King of Europe ProSeries: Battle of the Titans

Final day at Round 3 of the Monster Energy King of Europe Drift ProSeries was a day with truly titanic battles, with some very close calls, some very aggressive driving and with excitement levels going through the roof for everyone present at the race. Norbert Kovacik continued to show a strong desire of becoming the new 2015 champion, and thus making history as the first Slovak driver to ever be awarded the title, as he took out Hungarian driver Andras Molnar. Alois Pamper, with the support of his home crowd also easily overthrew Rene Alexander, who had just debuted his new 2JZ powered Toyota GT86. Both Adam Frank and Steve Biagioni had no problems in their Top32 battles and were moving on to the next stage. Szilveszter Gyorgy and Joe Hountondji also made their way through to the Top16, as they defeated Rick Van Goethem and Corinna Graff.

low_pr5

Advancing to the Top16 things were becoming extremely tense, and no one could actually predict anything with so many top drivers all hunting down the same coveted result, victory. After missing out on the Karpacz race, and having serious issues in France, Adam Kerenyi once again ran into bad luck, as another mechanical failure occured, making for a pretty disastrous start of the season for him. Szilveszter Gyorgy, who’s car was poised with mechanical issues throughout the weekend, also had to face Patrick Ritzmann in the Top16, who was driving extremely well all weekend long. After getting 2nd place in Karpacz, the Hungarian driver was knocked out of the race, making his first race ever in Greinbach a very bitter one.

low_pr2

As battle after battle went by, the semifinals would already make for some very interesting footage. On one side, Patrick Ritzmann was going up against Christian Martelli, who has been coming to Greinbach for the past three years now, and on the other, Adam Frank was going up against local superstar Alois Pamper. By the looks of it, many people thought the final was going to be against the two 2JZ powered BMWs, with Adam Frank driving against Patrick Ritzmann. But the German driver had an unexpected engine problem on his 2nd run against Martelli, and the Italian driver was the one to progress to the final. Beating Alois Pamper on his home track is no easy task, no matter what your name is. It took Adam Frank a total of 4 runs to settle the score, and see him through his first final of 2015.

pr3

Ritzmann managed to get his car started just in time for the small final, but Pamper would not settle for anything less than 3rd place for the weekend, especially with a crowd of thousands cheering from him from the side of the track. The battle between Frank and Martelli was over quickly, as the Italian driver came back to the start line after one run, declaring that :” He is just so fast….what can I do?”. Driving a Naturally Aspirated M3 E36, most people would say that it was almost a miracle that Martelli could even make it so far into the race.

low_pr4

The final outcome of the weekend saw Adam Frank get his second ever Monster Energy King of Europe Drift ProSeries, and his first podium of 2015, after two not so succesful races in Poland and France, and Team Driftbrothers making a move for the title of European Team Champions in 2015, as they were awarded their second victory in 3 races, out of which they only attended two. After this round, Norbert Kovacik is still leading the rankings, but Adam Frank is now just 25 points behind him, while Szilveszter Gyorgy has fallen in 3rd place, with Joe Hountondji closely behind in 4th. Lydden Hill will be the host of Round 4 on the 8th and 9th of August, and with several other drivers coming back into the game, the real war for the 2015 title is just about to begin.

low_pr1

Photos Eyedea Media, King of Europe

Related Posts