19/03/06 ANGERVILLE CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE GRAND PRIX KARTING

Following a promising warm up in the Winter Cup in February, the official Sodi team was at Angerville on March 18 and 19 for the opening race in the FFSA Karting Grand Prix series. On the same circuit on which the next World Championship will be run, Sodi was the team which had the biggest turnout in the paddock, with one out of every five drivers at the wheel of the latest SR5 model. However, quality as well as quantity was on display with, for example, Anthony Abbasse's fine victory in the ICA class and the debut exploits of Laurent Miskiewicz in the Elite class.

Miskiewicz to the fore
For the 2006 season, Sodi has decided to give several young French drivers their chance. Despite his lack of experience in Formula A, Jean-Eric Vergne succeeded in breaking into the elite top 10 in the prestigious Winter Cup. In his semi-final race in Angerville, the 2005 European Espoir (rookie) vice-champion fought his way through the field from the 15th to 8th position but unfortunately had to drop out of the final due to a soaked spark plug. "It's a real shame because we were improving the kart's performance as the weekend progressed, said Jean-Eric. If it hadn't been for this problem, I'm sure I would have been fighting for a place up there on the podium". Team-mate Laurent Miskiewicz slipped smoothly into gear right from the qualifying stage. He created quite a stir by beating the recent French Grand Prix into 2nd place in Race 1. "It's really great being part of the Sodi team; the way they work is just so professional, remarked Laurent enthusiastically. As soon as the finals begun, I knew a result was always on the cards because my kart was running so well. The chassis behaved perfectly and proved to have great staying power. At the end of the race I was lapping faster than the winner. The fact that I missed out at the end can probably be put down to my inexperience". Lying 4th in the France Elite championship, Miskiewicz has a great chance in 2006.

Abbasse marks out his territory
After obtaining its CIK/FIA certification this winter, the SR5 chassis is proving to be a worthy successor to the SR4 model which had so many victories over recent seasons. Mike Courquin and Anthony Abbasse proved the point with their exploits at Angerville in the ICA class in which Sodi ran out triple winners in 2005. During qualifying, Mike and Anthony kept everyone else at bay in all six races. As a result, the front row of the semi-final grid was a 100% Sodi affair ! 21 laps later, Abbasse ran out a brilliant winner. He followed up with 3rd place on the final podium. "This result takes me to the top of the championship, commented the current Champion of France. Things are looking very good six months ahead of the World Cup, which will also be run at Angerville. This will be one of my main goals of the season". And as for Courquin, two 4th places saw him win points. "I managed to take the lead in the final and I already saw myself up on the top rung of the podium but unfortunately my tyres gave out towards the end of the race". In all, no fewer than eight Sodi chassis took part in the final stages of the ICA meeting, including the one driven by Pierre Giner, hero of the previous Winter Cup, in which the man from Touraine won a place on the podium despite coming 102nd in the time trials !
On the other hand, luck was not on the side of Thomas Letailleur in the 125cc class. Lying 6th after the qualifiers, he was up to 4th place in the semis before a snapped chain put him out of the race. In the Junior category, Jim Pla was hoping for great things over the weekend after being third fastest in his time trial. Unfortunately, after missing out on one round he found himself lying 22nd after the qualifiers. Despite a bent shaft he drove spectacularly up through the field on Sunday afternoon. He's hoping for better luck in his next outings !

Sodi wins abroad
"Over and above the fine performance of Laurent Miskiewicz, a driver who has no experience in top races or in Formula A, and the exploits of Abbasse and Courquin in the ICA class, I am delighted to see more and more non-works teams coming over to us, both in France and abroad, said Gildas Mérian, MD of Sodikart. In the ICA class, the Sodi chassis has won the opening races both in Belgium and in Spain, where we also won a 125 ICC race on the Vendrell circuit. In addition to which our Costa Rican importer reports wins for his Mini Kart and Rotax Max Junior drivers". Make no mistake, whatever the class or engine size, Sodi-engineered products have got off to a flying start in 2006 !