MTDKarting

SODI INTERNATIONAL NEWS

SWEDEN: 10/05/09
After a great start of the season, Wallberg Motorsport had yet another victory this weekend. In the Rotax Max Junior category. Emil Back, the teamdriver won in the third race in the series of 8 races, in the Rotax Max Challenge, in his Sodi kart.

Before this we won the first race of the year, in April. In KZ2 with Micke Hagstrom, in his Sodi ST32BV and Foti Powered TM, we took a convincing victory in the south of Sweden, in the start of the season.

In the end of April we had the 2nd victory of Joakim Darbom in Rotax Max Junior in the Central Swedish Championship.

FRANCE: 19/04/09
From One Success to Another.
Congratulations to LYON LUDO RACING
- Minikart : 1er
- Minime 1er - 2e - 3e
- Cadet 1er - 2e – 3e
- X30 1er
- Rotax Junior 1er et 3e
- 125 2e et 3e
- Nationale 1er
- Senior 125 3e

2009 GPO Mariembourg

After the new podium conquered by Anthony Abbasse in KZ2 at the second GPO meeting of the season, SODI kept its leadership in the French Constructors Championship. Thanks to the results achieved by Loïc Reguillon in KF2 and Pierre Gasly in KF3, the French brand was well represented in all the categories on the Mariembourg track (Belgium).

SODI ST30 and ST32 chassis have once again been the stars of the very international GPO series. In Saturday’s final as well as in Sunday’s, there were four SODI chassis in the first eight places in KZ2. Abbasse, Varutti, Ramon and Gallepe reached a very high level of performance at Mariembourg.

“Track conditions kept changing, just like the weather, drivers had different engine brands and not all of them had the same motor engine mechanic, but in each single case, SODI chassis were in the top positions”, said Franck Le Beller, SODI technical manager. With the best time in Sunday morning timed session, Anthony Abbasse confirmed the competitiveness of his equipment by easily winning the pre-final ahead of his team mate Alban Varutti, who posted the best lap. “There was a bit of a shambles at the start of the final and our two drivers lost a few places”, SODI team regretted. “But then, Anthony and Alban were very good at recovering ground during the race. Abbasse set the best time in race and conquered the third place, preceding Varutti”.

In the French Championship ranking, SODI was everywhere, at the top, with Abbasse (second) and Gallepe (third). As for constructors, this excellent team result allowed SODI to remain at the top of the ranking.

At the wheel of his SODI-Parilla, Pierre Gasly gained the two Super Poles of the weekend in KF3: once in the dry and once in the rain! A performance that really pleased this young driver, now even more experienced. “If there is only one timed lap, the chassis must be perfect and this is exactly what happened, regardless of the conditions. It was a pity I was involved in a collision on the first lap of Sunday’s final, I would have really liked to fight for victory”. But Gasly managed to regain the fourth place anyway. He climbed from 8th to 4th place in the French Championship after this second GPO meeting.

After conquering a podium at Angerville, Loïc Reguillon (KF2) achieved a new one at Mariembourg. Again on Sunday, he had the technical potential to win, as demonstrated by his best lap in Sunday’s final with his SODI-Parilla. “Loïc remained locked at the start and was caught in the pack. Then he ran very fast and managed to conquer a podium. Moreover, he is still well placed in the race to the title”, his team commented.

“The Mariembourg track is a real testing ground for all chassis, with its special asphalt and its wide variety of bends. In addition to that, the track was soaked with rain for part of the day, on Sunday. And each time, the SODI showed good performances, thanks to the fact that it is easy to adjust and use. With Abbasse in KZ2, Reguillon in KF2 and Gasly in KF3, we were in a position to aim to victory in the three categories. Afterwards, we had a series of race mishaps, but we defended our excellent collective result in the GPO series”. Nicola De Cola, SODI Team Manager.

2009 GPO Angerville

Abbasse Wins the 1st GPO in 2009
SODI chassis triumphed on the GPO Karting series debut. On the Angerville track, on 28 March, Anthony Abbasse conquered the Super Pole and showed a convincing performance in the KZ2 final, where at least four SODI chassis were in the first six places! Winner of his semi-final, Loïc Reguillon was the fastest in the first KF2 race and completed the performance of the Sodi group by reaching the second step of the podium.

