Adria International Raceway (Italy)
On route to Top-10 finish in Pre-FinalEarly retirement following unfaulty accident22nd overall from 86 in the championship
Niklas Krütten was not rewarded for his outstanding performance of recent weeks at the final of the WSK Super Master Series at Adria International Raceway (Italy). Due to an accident that was not his fault, the Youngster from Trier missed the entry into the final despite having run in the Top-10 positions until then. But he still succeeded in taking 22nd place in the championship in a very competitive starting field of 86 drivers from over 30 nations.
Niklas was fully motivated for the important qualifying on Friday. He was running in fourth place in his qualification group right until the end and was also looking good for an overall Top-10 classification. But he was caught in traffic on his last lap and was unable to make the most of the improving tyres from a timing point of view. In the end he qualified in P28 overall and would start from 12th on the grid into the following pre-races.
“It looks like we are driving on different rubber compounds to what we are used to. The tyres slowly get up to temperature and everyone had to fight against sliding on the rear suspension”, said Niklas after the qualifying. “Unfortunately, I was unable to push more due to traffic on my last lap. Now we have to focus to get the best possible results in the Heats.”
But the end results of the four pre-races did not go as planned for the young driver from Trier, finishing in tenth, 11th, 13th and 14th position. Niklas always managed to get off to a great start and impressed with nice overtaking moves in an extremely competitive centre field. Due to the fight for positions, he lost ground to the front runners despite putting in strong lap-times. After the Heats, Niklas finished in P27 in the overall rankings.
Coming from 14th on the grid and starting on the more difficult outer line, the young Karter gave his everything in the pre-final race on Sunday. He had another great start and began his charge through the field. After three laps, he was already running in 9th place, before he was forced to run wide during an overtaking manoeuvre, picking up dirt from the outer track and loosing positions. Whilst he was on the move up the ladder once again, he was hit by another driver who drove over Niklas´ kart and caused severe damage. Niklas was lucky not to be hurt during the accident. Therefore, he was unable to start in the final. However, Niklas finished the championship in P22 as the best German racer and proved his talent in a highly-competitive field.
“Looking at the championship standings, it is a peaceable finish for my first full participation in the WSK Super Master Series”, says Niklas Krütten. “Without the bad luck I suffered both in La Conca at the last race as well as here today, I could have ended up in a top position from ten to 15 in the rankings. I was able to show on a few occasions, that I am capable of running in an internationally acclaimed starting field. This great progress makes me confident for the upcoming races of the European Championship.”
The young rising start is racing at the CIK-FIA European Championship at Adria International Raceway from 1st until 5th June.
