Xander Clements, October 7th, 2015

 

Moving from the United Kingdom to Belgium, the Sim Karting World Championship kept up a near-record setting total of drivers of entered with 19 competing in Round 2 at Karting Genk International.

Qualifying/Super Pole

Michael Avansino (Ricciardo) claimed the top spot in initial qualifying over Round 1 Winner Ben Hamlet (Intrepid). Most of the fast group from practice advanced into super pole, with Alexander Kirkwood (Energy) moving in as the dark horse in the 6th spot from qualifying. In Super Pole, Hamlet struck back by setting a blistering fast lap of a 53.918, the only driver in that second bracket. Avansino would have to settle for second, with Phillippe Denes (Turner) rounding out the top 3 in his first start on the season.

Heat 1

In Heat 1, it was all Ben Hamlet out front, leading from flag to flag. Denes pulled a slight gap for a comfortable second place run, while it was an all-out battle for third between SKWC Rookie Charlie Jafari (CRG) and PSL Driver Alex Frazer (Ricciardo). After some slight unintentional contact, Jafari would take over the third spot leaving Frazer to finish in fourth. Dan Burgess (Intrepid) had a very impressive run from the tail end of the field to finish in the final transfer spot to the Final in 5th.

Heat 2

Heat 2 put on a much more intense battle for the lead, with the Top 3 drivers running nose-to-tail for the first few laps. While Michael Avansino led the field to the green, at the end of lap 2 Adam Rylance (CRG) had taken over the top spot. Rylance's time at the point was shortlived, though, as the very next lap Andre Castro (Comp Kart) overtook him for the lead and never looked back. Rylance would finish in second, while Avansino suffered from a mechanical DNF late in the race that sent him to the LCQ.

Last Chance Qualifier

For the second week in a row, Alexander Kirkwood would have to go through the Last Chance Qualifier for a chance to race in the main event. However, for the second week in a row, he would advance comfortably into the main event with a victory. The battle raged on for second place and the final transfer spot between Praga North America teammates and Senior rookies Brayden Werner (Praga) and Tyler Hervias (Praga), with Werner holding on to advance.

Final

In the main event, Andre Castro threw everything he had at Ben Hamlet to try and take over the top spot early. However, Phillippe Denes got a better holeshot and a quick battle for second allowed Hamlet to evade the drafting distance, letting him cruise untouched for his second victory on the season. Denes would hang on to the second position while Castro faded late in the race, giving up third to Adam Rylance and nearly losing fourth to Alex Frazer.

 

With Hamlet's second win in-a-row, even Rylance's consistency was not enough to close the gap up to the championship leader. The closest battle in the championship is currently among the Teams, where Intrepid Driver Program leads CRG USA by a mere 70 points.