The SODI Team could not have dreamed a better debut for its new chassis, in the much awaited Grands Prix Open FFSA. The two ST30 and ST32 models proved to be very effective on the Angerville track.
In the first Super Pole and in the first final of the history of the GPOs, Anthony Abbasse led his SODI-TM to the top of the KZ2 category (125cc gearbox). "The Sodikart factory really did a great job with this new range" said Anthony. "I have just mounted on the second step of the Trofeo Margutti podium and on this circuit of Angerville, which is very much different from that of Castelletto, performances were once again excellent".
In the lead from the very beginning of the final, Abbasse was soon out of reach for his opponents and won. Already very fast during timed qualifying and third in the final, Mathias Gallepe led a second Sodi chassis to the podium, while Alban Varutti and Pierre Ragues, 5th and 6th respectively, offered the French manufacturer a spectacular overall result. "These drivers did not all use the same engine or tune-up specialist, but they all fought at the top thanks to the quality of their chassis", noted Franck Le Beller, technical manager of the team. Though a collision prevented Abbasse from fighting for victory on Sunday, the best lap set by this driver in the last few laps of the final and the podium achieved by Pierre Ragues proved once again that SODI chassis felt perfectly at ease in KZ2.

Reguillon: the Fastest in KF2
Loïc Reguillon was really impressive in KF2 at Angerville: on Saturday, he set the best absolute time in timed qualifying, won his semi-final and posted the best lap in the final, which he concluded in second position. The following day, he had a very similar performance, although he was hit at the start. After starting again from around 30th place, he began a frantic catch up. He multiplied the number of best laps in race and passes, and finally reached 6th place. The audience appreciated the show! "Honestly I think I had the equipment to win on Sunday with my Sodi-Parilla, which was really great. I am already second in the French Championship, just one point away from the leader, so it is very encouraging for this season", Loïc commented.

Victory at the Rotax Euro Challenge
While the ST32 chassis won in KZ2 at Angerville with Abbasse, Jérôme Bourquard (BRK Team) imposed his ST30 Sodi during the first round of the 2009 Rotax Euro Challenge. On the long and very demanding Zuera track in Spain, the French driver crossed the finishing line at the Rotax Max Master final with over 10 seconds of advantage over the second. A real demonstration of strength!

2009 Margutti

The New Sodi Chassis Were Well Born
The new SODI ST30 and ST32A chassis, just homologated, have already gained a number of podiums at national, but also international level. A glimpse of the immense potential of this French chassis had already been caught on season debut, but it was during the Trofeo Andrea Margutti that it really emerged, with an important result. On his first official appearance, Anthony Abbasse conquered a second place in the hard-fought KZ2 final.

A real concentrate of technology, the new SODI has made a noticeable debut on the international scene. "The chassis first appeared at the world races, at the end of 2008, and I was immediately satisfied with its performances" Anthony Abbasse confirmed. "We have reached a new level in terms of effectiveness and easiness of use. We started the season in dismal weather conditions, the track was very cold while the final ended under the sun, with a lot of grip on the track. But in every condition, the chassis proved to be very competitive. For our first race in 2009, it is really encouraging".
Since the qualifying phase of this 20th Trofeo Margutti, Abbasse has led his SODI-TM to leadership. In the pre-final, the triple French champion's hopes were still high. "More than for my sixth place in this pre-final, I felt even more confident in my equipment for the times I had set. I posted my best lap at a hundredth of a sec from the fastest, but my times were very constant". The new colours and very balanced lines of Anthony Abbasse's 2009 SODI chassis soon started a remarkable catch-up.
"It was a very good race. I quickly recovered a few places and I kept pushing hard to finally end in second place, very close to the winner. The team and equipment were really great on the Castelletto track". Definitely an excellent debut for the 2009 SODI chassis.

From One Success to Another
Season debut has been rich in victories for the ST30, ST32 and MC5 SODI chassis. The RTKF Team took the lead of the French Endurance Championship with their SODI ST32 chassis, while the Win’Tec Team gained a scratch victory at the 6H of Ostricourt, with their SODI ST30 chassis. At the KART mag Prem’s Trophy, as well as at the Valence Trophy, the SODI chassis conquered the three Mini-Kart, Mini and Cadet categories. Eric Ramon at Valence and Mathias Gallepe at Angerville led their SODI ST32 to victory in KZ125, while Morgan Riche triumphed at the Sens Trophy in Rotax Max with the SODI ST30. The range of 2009 SODI is already fully satisfactory.

Nicola De Cola, SODI team manager, made the following comments:
"Although it was the first important race with my new team, I must say I was pretty impressed by the team and the new Sodi chassis. All our drivers found its performances very satisfactory. Alban Varutti might have done better than his 8th place, had he not been hampered by a driver during the final, while Anthony reaffirmed our competitiveness by crossing the finishing line in second place".