GRAND FINALS 2009: December 7, 2009

Welcome from the 2009 Rotax MAX Grand Finals at Ghibli Raceway in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Today is the last day before on-track competition, but the facility is a buzz of activity nonetheless.

Today is “Raffle Day”; the day the competitors draw numbered ping-pong balls from a jug to determine which kart will be theirs to compete with for the week. After the raffle the competitors push their karts back to the pits, picking up a fresh set of Mojo tyres along the way. Once back in their pit stalls, the crews will spend the next few hours installing seats, mounting tyres and doing their own final preparations to get ready for the first practice sessions tomorrow.

The first time the Grand Finals were held in Sharm El Sheikh was coincidentally the first time a spec chassis was utilized. That year CRG stepped up to provide chassis for the first Grand Finals appearance of the Rotax Junior class. CRG has continued to be a strong supporter of the spec chassis program and returns this year as the official chassis of both the DD2 and Senior MAX classes.

Returning for their second year as a chassis supplier is Maranello. Last year in la Conca they provided the Senior MAX chassis. This year, all the Junior MAX competitors will be driving Maranello chassis.

From the standpoint of the Rotax, CRG and Maranello employees, this day is one of the most satisfying of the year. This is because prior to the raffle, all the karts are rolled out and put on display in what is one of the most impressive sights in all of karting. Words truly cannot do justice to the sight of over 200 identical karts from three classes lined up almost the entire length of the front straightaway. For the craftsmen that have spent the past several months doing their part to make this happen, it is a very proud moment indeed.

Overall this is a relatively quiet day at Ghibli Raceway. There are, of course, no motors running on track, just the hypnotic beat of techno music playing through the loud speakers. Back in the pits the sounds of wrenches whizzing away fill the air along with the smell of assembly lubricant. But for all the activity going on, it’s still rather quiet as people carry on with real purpose. The racing schedule at the Grand Finals does not allow for a lot of testing once practice gets underway. For this reason, teams are careful to make sure everything is set properly.

Although this is a quiet day, the nighttime promises to provide a lot of excitement for this, is the night of the Welcoming Party. From the grandstands overlooking the track, everyone can see the preparation for tonight festivities taking place along the topside of the track between turns two and three. Highlight of the night promises to be the qualifying rounds of the Mojo Tyre changing competition in which contestants must completely dismount and remount a complete set of tyres as fast as possible. This will be the second year for this competition and it has already proven to be a most popular event.

Tomorrow we shall see the first official on-track activity. For those wanting more coverage, you can click on the “Race TV” link on the event page, or go to www.kartworld.tv for videos and more information.

PIT BITS

Maik Barten (Holland) Maik Barten is a 19-year-old DD2 competitor for Team The Netherlands. Maik hails from the town of Geldrop and has been racing karts for 12 years. This is Maik’s third Grand Final as a competitor and briefly held a podium position in DD2 at last year’s Grand Finals at La Conca in Italy, before being dropped back with a minor penalty. Although that is a heartbreaking memory, he still rates the La Conca circuit as his favorite track. Maik says his best moment in racing so far was to win the second round of the Rotax Euro Championship in Busca (Italy) on the new Maddox-kart. While away from racing he spends a lot of time working on fitness and running his own transport company.

Aavo Talvar (Estonia) Estonian Junior MAX competitor Aavo Talvar is at Ghibli Raceway to compete in his third Grand Final. The fifteen-year-old has been racing karts for 5 years and was one of the front runners at La Conca last year when he started the pre-final from pole position only to have a string of misfortune send him backwards through the field. The young man who hails from the city of Keila in Estonia says his future goals may include some car racing, but for right now he’s enjoying his time racing karts. Aavo added that his best memory racing was at a Euro Challenge race in Germany earlier this year when he went from 17th to 4th in the pre-final, then went to the front to take the win in the final.

Paul Booth (New Zealand) For many this event is their first time to Egypt. For New Zealand’s Paul Booth, this is his first time out of his home country. He says he’s having a great time in Egypt and is enjoying the experience because everything is new and different to him. And when he says everything, he means it. Paul qualified to come here in Max Heavy, a class that doesn’t run at the Grand Finals. As such, Paul will be competing at Ghibli Raceway in DD2, a type of kart he’s never driven before. Paul started his karting career running the Kiwi Cadet 80cc karts twelve years ago when he was eight years old. He rates Hamilton as his favorite track because it’s really fast and has a nice flow to it. It’s obvious he’s enjoying his time so far because he says his main racing goal for right now is to keep qualifying to race overseas.

Pedro and David Chaves (Portugal) It’s a well-known fact that most professional racing drivers started in kart racing. Not as well known, but almost as prevalent are the drivers that return to karting after successful careers, either personally, or through their children. One such example is Portugal’s Pedro Chaves. Pedro spent 25 years as a professional driver and even spent a year in Formula One in 1991 driving for the Coloni team. Now Pedro is guiding his son, David, in his racing endeavors. David is 13-years-old and is competing in his first Grand Final as a Junior. Pedro says he feels good about his son’s racing but wants to make sure he just has fun doing it and not on worrying about developing a professional career.

Jo Reilly (United Kingdom) Seventeen-year-old Jo Reilly is a veteran of the Rotax MAX Grand Finals having competed last year in Italy at La Conca. At Ghibli raceway, the resident of London returns to compete in Senior MAX for The United Kingdom. Jo says his greatest achievement in racing was when he won the last round of Super 1 at Wigan in Manchester and to be crowned as the 2008 British Champion. Outside of karting, Jo has interest in running the Formula Renault UK series and winning the graduate cup for the winter series. He also enjoys snowboarding, skiing and “having a laugh with the boys.”