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It was definitely a weekend to forget for Karol Basz who was involved on Finland’s Alaharma track in the fourth and penultimate round of the CIK FIA European Kart Championship, The weekend was strongly conditioned by contacts that nullified the final result, irreparably compromising his position in the ladder.

The Kosmic Racing Team’s Polish driver had put himself on show from the very beginning of the qualifying heats, just missing out on success in the first round with a second place and fourth place in the third round which was the result of an imposing come back after a lightning start from sixteenth place following a time penalty due to the damaged nosecone in the previous round.

However, his excellent pace was completely nullified at the first curve of the final session when Karol was forced to start from the back of the grid after a contact. In any case, he set the second fastest time for the race but had to be satisfied with 22nd place.

With an excellent start from twentieth position after having scored in the warm-up, Minardi Management’s Krakow born flag bearer managed to reach up to fifteenth place before being hit with another time penalty for the fall of the nosecone and thus closing the weekend outside the points.

“It was surely not our weekend. Qualifying did not go as I would have wanted and so I was forced to start the Final well back in the grid. Making up on this track is really difficult despite our good race rhythm and after having made the fastest lap in the final. I will try to make up for it quickly in Sweden next week,” commented Karol Basz.

“There must be more control by the race director during the races because ever more often the work of an entire weekend is thrown away by too much impetuousness of many younger drivers which is then left unpunished. This behaviour is carried on even when they reach Formula 4 where these same drivers cause dangerous accidents.

“We came to Finland with the objective of making up important points to fight for the title in Sweden. Instead, we are forced to leave the track without points despite that fact that Karol was amongst the fastest drivers. A real pity,” was the analysis of managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

The closing chapter of this European championship will take place next week in Kristiansad (Sweden) where Karol will try to reach the podium at the last gasp and which today is fifteen points away.

Photos by Alex Vernardis & Loredana LRN / The RaceBox

With his win in Austria, the second of the season after the triumph in Russia, Valtteri Bottas has put himself just behind his team mate in the driver’s championship with his tally of 136 points against Lewis Hamilton’s 151. These points are also the fruits of the podiums he occupied with the third places in Australia and Bahrain and the consecutive second places in Canada and Azerbaijan. In the first nine appointments of the world championship he only failed to see the chequered flag in Barcelona.

“I was pleasantly surprised by Bottas’ first part of the season. Faced with Lewis Hamilton’s problems he was always ready,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi, “He is making the difference by giving a vital contribution to the Mercedes team in terms of points for the constructors’ title,” continued the manager from Faenza who at the beginning of the season had not seen Tom Wolff’s choice with a good eye. “I have to step back. Bottas is surely a second driver, but he is putting himself on show by finding himself a short distance from the British champion (editor’s note: fifteen points behind).

He is setting pace with which he is contributing to keeping Mercedes at the top the of constructors’ ladder in front of Ferrari. “He is doing what Kimi Raikonnen is not doing for Ferrari. The team from Maranello has the chance to fight for the constructors’ title, as I already pointed out at the beginning of the season, but he needs the Finn’s contribution. Even Red Bull has failed, closing behind the two drivers from Brackley and thus allowing Mercedes to pull ahead in the ladder. Valtteri is worthily taking advantage of all the opportunities in search of a contract renewal,” concluded the ex owner of the Minardi Team.

On the occasion of the fourth double round of the Italian Gran Turismo championship at Mugello this weekend (July 14th – 6th) Karol Basz will be back behind the wheel of the “black and orange” Antonelli Motorsport team’s Lamborghini Huracan Super GT Cup after the positive weekend at Le Mans in the European CIK FIA karting championship.

After having gathered many positive plaudits from insiders since his debut in the championship, on the demanding Tuscan circuit the Minardi Management’s Polish driver will try for a quick come back after the difficult appointment at Monza which was conditioned by the left rear wheel problem due to an explosion of a screw nut at 230km/h, in any case he managed to control the car before parking it at the side of the track.

“It will surely be a very hot weekend, but I am ready to get back to the wheel of the Lambo and to gain another important result on the most demanding track. It has been an intense period between the Kart and GT appointments,” commented Karol Basz.

“Karol is showing once more that he is a great professional with a great spirit for adapting skilfully between the kart to the GT races. External events conditioned the Monza weekend, yet he again confirmed that he is one of the fastest drovers on the track. At Mugello it will be a very hot weekend that will subject the physique of the drivers to a hard test. Another challenge,” was the analysis of managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

The intense programme for the weekend will begin at 9.00am Friday with a single free practice session of 45 minutes before the two 15’ qualifying rounds (at 5.00pm and 5.25pm) which will assign the starting grid for the two races of 28’ + 1 lap scheduled for Saturday at 4.00pm and Sunday at 1.15pm.

