Karting - 2019 season roars off |04 April 2019
The 2019 karting championship blasted off last Sunday in very hot and humid conditions with Dave Rene (SF1), Damian Bonnelame (SF2), Liza Rene-Cosgrow (SFW), Denilson Melanie (SF3) and Cedric Ah-Time (SF4) taking their first win of the year.
Races were limited to 10 laps instead of the scheduled 12 due to the extreme heat at the Champions Park Raceway, Roche Caïman, leaving a few drivers suffering from dehydration and others being unfit at the early stage of the season.
Dave Rene won the SF1 encounter from Liza Rene-Cosgrow who finished second. Roland Delcy took advantage of running on new tyres to finish third while Andy Denousse raced to fourth overall.
Damian Bonnelame was the winner of the SF2 race ahead of his brother Rennick who raced nose to tail until the end. Third place went to Mitra Labrosse who fended off the challenge of Dean Germain (fourth), Christian Bastienne (fifth), Kris Gopal (sixth) and Fabio William (seventh) who encountered an issue with the gear of his kart.
Liza Rene-Cosgrow started where she left off last year, winning the SFW class, but she had Mitra Labrosse much closer especially in the earlier parts of the final.
Philippa Samson seems to have return in 2019 full of confidence as she challenged her more senior competitors to take third place overall. Louisa Lafortune was fourth, but both herself and Philippa Samson suffered severe dehydration during the day.
Denilson Melanie won the SF3 class with Loïc Scharfenberg second and Jean-David Melanie third. Philippa Samson, racing in two classes this year, took fourth place, while returnee Laurent Bouchereau, who looked rusty but made significant progress by the end of the day, finished in fifth place.
Cedric Ah-Time was the winner in the SF4 class with Salama Entete taking a well-earned second position and Lopez Anacoura was third.
Eric Maillet took fourth position with Loïc Decomarmond fifth, whilst Dean Maillet was sixth.
Salama must be congratulated for a sterling drive having just moved to the senior class this year after graduating from the Novice class at the end of last year.
Contributed