After the start of the German Kart Championship, now the European Championship in Portugal also started. 138 drivers from 40 nations were at the start, including the German driver Maxim Rehm. The 14-year-old delivered a strong performance after a difficult qualifying in the races and improved by 37 places – in the end even more would have been possible.
"I am ready for the start of the European Championship. We have gained a lot of experience in the past races and have already shown what is possible in Portimao. This weekend I have a new mechanic, Joseph Reilly, and I am looking forward to working with him," Maxim said before the start.
But the start of the race was anything but desired. 54th place after qualifying was a big disappointment for Maxim and his team. "It is tough, I was stuck in traffic and did not have a free lap. In such a tight field, everything has to fit to be at the front. This will now be a tough task," summarized the Ricky Flynn Motorsport protégé.
With the start of the heats, he then left to attack: Caught up in each of his six races and also drove lap best times. Before the start of the final, Maxim improved to 24th place and thus had a good starting position for the final race. "If I can now call on my performance again, then we have the chance to move up to the top ten. The speed is definitely there," Maxim was highly motivated.
Unfortunately, the race over 20 laps was not completely trouble-free. Maxim lost a lot of ground due to a starting accident – but he closed the gap again and fought his way past a battle group until the checkered flag fell. He was rewarded with 14th place and supposedly first championship points. However, there was a spoiler penalty afterwards and Maxim slipped back three places.
"Even though I missed the points by a hair's breadth, we can draw a consistently positive conclusion. We were very competitive, without the botched qualifying, I do not want to imagine what result would have been possible. A big thank you goes to Joseph, Nico and Scott. The three of them supported me immensely and contributed to the success," the LN kart driver was in a good mood on Sunday evening.
Maxim will continue next weekend, when the second race of the Champions of the future Euro Series will take place in Zuera, Spain. The race is also the dress rehearsal for the European Championship, which will then continue in Spain at the end of April.
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