2008 CIK-FIA KF1 WORLD CUP ASIA PACIFIC KF2 CHAMPIONSHIP Suzuka, May 23-25

BIREL TRIUMPHS WITH JACK HARVEY

THE BRITON DOMINATES THE KF2 SCENE. VERY POSITIVE RESULTS FOR THE BIREL DRIVERS EVEN IN THE TOP CLASS WITH TOMAN IN 2ND PLACE AND CESETTI IN 3RD.

Suzuka – The first International titles for 2008 were awarded in Japan with the single-trial race of the KF1 World Cup and the Asia Pacific KF2 CIK-FIA Championship.

For the Birel drivers it was an absolutely leading weekend, with an historic double win. In fact, in the KF2, the Englishman Jack Harvey was the uncontested leading player in the event, winning himself the championship ahead of his team-mate Giacomo Patrono.

In the KF1, the title was touched upon by both Toman and Cesetti, who both ended up on the podium behind the winner, Foré. It should be noted that, concerning the KF1, Cesetti won the Pre-Final ahead of his team-mate Parrot, reaching the finish-line for the title Finale.

One of the most important items about the Japanese event, in any event, was the great team performance by the Birel drivers.

We need to only think about the fact that, in the KF2, after the qualifying rounds, the first 4 spots were taken by the 4 Birel drivers with Harvey ahead of Patrono, Otani and Katsuta. The script was similar in the Pre-Final with the dominator being Harvey, who had a good 6” margin on Camponeschi while Otani finished in 3rd place ahead of Basz.

Another item of note is the 10th place finish for Katusta and the 13th place finish for Amberg, while some problems penalized Viganò (only 17th) and Patrono who was forced to withdraw on the 5th pass.

The Final then confirmed Jack Harvey as the absolute winner of the event with a race in which he was consistently in the lead except for a few hundred meters during the 1st lap when he allowed Camponeschi to temporarily pass him. Patrono also ran a good race.

After his exit in the Pre-Final, he finished an excellent race, moving up from one position to the next: 11th spot after the 1st lap after an excellent start, then 7th during the 2nd pass after passing Giaguaro Nero and Katsuta, 6th in the 4th lap after having passed Otani, to finally reach 3rd place behind Harvey and Camponeschi in the final stage of the race.

And, during the course of the last lap there was also an effective action over Camponeschi that earned him 2nd place. Patrono’s pass was also an advantage for Giaguaro Nero and Katsuta who succeeded in preceding Camponeschi to 3rd and 4th place. Otani also had a positive race ending in 6th place, much as

did Basz and Amberg in 8th and 10th places respectively at the finish line. Birel’s excellent balance in the KF2 finishes with Harvey’s title (Birel-IAME), Patrono’s 2nd place (Birel-TM) and a good 6 drivers ending in the top ten at the finish line. Birel technology was also able to climb the podium in the top class where the title was up for grabs by Toman and Parrot (both with Birel-IAME) as well as Cesetti (Birel-TM).

From the Cesetti-Parrott finish in the Pre-Final, even in the title race, Birel colours showed excellent competitiveness. Parrott started out better than Cesetti, getting ahead of Stevens and Catt as well as Cesetti. In the first phase of the race, a tight group was formed in the lead, promoted by the wakes on the Suzuka track that make it more difficult to exit from them. The 4th pass saw Catt in command after a decisive action that was also to Forè’s and Toman’s advantage who, in the meantime, were carried along behind him.

Parrott moved back to 6th place behind even Cesetti and Laine and Stevens finished even further behind, having moved into 9th place during the 5th lap. During the 9th pass, Forè and Toman were passed, one after the other after having passed the leader, Catt who, in the 13th lap, would also have to allow Cesetti to pass.

During this phase, the driver from Le Marche is the most effective pilot on the track and registers the fastest lap of the race, but the ultimate assault of the Birel drivers on the leader, Forè, did not end well and at the finish line, the racers from Lissone had to be satisfied with Toman’s 2nd place and Cesetti’s 3rd place. The weekend was still positive for Parrot, even though he had to be satisfied with an 8th place finish ahead of his team-mate Ishii.

Birel Drivers’ comments:

Jack Harvey -KF2: "I am very happy because it was a prestigious victory won with excellent teamwork, demonstrating technical superiority both on the chassis front as well as the motoring front. Today we have a noteworthy technical potential at our disposal and, looking towards the future, we can only be optimistic: the Braga racetrack, where the European race will be run, adapts well to our chassis-engine “set” and I like to think that we can aim at another positive result. I would also like to thank Iame, as well, who did excellent work and today is confirmed to be at the top in the KF2. Now we can enjoy this affirmation that also brought the Birel colours to the forefront with Patrono, Basz and the Birel Pacific drivers, for further confirmation of the excellent development work that we have done since the beginning of the year.”

Giacomo Patrono -KF2: “Without the stop in the Pre-Final, I could have possibly run a different race. But despite that, to reach the podium for the 2nd consecutive year in such a prestigious event is definitely a positive thing. Especially positive is the confirmation that the race gave in respect to the work done during the last few weeks on the technical front, both in reference to the chassis as well as the performance demonstrated by the TM engines. As the season continues, we will certainly be able to earn excellent results.”

Zoel Amberg -KF 2: "I’m happy with my weekend, because, not being familiar with the track, I quickly placed myself among the top players and 10th place in the Final in such an important race is a result that I consider to be positive. My relationship with the team is very good and I am sure that this experience will give me more conviction for obtaining positive results in the coming races.”

Libor Toman -KF1: “We missed it by a hair: in the Final everything was running at 100% from the engine to the chassis. We will return from this temporary setback with excellent morale because the entire team is more aware of our potential. In the KF1, an excellent equilibrium was confirmed among many of the drivers which will be to the show’s advantage in the next races, including the World race in September.”

Sauro Cesetti -KF1: "I am happy about the performance even if, without the problems at the start, the victory could have been ours. We could have achieved full results which we fully demonstrated during the course of the weekend. Our chassis proved itself to be among the best in circulation and even the TM motors showed their excellent standards. However, the podium is a positive result, as is the presence of the Birel chassis in the top spots both in the KF1 and KF2 where Harvey showed his superiority over all.”