Demanding weekend for young Kart Racer Niklas Krütten
The second round of the German Kart Championship took place this weekend in Genk (Belgium), in which the young Karting Racer Niklas Krütten was looking for a good weekend. Following an almost-race-victory at the season-opener at Wakersdorf, the 12-year-old proved once more his continuing good performance. But technical issues and a string of bad luck led to a disappointing weekend.
Niklas had a successful start into the weekend by setting the fourth fastest time in the qualification group of the DKM Junior-Class and secured an eight place in the overal qualification stage. A combination of both results meant a fifth starting position for the pre-runs. „I was very happy to have fifth place, because it rained just before the qualification and I set my personal best time on a drying track“, said Niklas afterwards. „I was only lacking 0.2 seconds off the best time.“
Following qualifying, the strong field of 31 drivers was split into three groups to start the various pre-runs for Sunday´s races. Niklas had a good start into the first race and was running in fourth place. But during a typical karting scramble with another driver, Niklas fell back into position 13. The young gun managed to fight through the field back into ninth place, but after the good start from the grid the result was not as hoped for.
Due to technical issues with the engine, the second run did also not bring the intended outcome. Niklas´ was lapping by 1.5 seconds slower per lap than the leaders and he was unable to come home in a better position than 15th. The combined results meant for a 14th starting position for the races on Sunday.
The young man from Trier had a great start with setting the fifth fastest time during Warm-Up on Sunday morning. The engine issues had been resolved over night and Niklas made up five places already at the start into the first race over 15 laps. During an exciting battle for positions, Niklas was forced to leave the tarmac and go out on the dirty parts, meaning he lost important positions. After this short off-moment, Niklas did not find his typical rythmn quickly enough and finished the race in 17th place.
The young man from Trier had an incredible start into the Top-10 in the second and final race on Sunday. He was able to run the same speed as the leading group during the entire race and managed to control the second group behind the leaders. In a nail-biting final, Niklas drove full attack going into the first corner, but was forced wide by one of his competitors. He still was able to claim 14th place in the end.
„I really gave absolutely everything this weekend”, said Niklas. “I had the speed to compete with the guys racing at the top. The technical issues we had on Saturday and a few other bad luck situations hindered us from getting the results I hoped