Photo: IAME Euro Series
Aaron Garcia claimed the IAME Euro Series’ X30 Senior title in the final round at Mariembourg last weekend.
He trailed Harrison Mackie and defending champion Danny Carenini at the season’s halfway mark, but Mackie fell behind both in round three at Wackersdorf in June.
The drama started in qualifying there, with 0.18 seconds splitting the top nine in group one (topped by Lars Ramaer) and top 12 in group two (where Carenini edged Ruben Moya by 0.029s), while wet weather impacted group two and led to big gaps as Max Radeck set the pace and Garcia was fourth.
Moya went on to win four of his heats and come second in the other, with Joan Aluja and Carenini each winning three and Garcia taking two. A second place was Mackie’s best result.
Superheat one pitted Moya and Carenini against each other, and the former triumphed by 1.078s, while Aluja led home Garcia by 0.861s in superheat two.
Moya slowed down the field as much as he could before switching to racing speeds at the start of the final, and Carenini took second from Aluja.
The driver to watch though was Freddie Lloyd, who had come second in one heat and started the final from 10th. He set fastest laps as he carved his way up to the lead pack of six, and began lap six in fifth as Carenini took the lead at turn three.
Carenini lost out to Moya and Garcia on lap seven, as Lloyd passed Aluja for fourth. The lap ended with them almost four-wide, and Lloyd emerged in second ahead of Garcia, Sebastiano Pavan, Aluja and Carenini.
Lloyd took a lead he would not give up on lap nine, with Garcia also passing Moya. Carenini recovered ground on the next lap, and knocked Moya off the podium on lap 12. Before Moya could respond, 11th-placed starter Jacob Micallef overtook him on lap 13 and gaps began opening up.
Micallef got up to third, and Moya fell to sixth. Mackie rose from 18th to eighth, but was now third in the standings behind Carenini and Garcia.
He skipped Mariembourg, where rain hit qualifying but did not shake up the order too much.
Elie Goldstein was third in his group but came through to win four heats. Garcia took the points lead as he won three — including the wet opener — as did Moya. Qualifying pacesetter Kevin Lantinga only converted pole into victory once.
Goldstein won again in superheat one. Garcia passed him a few laps in, but he got back ahead and Garcia was then swiftly demoted to third by Charly Glume. He had gone from 10th to fourth on lap one.
Zac Green twice finished second from pole in the heats, then had redemption in superheat two with an utterly dominant victory. He led Roxanne Lantinga by 6.782s, with Moya a further 7.668s back in third and just ahead of Carenini.
Moya got into the lead on lap one of the final, and in the pack just behind was Lloyd and Matthias Vandekerckhove, who picked up damage.
It was three-wide for the lead as lap four began and Moya lost out, eventually dropping to seventh behind Carenini as Goldstein moved into the lead ahead of Lloyd. Garcia was the next big loser and was down to 10th, then Carenini lost a lot of water from his kart yet continued in the top six for a few more laps before retiring and his title hopes literally drying up.
Vandekerckhove was soon into second, and traded the lead with Goldstein from lap nine onwards. Kevin Lantinga got involved and on lap 11 the top two clashed and Lloyd got into second behind Vandekerckhove. Garcia was still a distant seventh, but one of the fastest drivers.
Goldstein went down the inside of Lloyd into turn one on lap 13, Lloyd got back past at turn two then Lantinga cleared both. It allowed Vandekerckhove to break clear, and brought Moya back into play.
He quickly cleared Lloyd, but after battling with Lantinga on lap 15 lost ground. They had closed up again by the last lap, and after Lantinga took too much kerb there was contact. Lloyd made a double pass, then Moya did the same, before being forced off by Lantinga.
As they fell back, it set up a photo finish. Lloyd clinched third by 0.088s over Roxanne Lantinga, who got back ahead of Garcia by 0.087s at the line. Fifth place was enough for him to comfortably claim the crown, and Lloyd’s impressive half-season put him sixth in the standings.
Results round-up
Wackersdorf
Final (17 laps)
1 Freddie Lloyd Premium Karting [Lando Norris] 14m13.829s
2 Aaron Garcia MDC Racing [KR] +0.847s
3 Jacob Micallef Zanchi Motorsport [KR] +1.129s
4 Danny Carenini Zanchi Motorsport [KR] +1.681s
5 Sebastiano Pavan Pantano [IAME] +2.582s
6 Ruben Moya Pantano [Pantano] +3.057s
7 Joan Aluja MDC Racing [IAME] +3.410s
8 Harrison Mackie Fusion Motorsport [KR] +4.170s
9 Kevin Lantinga Croc Promotion [Croc Promotion] +5.401s
10 Aleix Pinera RC2 Racing Team [Gillard] +6.864s
Fastest lap: Micaleff, 49.455s
Mariembourg
Final (18 laps)
1 Matthias Vandekerckhove Victory Lane [KR] 16m47.709s
2 Elie Goldstein TBKart [TBKart] +2.204s
3 Lloyd +5.920s
4 Roxanne Lantinga Croc Promotion [Croc Promotion] +6.008s
5 Garcia +6.095s
6 Victor Louis RSD Karting [Kosmic] +7.708s
7 Moya KB Racing Experience [Tony Kart] +8.103s
8 Luca Leistra MCK Racing [Tony Kart] +9.794s
9 Otto Pyykonen Croc Promotion [Croc Promotion] +10.604s
10 Sem van der Heijden Haupt Racing [Kosmic] +10.702s
FL: van der Heijden, 55.091s
Championship standings
1 Garcia 236 2 Carenini 192 3 Moya 175 4 Vandekerckhove 157 5 Mackie 151 6 Lloyd 135 7 K Lantinga 93 8 R Lantinga 110 9 Goldstein 94 10 Zac Green 91