- A victory, a pole position and eight podiums, the spoils of the Barcelona team, which had presence in the places of honour of all categories in which it participated in the inaugural test of the CEK in Campillos (Malaga).
- Daniel Vasile and Josep Vea give the Barcelona team a remarkable double in the race two of the queen category, KZ.
- Eloi González shines with a double podium in Sénior; Zunzarren and the Norwegian Barry-Berg demonstrate their good pace in Júnior, and Benjamín Mañach shines in Mini with a spectacular comeback to climb the box in the final round on Sunday.
- “We are more than satisfied with this first meeting. We have achieved at least one podium in all the categories in which we participate, but the important thing is that all our drivers have always rode in front positions,” says Rubén Simón, team manager of the team.
Monlau Motul Karting Team responded to expectations in the weeks leading up to the first round of the Spanish Karting Championship, held in Campillos (Málaga), by becoming one of the main animators of the main categories of the event. The Barcelona team closes the first weekend of competition in 2023 with a more than satisfactory balance, which presides over the victory of Daniel Vasile in KZ and the eight attendance on the podium among all the disciplines in which participated, in addition to a pole position, who keep their runners in clear competition for the titles of KZ, Senior, Junior and Mini.
The International Circuit of Campillos received the numerous caravan of the Spanish Karting Championship with sunshine and spring weather conditions. The high number of entries, a total of 166, historical record of the event, slightly complicated the program on Saturday, forcing split qualifying sessions, in addition to making more complex the management of road traffic by drivers. This busy day preceded an exciting race Sunday with two finals for each of the categories in competition.
The best sensations of the weekend for Monlau Motul Karting Team came from the division reserved for the fastest karts, the KZ. Josep Vea and Daniel Vasile stood as clear protagonists since Saturday, which closed guaranteeing the second and third places, respectively, of the first grid. On Sunday, Vasile starred in a fierce battle for victory with Daniel Macià from the start, although an unfortunate touch between both two turns of the banderazo closed any possibility of adding the first triumph of the year, and had to settle for fourth place. All in all, Vea climbed to second place very close to the winner. Daniel Vasile got even with the pain of the morning by achieving an unmitigated victory in race 2, which dominated with 2.7″ margin over his teammate Josep Vea, which sealed a resounding double for Monlau Motul at the end of the 15 laps planned. Outstanding progress in this same category of Aleix Bueno, who chained a 9th and a 16th place, and Arnau Ràfols, who compensated for a retirement with a 16th place in the second round.
The senior category had a code name Monlau Motul Karting Team: Eloi González. The Catalan, third on the grid after an excellent Saturday, was decided all Sunday. In the first round he managed to climb to second place marking the fastest lap (1:01.905), while in the evening test he showed great regularity concluding third. His teammates were not so fortunate, but they did take away from Campillos important learnings, besides evidencing a serious progress: Mateo Rubio improved from the initial 18th to the 14th and Francisco Cardoso from the 27th to the 22nd.
The track traffic was one of the enemies to beat for the representatives of the Junior division, which will have pilot Monlau Motul Raúl Zunzarren among its contenders. Navarro took pole position after a simple and simply perfect Saturday. However, that pace demonstrated in time and qualifying could not be reflected in the first Sunday race, in which because of an incident was relegated to 16th place. Far from getting discouraged, Zunzarren showed his best face in the second round, in which he climbed 16 places to cross the checkered flag in third place, just ahead of the Norwegian driver Marius Barry-Berg, joined the Monlau Motul Karting Team at the last moment, and he was sixth in the first manga and second in the second. Excellent performance also for his teammates Miquel Blascos, who entered the top 10 (7th) after finishing 12th in the morning test, and Nicolás García, who improved in ten places his initial performance (26th and 16th).
In Mini, the category with more representatives of the Monlau Motul Karting Team, the weekend of Campillos concluded with mostly positive feelings. Benjamín Mañach and Iván Luis González shared the spotlight in the two scheduled events. González finished the first in a brilliant fourth position, climbing two places above his training position. Mañach, after a very problematic opening round, which saw him fall to 21st place, climbed 18 places to climb the podium and thus make the second biggest recovery of the day. Completed the service sheet Álvaro Perelló (7th and Abandonment), Rafael Simón (24th and 16th) and Beatriz Cardoso (25th and 17th).
At the end of this frenetic first weekend of activity, the sensations in the Monlau Motul Karting Team are very good, as its Team Manager Rubén Simón credits: “We are more than satisfied with this first meeting. We achieved at least one podium in all the categories in which we participated, but the most important thing is that all the drivers have always rode in front positions. We have prepared very well the season with all of them with the intention of being in the fight for the four titles until the last round of the season, and for now we are fulfilling”.
The second round of the season will be held between 26 and 28 May at the Lucas Guerrero International Kartodrome in Chiva, in the Valencian Community