The week just past was, to say the least, full of words that burst like soap bubbles at the meeting in Paris which was completely useless as it brought nothing except a reprimand in regards to an action that remains questionable.

During the weekend in Austria Sebastian Vettel will have the eyes of the marshals focussed on him and this could give an advantage to Lewis Hamilton in a possible scuffle with his direct rival. There is certainly tension between the two drivers, even though, considering the tight race for the world title, I never believed in a peaceful coexistence between them. This may be an extra hassle for Mercedes considering that my sources speak of a possible arrival of the German driver at Brackley as soon as 2018.

We will be going to a short circuit (barely 4,318) in which the weather could play an important role, but it is fast enough to give us close performances. Pole position could be decided on the edge of thousandths of a second.

Ferrari must be ready to counter the Mercedes domination, being careful to watch over its shoulders at the host Red Bull which will play at home and will give its all in qualifying to gain the front row and to mess with the fight at the fight at the top since it has opted for 9 sets of Ultrasoft, as opposed to eight for Mercedes and the 7 of Vettel and Raikonnen.

This season’s surprise is Force India which is confirming the fourth place it conquered last season. It was an extraordinary result for a small team which was bothered by no small number of financial problems and also called on to manage a fiery struggle between Perez and Ocon. The Mexican must redeem himself after the negative experience in Canada when he did not heed team orders, above all in view of the driver’s market.

Gian Carlo Minardi

The episodes of the controversial grand prix at Azerbaijan continue to keep centre stage. The numerous excursions by the safety car contributed to the final result, together with the pit stop strategies and especially the contact between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

“Vettel was surely wrong to react. The images are clear and the stop and go penalty was more than just, in fact the Ferrari driver was also let off. The four times world champion, like the German cannot allow himself to lose his head by committing a clearly unsportsmanlike act,” was the determined analysis of Gian Carlo Minardi.

“Seb should have immediately contacted the team to tell them that Hamilton had not respected the regulations and to then contact Charlie Whiting,” continued the manager from Faenza who explains why the Mercedes driver should also have been punished, “The regulations are clear. Between the safety car and the first car there cannot be a space of more than ten cars. In addition, from the moment that the safety car switches off its lights restarts are not allowed.” Instead, Hamilton on the occasion had willingly and clearly slowed down, going against regulations, as happens on nearly every occasion.”

The manager from Faenza also drew attention to the episode that became decisive in the final result.

“It seemed very strange to me that Vettel’s penalty arrived with such a delay, considering the interruption to the race and at the same time as the technical problem suffered by his principal opponent.”

“Despite its technical superiority Mercedes is not error free and Ferrari must be able to take advantage even of these opportunities and the fourth place at Baku represents a positive result for Vettel who obtained a slight increase of his lead, At the beginning of the race and above all after qualifying it was almost unthinkable imagining of such a result,” concluded the ex constructor.

It was a troubled weekend for Karol Basz on the Spanish track owned by F1 world champion Fernando Alonso, the setting for the second round of the European kart championship.

The multi winning Polish driver limited the damage in the final by making himself the protagonist of an important fight back and of a solid race by crossing the finishing line in twelfth place after starting the race in thirty third spot.

On a track that proved that it was not up to the standard of an important appointment such as the European championship Karol fought against a number of problems that conditioned the result from the first sessions despite a good rhythm and managed to obtain a purse of four points.

“It was a very unlucky weekend, but once more the race rhythm was very good. During the qualifying sessions I threw myself into the fray wheel to wheel but unfortunately it cost me a penalty, even though I did not agree with some of the judges’ decisions regarding cutting the track. These episodes form part of motorsport and now I will concentrate on the next appointment with the Lamborghini at Monza in preparation for Le Mans,” was the comment from a bitter Karol Basz.

“Despite a weekend that was anything but easy Karol showed that he is a true professional making himself a protagonist of a solid Final which ended with a concrete result after climbing up the ranking in view of the championship. The track did not live up to expectations where the performances were distorted by inadequate kerbs and some cutting of corners was not punished which did not give the drivers the chance to express their true worth,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti

As we await the their round on French soil the next weekend Karol will return to the wheel of the Antonelli Motorsport Team Lamborghini Huracan in the Italian GT championship appointment at the temple of speed that is Monza.