For the last race of the season of the FIA Kart European Championship, the world elite of karting gathered last weekend in Wackersdorf, Bavaria. The 13-year-old Maxim Rehm was also present on the 1,190-metre-long track of the Prokart Raceland, causing a stir as the best German driver.
After European Championship races in Spain and Italy, Maxim Rehm travelled to the Upper Palatinate for the final. The Prokart Raceland in Wackersdorf welcomed 140 riders from all over the world. Maxim's goal was clear even before the weekend, he wanted to provide a surprise on home soil. In best summer weather, this was already achieved in qualifying, in his group he finished third, in the overall standings of all four groups, it was enough to reach position 13 – his best result of the season so far.
But that was not yet enough for the youngster, in the following heats he improved steadily. Already in the first round, he finished sixth but fell back to 14th place due to a spoiler penalty. However, he did not let himself be fooled by this, finished seventh in the second run and then really took off. Maxim showed what is in him with. With two victories he put himself in the role of the favorite and was the best German in the field all weekend. In the fifth and final heat on Sunday morning, Maxim finished third after hard fights against the eventual European champion, easily qualifying for the final in seventh place – without the spoiler penalty on Saturday morning he would have been placed fifth.
The good performances gave the local matador hope for a top position in the final and the start was also promising. The rider from the Tony Kart factory team placed himself in the top group and fought hard to make it into the top five. The entire 21 laps were characterized by thrilling duels in the top group. Maxim, however, lost some ground and had to cope with a setback in the last meters. In a small collision with a competitor, he drove onto the meadow and eventually slipped to eleventh place.
"We had a fantastic pace this weekend. In the heats I underlined my ability to win. It was a lot of fun to fight on an equal footing with the world's best kart drivers. Unfortunately I missed the momentum in the final to fight for the podium, but I am confident to continue my good form in the next race," Maxim summed up his weekend.
Directly after Wackersdorf, Maxim travelled again to Italy, where he will be back in the kart from tomorrow on. Then a double event of the WSK Euro Series will take place on the South Garda Circuit.
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