Prestigious Series Rotax Eurochallenge 2012 Begins
Yesterday, another year of the prestige series Rotax Eurochallenge 2012 was officially opened attracting almost 200 pilots from nearly 30 countries. The category Rotax Max Seniors with the 90 registered is the largest, followed by the category Rotax Max Juniors in which 67 pilots are to be in; 36 drivers are expected to enter race in the category Rotax Max DD2.
The Czech Republic is represented by three pilots in the Rotax Max Juniors category: Tomáš Salva (MS Kart Racing Team), Jan Filip (OK Kart) and Jakub Kadlčák (Gregor Racing). Five Czech pilots will race in the Rotax Max Seniors category: Jiří Forman, Petr Běžel, Miroslav Kovář and Petr Fulín (all MS Kart Racing Team), and David Rychtár (Gregor Racing). No Czech will compete in the category Rotax Max DD2.
England includes the highest number of drivers (32), followed by Holland (23), France (19) and Sweden (18). The Czech Republic having eight drivers ranks 8th among 28 countries. Among chassis dominates Tonykart (45) leaving a gap, followed by Interpid (21), Kosmic (18) and Formula K (14). Twenty-five chassis are represented in total, the Czech MS Kart with five chassis was finally included in the first ten.
Kaan Onder (Turkey), Ryo Hirooka (Japan), Ralf Aron (Estonia) look the favourite in the category Rotax Max Juniors; out of Czechs is Tomáš Salva who may surprise. English drivers Edward Brand, Sean Babington, Charlie Eastwood, Shaun Slavin Ashhand, Andy King and Henry Easthope will probably fight for the podiums, likewise Antonie Barthon (France), Aavo Talvar (Estonia), Uyko Sasahara (Japan) and Josh Hart (New Zealand); let's hope that the Czech pilots Jiří Forman and Petr Běžel will be among them too.
Tomorrow, the last free practice sessions await drivers in the morning, timed practice sessions are hold in the afternoon, heats on Saturday; drivers in categories Juniors and Seniors who would finish on 29th-63rd place in the Saturday's sessions will drive the so-called Second Chance, next, the final part will follow, first, semi-final sessions in the morning and next final races in all categories on the Sunday's afternoon.
