Odd penalty costs Niklas Krütten’s ticket to the finale
Last weekend Niklas Krütten travelled to the old-established Winter Cup in Lonato. On the South Garda Circuit the 12-year-old youngster competed against 80 of the world’s best drivers from 24 nations. Just like at the beginning of the season, the young driver from Trier showed a strong performance, but unfortunately missed entering the finale due to an odd decision of the racing superintendents.
After a great season kick-off in La Conca, Niklas Krütten travelled to Italy again. On the 1.010m long South Garda Circuit, the 20th Lonato Winter Cup took place. In addition to very strong competition from 24 nations, the weather held some surprises as well. While the sun was still shining on Friday, from Saturday on the dominating factors were rain and cool temperatures.
Due to school responsibilities Niklas didn’t arrive until Friday and therefore only had one free training before the important qualifying. Ending up on 46th place, this did not quite meet his expectations then and Niklas had to start into the following heats from the back of midfield. “It was a slight disadvantage to only have had one training and therefore be thrown in at the deep end. Some of my opponents have been here since last Saturday.”
The first heat on Friday evening didn’t go according to Niklas’ plans. During the first round the youngster lost his front spoiler through no fault of his own and fell back to 22nd place. He then managed to jump into the top ten during the second round and looked towards Saturday optimistically: “The speed is right and I’m looking forward to the upcoming days.”
The driver from the British Forza Racing Team was able to tie in with his performance from the evening before despite the rain on Saturday and established himself in the front midfield again. The 12-year-old’s mood got spoiled during the last heat though. After the race had ended, someone drivingly took off Niklas’ front spoiler in the pit lane and the youngster from Trier received another 30-seconds-penalty for this. “I’m really mad and can’t understand this decision at all. If the people responsible keep this course of action, the races are going to be decided after the official end in the pit lane in the future”, grumbled Niklas, who fell back to the overall 46th place again due to this penalty.
His last chance of entering the finals was the repechage then. This wasn’t an easy race starting from 18th position though. After a perfect start he fought his way forward fiercely and kept close to the top ten, but he missed achieving the final ticket by coming in 12th in the end. “Of course I’m really disappointed. Without the unnecessary penalty the finale was within my reach. Apart from that I have once again learned a lot and am very content. We’ve been very competitive again and are looking forward to the new season with great confidence. I’d really like to thank Forza Racing for their great support”, Niklas summed up on Sunday evening.
The young driver from Tier is going to start at the WSK Super Masters Series in Castelletto (Italy) from March 19th – 22nd.