Strong debut for Niklas Krütten at WSK Champions Cup
With 243 starters from 36 nations, the elite of the internationally acclaimed karting world gathered at winterly temperatures at the Adria International Raceway last weekend to open the kart season. Niklas Krütten started into the second season with Ricky Flynn Motorsport to celebrate his debut in the Kart Senior Category. With the fourth-fastest lap-time in qualifying, a podium finish in the qualification race and strong overtaking moves, he was able to convince straight from the beginning and set first exclamation marks as a Rookie against a far more experience competition.
Niklas caught everyones attention with setting fourth place in qualifying on Friday and secured an excellent starting point against his 49 competitors for the first pre-race. For a long time he was running in second place in the first race, but an engine failure on the very last lap threw him back.
The up-and-coming motorsport driver from the German town Trier did not chew on it for long. He crossed the finishing line in fourth place in the second quali-race, after he kept fighting for the podium right until the final corner. In the third pre-race, he topped his own achievement and finished in a great second place and the well-deserved podium.
The 14-year-old started from row four into the pre-final race on Sunday midday. Right after the start, Niklas was hit in the back in the second corner and spun unfortunately. He fought his way back into 15th place and qualified for the final, having come from the back of the field with a massive pressure loss in one rear tyre.
The young driver underlined his talent and mental strength in the final with an overall 16th place. With starting from 28th place on the grid and making up a total of 12 positions with strong lap-times and hearty overtaking moves.
„In the end, we had a great debut in the new class despite the two set-backs“, said Niklas on Sunday. „We were able to compete right in the top positions throughout the entire weekend and as a Rookie I made a name for myself in the Senior Kart Sport. Despite the bad luck, I was still the best German starter. I am very excited to see what the next races will hold in place for us.“
Niklas will enjoy more „Bella Italia“ at the coming weekend already, with the WSK Master Series opening their season at the Adria International Raceway.