2017 CIK-FIA Best-Of – First international success for Irlando

Alongside the CIK-FIA World KZ Championship, the CIK-FIA International Super Cup for KZ2, which took place from 6th to 10th September on the German circuit in Wackersdorf, had a broad base of 113 participants from more than 25 nations and four continents. The battle was tough to decide the list of 34 finalists, especially as a brief shower made the track slippery on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

In a lavish Final, Alex Irlando of Italy triumphed from Sweden’s Benjamin Persson at the very last corner.

Qualifying Practice allowed Italy’s Riccardo Longhi (Birel ART / TM Racing / B’stone) to take the lead over Daniel Stell of Germany (Mach 1 / TM Racing / B’stone), while Israel’s Ariel Levi (Sodi / TM) stood out in 3rd place. After a marathon of 21 Qualifying Heats, six per Driver, Longhi was still in charge. Benjamin Persson of Sweden (CRG / TM Racing / B’stone) managed to return to 2nd place ahead of Marco Zanchetta of Italy (Maranello / TM Racing / B’stone). Considered one of the favourites, the Italian Alex Irlando (Sodi / TM Racing / B’stone) was relegated to 6th position because of a penalty.

Irlando wins at the finish

Unleashed, Irlando took 2nd place from the fifth of the 26 laps of the Final. At this point, Persson remained a solid leader with 1.7 » ahead. But the gap, however significant, decreased over the laps, with Irlando and Longhi back together and very consistent. Persson tried to resist several attacks and started the last lap in a strong position. Irlando, however, took advantage of a small mistake by his rival who was overly defending his place to succeed in a bold overtake on the inside at the last corner. He won by 49 thousandths of a second on the line to win the CIK-FIA International Super Cup for KZ2 ahead of Persson, who was very disappointed, and Longhi. Francesco Celenta (Praga / TM Racing / B’stone) and Zanchetta completed the top five.

Info CIK-FIA / © Photo KSP