31 drivers in his group in qualifying even though he set the second-fastest time in sector 1 and the fastest time in sector 3. The accumulated times of the four groups put him in 39th place out of 123 drivers representing 26 nationalities.
In hindsight it was a pretty remarkable achievement for a young novice who was competing in his first international race at the wheel of a kart with a gearbox. Unfortunately, it all went south in the qualifying heats either through a lack of success or because of his lack of experience in the category. Maybe give it another go!
OK World Championship – a fast and furious weekend in perspective!
At the moment when these lines are being written Rogeon has arrived in the paddock of the Sarno circuit. The Italian venue isn’t far from Napoli, Vesuvius and Pompey. Among the 93 drivers entered for the OK World Championship is the next generation of young chargers who will take the car circuits by storm! It is the blue-riband race on the international federation’s calendar. The pressure will be enormous and the places as scarce as gold dust!
Arthur is tackling this major rendezvous with Kart Republic chassis and IAME engines with the Belgian team, VDK Racing. He’s already achieved some great exploits with this package this season in the European Championship and the Champion of the Future Euro Series. “I’ve often showed that I’ve got the speed. At Sarno, I’ve just got to get it all together. Given the overall level there’s no room for the tiniest mistake.”
Rendezvous from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th September for the World Championship. The races will be shown on the FIA Karting youtube channel .
Photo Arnau Vinals