SARNO (ITA)  17-18 SEPTEMBER 2011

GIOVINAZZI PODIUM IN KF2. DE VRIES RULES OVER TWO FINALS.
The fourth round of the KF1 World Championship is raced in Sarno, Italy. De Vries conquers two victories, while Giovinazzi places 3rd in the KF2 World Cup. Bad luck in KF3.

KF1
The next-to-last round of the World Championship is raced, as usual, over 4 finals (the worst result to be discarded). De Vries (Zanardi/Parilla) closes in full battle for the title (the last round will be in Suzuka, Japan, on November 13th). In the first half of the weekend he doesn't give anyone a chance: from the first qualifications on Saturday to the second set on Sunday (preceding Final 3), the Dutch driver is consistently in first place and also scored best lap on track in both Final 1 and Final 2. Total domination. In the first half of the weekend,  Roussel (Sodi/Parilla) also does very well: 6th  in the first qualifications, some problems in Final 1 (17 th), but a nice recovery in Final 2 (11th).
As said, De Vries is also the fastest in the Sunday’s qualifications, but a bad start and a technical problem knock him down in Final 3. KO for Roussel too. Then in Final 4 both drivers come back big time, putting the qualities of the Parilla engines in full display: De Vries finds his way up from the bottom of the grid, scores best lap, and closes well in 6th (a great place according to the overall ranking). Roussel also does a nice race and comes in 8th. As the general standings suggest, everything will be decided in Japan, De Vries fighting for the title and Roussel for the World’s Top 10.

KF2
Great performance by the Parilla engines, landing 3 drivers in the top 6 places of the Final. Giovinazzi (PCR/Parilla), fantastic, lands on the podium of the World Cup of his category: his 3rd place comes after a weekend raced steadily in the forefront. Placing 5th in the qualifying session, he then goes wild in the heats, collecting 4 victories and a 2nd place: a performance that places him in the front row (though on the outside) in the prefinal. Here the Italian driver fights hard and conquers a good 5th post. The final calls for a great race to the podium and Giovinazzi makes it happen, closing 3rd. Cucco (Birel/Parilla) had some problems in the qualifying practice (60th) and in the heats he has to work overtime, starting from the back each time: he qualifies among the last (31st), but then manages two great comebacks in the races that matter, coming in 13th in the prefinal and 5th in the final. Belmaaziz (DR/Parilla) also stands out: 15th after the heats, he fills the gap in prefinal (11th) and finishes the final big time, placing 6th.

KF3
The category of regrets for Parilla drivers. Verstappen (CRG/Parilla) is a lightining bolt in the qualifying practice (2nd), followed by Stroll (Zanardi/Parilla) who places 3rd. Then in the heats both play a starring role: Verstappen wins 5 out of six (2nd with two best laps in the sixth), while Stroll pays for a retreat from the first one but keeps top speeds throughout. Graham (Zanardi/Parilla) also does well, winning two heats and coming in 2nd in the other three (in the end he is 4th on the prefinal grid). In the heats, Julé (Intrepid/Parilla), Ilott  (Zanardi/Parilla) and Defourny (Zanardi/Parilla) also “brak out” a best lap each.
In the prefinal, 4 Parilla drivers finish in the top 15: Verstappen is 2nd, Graham 11th, Ilott 12th and Stroll 14th. In the final, they are thus all in a position to do well. Verstappen has to recover right from the start, but fights for the title until a contact penalizes him and a technical problem sends him to the mat for good. Too bad. Ilott and Stroll also out, while Graham, the best Parilla, closes with a great 6th place. Julé finishes 17th and Ivanovic (DR/Parilla) 21st.