13/05/07 VARENNES / ALLIER CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE GRAND PRIX KARTING

The Sodi factory is going great guns in the FFSA Grand Prix series. Once again Anthony Abbasse was the flag-bearer for the works in the Elite class, but there was success too in the other categories.

Anthony Abbasse came into the meeting full of confidence following the excellent start to the season he made in the European KF1 race in Italy. Once again he got the most out his kart to win a place on the podium, despite a race that was not looking too good at the start. "I really must thank the whole team for all the work they did. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to make up so much leeway after all the bad luck I had during qualifying". Relegated to the last row in the pre-final despite his 3rd in the time trials, the rookie of the race went into powerdrive to carve through the field up to 4th place. "I continued to push as hard as I could in the final and managed to take 2nd place. I must admit the weekend was a bit crazy, but it had a very positive outcome because I'm now lying 4th in the championship standings". Team-mate Florian Alfano's ability to scrap in the chasing pack paid dividends as he took 5th place in two consecutive races. "The chassis handled extremely well this week-end, and I was the fastest on Dunlop tyres during the finals. I'm pleased with the progress Sodikart is making after all the hard work they have put in."

Reliability pays

In the KF2/Espoir category, there are always more Sodi chasses than other makes; and their performance levels are always very high. Kevin Bole Besançon clocked the best time overall in the time trials, driving a Sodi entered by Belgian team Eurokarting. Clément Bluy was the revelation as he took pole in the second group ahead of another Sodi driven by Loïc Reguillon, who s his team-mate with Braun Racing. Loïc went on to dominate the field by winning all three heats - you can't do better than that ! Sodi chief technician Franck Le Beller was delighted with the way things worked out. "Our Sodi SR5 chassis is used by lots of teams in various categories. They love its versatility and effectiveness regardless of the type of engine or tyre it's associated with. What's more, in KF2 the best results didn't come from the official team drivers. Some teams have told me in private that they are having a few problems with the new "long life" 125cc KF engines but they manage to compensate for them thanks to the Sodi chassis because it is so reliable". Reguillon's season continued with another top-3 performance and Elie Bluy, brother of Clément, also shone. After picking up a heavy penalty from the race marshals in the pre-final, Kevin Bole Besançon missed out on a great chance to get amongst the leaders going for victory but he nevertheless made a strong impression with a 24-slot climb through the field in the final. In the KZ2 (125cc gearbox) class, Thomas Letailleur was undoubtedly one of the fastest during qualifying but his chances of climbing on the podium evaporated in the pre-final when his engine blew up. His disappointment was tempered somewhat by a spectacular 22-place climb through the final race field. One of the features of this 2nd round of the French Championships was the impact made on the Junior/KF3 field by young Hugo Croquison. The driver from Normandy had to scratch from the Essay meeting but here he raced his privately-entered Sodi to a fine 4th place in the final, coming from back in 13th place after the heats. Further proof of the superior quality of the French chassis !