Laipnieks wins Openkart round in Jelgava after duel with teammate
Ten-time champion Andrejs Laipnieks won round 19 of the Openkart amateur karting series in Jelgava, passing teammate Dāvis Zalmans in the final laps. The season finale takes place on 8 November in Serbenti.
On Saturday, 24 October, the "Rullītis" sports complex in Jelgava hosted round 19 of the 20th season of Openkart, an amateur karting series. The win went to ten-time series champion Andrejs Laipnieks (team Movers.lv), who started third and beat his teammate Dāvis Zalmans in the fight for first place. It was his ninth victory of the season.
The battle for victory
Zalmans led the first eight laps, and the two Movers.lv drivers pulled clear of the field together. The winner was decided in the last five laps. Zalmans took second and is very close to a sixth runner-up title. Zalmans took pole position, with Niks Vucāns starting second.
Vucāns held on to third place. Behind him came juniors Gustavs Narvaišs (Movers.lv Juniori), Ričards Krēmers (Madona VIP) and Leo Elsbergs. Krēmers won the debutants' classification, ahead of Estonians Ilja Udre and Damirs Mingazovs. In the team standings, Movers.lv took its 97th win, with Movers.lv Juniori second and ADTS Racing third.
Other classes
In the "95 plus" class, Ainārs Pumpišs (ADTS Team 2) won, with Nils Kūlis second and Raivis Liberts third. Among women, Otīlija Grandberga (ADTS Racing) won, Sofija Anna Gisiča was second and Elīza Vanaga third. Gisiča set the fastest lap.
Morning practice was held on a wet track, so qualifying used three sessions with drivers split into groups. The finals were run on a dry track.
What comes next
The championship title is already settled. The fight for third overall continues between Vucāns, Ričards Alekss Švaglis (Rush Racing Team) and ADTS Racing drivers Sergejs Ļesiks and Otīlija Grandberga. The final round, round 20, takes place on 8 November at the Serbenti kart track.
