13.07.2023 13:54

The second children's, youth and historical karting festival in Madona has been completed. As usual, intense battles took place on the track, and it must be said that, traditionally, the weather also introduced its own corrections, but this year much less than in last year's competition.

In total, the competition gathered 42 participants in Micro, Mini, Junior and historical karting classes. There were guests from Lithuania, Estonia and even Norway. Gradually, this event is becoming an annual tradition and the number of participants is also gradually increasing.

The youngest drivers had something to hold on to, as they had to be able to complete the qualification, two heats, two finals and a super final, which lasted 20 minutes plus one lap. A small test of endurance and character for young aspirants.

In the Micro class, Juris Plūksna won the super final and, accordingly, the grand prize quite convincingly, leaving behind Kristiāns Skakauskis and the Lithuanian driver Remigijus Kriaučiūnas. It is worth noting that Juris won absolutely all races of his class, including the qualification.

In the mini class, in the super final, Timurs Pecerica won with a lead of more than three seconds over his followers, accordingly he also got a completely new engine suitable for his class. Adrians Tions reached the finish line as the second, just a hair's breadth ahead of third place winner Gabriels Kristians Moisejs. Victory did not come to Timurs as easily as his colleague from the Micro class, on the way to the super final he even failed to finish some race heats, but in all other races where Timurs reached the finish line, only first place was won.

In the junior class, in the super final race, Bruno Perle demonstrated completely unfathomable speed. Bruno spent practically the entire race in noble solitude, safely heading to his Grand Prix – a new Junior class motor. The second place was also very convincingly won by Karlis Kirikovs. Alise Stolcermane and the Estonian driver Oliver Kurg fought hard for the third place throughout the race, who also showed the fastest race lap, and he also managed to cross the finish line as the third, but the careful and precise control of the technical commission after the race revealed inconsistencies in the Estonian drivers equipment, as a result Alise climbed onto the lowest step of the podium. It should be noted that on the same day Alise's brother Tomass fought for the European championship title at the Sarno track in Italy and a day later also won the bronze medal in the overall standings of the continental championship, which is the highest achievement of Latvian karting drivers so far.

Mārtiņš Silenieks remained unbeaten in the retro karting event, in the eight-man competition. The further distribution of places was determined by the qualification race, as the three participants had exactly the same number of points won in both final races. So it turned out that the second place was won by Roberts Klinsons, finishing only one race of the final with full strength, and winning it. The guest from Estonia, Karl Soom, was ranked third. A painful wooden medal, it is the fourth place in the overall standings, for Maris Aizsils, although he finished both final races as third, but a weaker qualifying race left Maris behind the podium places. This fact proves that all races count.

No less intense battles and intrigues in the race of modernized historical karts. In the Open class, the fastest man was guest from Estonia Uelar Jeblakov. In the Retro-M class, the winner, Olegs Vlasovs from Rezekne. The victory in the CZ125 class was won by Martins Silenieks, the same Martins who also won the Retro class. The athlete perfectly completed the races in two qualification groups. Harijs Bergmanis managed to win the second place, leaving the Estonian Juhan Ansper behind. In the more numerous M125 class, Maksims Bobrovskis was unbeatable, leaving behind Denis Kiselnikova and Andris Gutmanis.

On Friday night, another tradition began that will be characteristic of this competition in the future. At the suggestion of Reinis Stakenas and the responsiveness of the local track staff, a mechanic competition with rental go-karts was organized. The sonorous name "Indian's Cup" was given to this race by the track manager Anzejs. 20 participants took part in the first Indian Cup. The fact that the gunpowder is still dry was perfectly demonstrated by Mareks Stolcermanis, winning both the qualification and the semi-final and finally the super final. The second place was taken by Artjoms Sestakovs, who is basically an active Senior class driver, but for this race he assumed the role of a mechanic. On the other hand, the third place was won by the recent driver and Rotax Grand Finals participant Martins Steinerts, who has been successfully leading his sports team for a couple of years now. Very loud names also decorated the podium of this competition and not only that.

This year's event is over, we are taking the good ideas and emotions with us and will meet in Madona for the third Baltic children, youth and historical karting festival in a year.

The organizers express their gratitude to both participants and all employees - for and around this race, as well as their supporters and cooperation partners; Hydroscand, Bucher Municipal, MRG Group, Pro-Kart, LAF and the City of Madona.

See you soon!