Press Release – 3 – 13.12.2008

Great Finals for Round 1 – MEKC 09

After a great competition between 14 senior drivers and 6 Junior drivers going for three days of the opening round of the Middle East Karting Cup 2009 championship held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt at Ghibli Raceway international karting circuit.  Italian Senior Driver, Piero De Marchi won the senior category after a tough competition with the Egyptian fox, Tarek Khedr, while Libyan Junior driver, Hassan Soufrakis won in his category after a valiant effort from Yazan Hamadeh of Syria.  It was a fantastic effort to achieve this result and although disappointed that he'd let the title slip away he had came so close to winning, the Egyptian driver Tarek Khedr admitted that he totally enjoyed the tough clean racing over the weekend with Piero.

On race day of the opening round of the Middle East Karting Cup, Ghibil Raceway International Circuit dawned bright with a cool, crisp feeling in the air. Everywhere around the paddock, the low murmur of voices  were heard as the teams quietly set about the day’s preparations. One could easily sense the energy of what was about to take place, for this was the most serious of days at the opening round.  The morning track action started with the Junior warm up to be followed by the Senior class. For most drivers it was a time to do last minute checks and make adjustments to settings. However, there were still many drivers making wholesale changes to their karts in an apparent way to find more speed. While a few drivers we talked to said their kart was fine, they just wanted to take a few laps to burn off some nervous energy.

The Junior Pre-Final got underway exactly on time and featured what is arguably the most talented field of young drivers in MEKC 2009. In the 20-lap race none of the leaders ever had a safe margin to second place. And at the checkered flag, the top three were covered by less than a second. In the end it ended as expected with Hassan Soufrakis came in a strong first position followed with Yazan Hamadeh and Dino Tatanaki respectively.

At the beginning of the seniors pre-final Tarek and Peiro were competing hard in a race of their own with each lap having its own story, behind them were former Egyptian champion Ahmed Ghanem Zidan followed by Mauro Paterni and Mohamed Medhat. This battle for top position ended with Piero coming in first followed by Tarek in second position and Ghanem coming in third position.

Between the Pre-Final and the Final is a chance for all drivers at the event, those still in competition and those out, to don their driving suits and make way onto the front straightaway for the drivers parade. This is one of the biggest moments of the weekend as it creates a very colorful spectacle. After the festivities of the driver’s parade were over, it was time to get down to what everyone had anticipated all week, the Finals.

In the 20 lap Juniors final race, Libyan Hassan Soufrakis claimed the title of the first round improving himself since the first day of the championships scoring a time of 1:03.556 min. followed by the Syrian Junior, Yazan Hamadah with a Time of 1:03.639 min. for the best lap time, and Libyan Dino Tatanaki in third position.

In the Seniors Final race, it was again all about the two round contenders with Piero De Marchi in pole followed by Tarek Khedr on his tail leading the pack of 14 karts into turn one.  For the next 24 laps, we were treated to one of the best 2-kart races for the lead we’ve ever seen.  Nobody had enough fingers and toes to count all the passes among the top two.  It ended with Italian Piero De Marchi winning the title of the first round of the championship after fierce competition with Egyptian Tarek Khedr, who lost his leading position in the last two laps, achieving the best lap time of 1:01.984 min. while Tarek best time was 1:02.077 min., third-place went to former Egyptian master driver Ahmed Ghanem Zidan with a best lap time 1:03.168 min whom was loosing ground to the impressive sole female racer of the round, Wary Tatanaki whom was only slightly off the pace of the Piero & Tarek with a best lap of 1:02.788.  A racing incident occurred whilst she tried to overtake Ghanem meant she was out of the race at turn 3 at half race distance.
 
As per championship tradition, a post round press conference took place at the Grand Azure Hotel of Tropicana Hotels and Resorts Group, the main sponsor of the championship was attended by representatives & officials whom supported of the Championship (Egyptian Automobile and Touring Club, the Egyptian Federation of Motor Sports, the Egyptian Tourism Authority and of course, the organizer of the event Ghibli Raceway), As well as the presence of all the contestants and winners of the Round and also representatives of the sponsoring companies.

Everyone spoke about their happiness of the results of the championship and about their hopes for the coming rounds, while members of Egyptian & Libyan National Karting Team and their manager – Engineer. Zeyad Abu Eita spoke with gratitude about Ghibli Raceway's support for the generous sponsorship and effective organization of the round overall.  Zeyad also commented about the future prospects for the team which has now become an effective force in the championship and are now expected to dominate the 2009 championship.  This dramatic performance increase and professional approach was noted by all including the championship series Clerk of Course, Rod Taylor, whom noted that the top juniors were now approaching the standard of top European kart drivers.

It is hard to describe in words what it was like to be at the Middle East Karting Cup.  I would recommend to anyone involved in motorsport that, if they get the chance, go to a Middle East Karting Cup round.  Piero De Marchi, the champion of the opening round stated “there may be bigger racing events, but the specific nature of this glamorous up and coming CIK-FIA sanctioned event, the driver's pride in representing their country and the great racing, superb circuits and entertainment make this the best motor racing event we have attended.  For our local Rotax drivers, keep working at it and you too could be one of the lucky ones to make it to the Rotax World finals one day through the Middle East.”

Hany Soufrakis expressed his hopes for the coming rounds of MEKC 2009 championship in increasing the number of participating countries confirmed to attend the 2nd and 3rd rounds in United Arab of Emirates next March 2009, particularly with drivers from the UAE, Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, as well as from European countries namely Austria & the United Kingdom.
 
He also thanked all the authorities & sponsors of the championship whom helped make the event happen led by Tropicana Hotels and Resorts which hosted the championship participants, guests, drivers and representatives of the organization committee. Additionally, of special note was Egypt Air, the official carrier of the championship as well as by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and the Egyptian Tourism Authority.