The first round of the CIK-FIA European Karting Championships got under way this Friday afternoon with the first serious competitive session, the timed qualifying practice. Frenchman Armand Convers in KF1 and Belgian Jonathan Thonon in KZ1 made perfect starts to their weekend by securing pole position. But it’s a long way yet to Sunday’s finals…..

There are 177 drivers and they come from all 4 corners of Europe, with Japan, Canada and the United States are also represented here. Taking part in Classes KF1 (the premier class of 125cc direct drive) KZ1 (the premier class for 125cc gearbox karts) and KZ2 (the second tier of 125cc gearbox karts), they all gathered at the Gabriel Thirouin d’Angerville circuit for the first action in the European Championships.

At first glance, the competition would appear to be more open than ever in KF1 where, at the end of qualifying, one second covered the 43 drivers. And it was only by 0.05 (five hundredths) of a second that Frenchman Armand Convers (PCR-TM) set the best time. The PCR factory spearhead led the young Dutch hope Jack Te Braak (Zanardi-Parilla) and the astonishing Frenchman Jean-Philippe Guignet showing a return to form on his CRG-Maxter.

In 4th place was the Belgian rookie Yannick de Brabander (Intrepid-TM) who took the rare pleasure of going quicker than 3 times European Champion and reigning World Champion Marco Ardigo (Tony Kart-Vortex), 5th but by a margin of just 0.169 of a second. Following them were the Finn Matias Laine (Tony-Vortex), Italy’s Alessandro Bressan (Kosmic-Vortex) and Arnaud Kozlinski (CRG-Maxter), the second Frenchman.

Winner of the World Cup in 2007 and hot favourite for the European Championship, Jonathan Thonon (CRG-Maxter) confirmed his status by already taking pole position in KZ1. The Belgian headed his Italian team mate, and holder of the European title, Alessandro Manetti, by 0.133 of a second. With Manuel Cozzaglio (Intrepid-TM), Rick Dreezen (CRG-Maxter) and Roberto Toninelli (Intrepid-TM) completing the top 5, the Belgians and the Italians are well in the hunt, as CRG-Maxter and Intrepid-TM also lead the way.

With the number of fully backed factory riders this season, it was no surprise to see big changes in the riders themselves. KTM rider Adam McGill had moved to Florida in the off season to work closely with team manager Tim Farr and teammate Taylor Kiser, which proved to be beneficial as McGill dropped 30 lbs. and was a lean 175 pounds of sculpted muscle. Training and hitting the gym is almost a prerequisite for almost any class, but it’s mandatory these days at the pro level and Florida allows those fortunate enough to train here an almost unlimited amount of riding weather in terrain that will get you in shape fast.

Yamaha’s Brandon Sommers did not have an off season as he traveled and raced every weekend with a mere 2 weekends off for the holidays. This level of conditioning is exactly what it will take to be competitive in 2008 and beyond.

Team LTE Racing is fielding two pro class riders, Brent Sturdivant and Duane Johnson. Team LTE will be fielding Can Am DS450’s this season as they search for the right combination to get on the podium. The DS450 is a technical machine but has shown promise in off season testing and racing. Sturdivant has been training and racing as much as he can and has natural talent aboard a quad that most can only dream of. The young West Virginia native has proven he can run up front as he finished 3rd at the Yadkinville round of the 2007 GNCC series. The 1-2 punch from LTE rests solidly with Duane Johnson who is a rock solid rider and has experience that will not only help him, but may also flow to other members of this young team.