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Birelart competitive during the FIA Karting KZ World Championship weekend at Le Mans

A very competitive but unlucky weekend for the Birelart drivers, all with the potential to fight for the podium in KZ, KZ2 and KZ2 Masters.

KZ2 – Knopjes in the top ten, Wolfe with the best comeback

The FIA Karting World Cup KZ2 saw the Birelart drivers at the front from qualifying, with Noah Wolfe setting the fastest lap time in his session and second overall. The British driver also showed his speed in the heats, especially with a win and fastest lap in the second heat and a second place in the last one. Unfortunately, two retirements in the first heat and in the Super Heat, bothcaused by race incidents, forced Wolfe to start the World Final from the back of the grid. He recovered seventeen positions from the start, the best comeback of the Final, and finished P15, showing the potential to fight at the front.
Sem Knopjes showed the same potential, with a very positive performance at hisfirst KZ2 World Championship. After a not ideal qualifying session, the Dutch driver put everything together with three very consistent heats and smart race management, finishing fourth twice and fifth once, always making progress. He also kept his position in Sunday morning’s Super Heat and then fought at the front in the KZ2 Final. Knopjes made a great start and was immediately in the top four, but race battles later stopped his progress, and he finished tenth. Still, itwas a very positive weekend for him. It was also Filippo Sala’s (CL Racing Team) first KZ2 World Championship. He started the weekend competitively, finishing third in his qualifying group and then repeating the same result in the first heat, also setting the fastest lap. A difficult Super Heat followed for Sala, who then worked his way up through the field in the Final before retiring. It wasa mixed weekend at Le Mans for Ider, who was held back by the battles duringthe races despite showing good pace. Marti also had a good third place during the heats. Vejen and Zallocco fought in the middle part of the field, while Urwin showed good pace and made progress during the heats but unfortunately had to recover from the back after a difficult qualifying session.

KZ – Eleven positions recovered by Longhi
Riccardo Longhi closed the KZ World Championship in Le Mans by recoveringeleven positions, finishing seventh and showing all the potential to fight for the podium. Friday afternoon’s qualifying session unfortunately forced Longhi to start from the back and recover positions. Riccardo showed good pace in the heats as well as in the final, where, making the most of his competitiveness and the race situations, he was fighting for the top five from the start. A very similarstory for Pedro Hiltbrand, who was among the front runners with a third place in the first heat and a top-five finish. In the first laps of the KZ final, when he was in fourth position, a race incident put Pedro out of the fight for the podium. The strong race pace he showed still allowed him to get back close to the top ten and would have given him the chance to fight for the top podium positions, whichwere clearly within his reach.

KZ2 Masters – Mich misses out on the podium, Barrichello in the spotlight
A bittersweet ending in KZ2 Master with Thomas Mich (Birelart MGT), one of the main protagonists on Sunday at Le Mans. After a solid qualifying and heats, Mich showed great speed in the Super Heat, setting fastest laps one after anotherbefore finishing third. His pace was confirmed in the final, where, despite startingeleventh, the French driver managed to move forward, fighting at the front and reaching third place, which he defended until a few laps from the end, when he was forced to retire due to a technical engine problem, while also setting the fastest lap of the race.
Among the protagonists of the weekend, Rubens Barrichello was back on track in FIA Karting ten years after his last appearance and made his KZ2 Masters debut. The Brazilian driver confirmed his speed, completing a mistake-free weekend with competitive heats, including a fifth place after a comeback. An unluckySuper Heat for Rubens, who later fought for a top ten finish in the final. A good progression also for Zughella, just behind his teammate.

The Birelart Racing Team will be back on track at La Conca for the final FIA Karting World Championship of the 2026 season. The event will take place from November 5 to 8, with the fight for the OK and OK Junior titles.

Riccardo Longhi, KZ Team Manager: “We close the Le Mans World Championship with many battles on track. In KZ2, I think we did a good job from the beginning, the guys were competitive all week. Wolfe, Knopjes, Zallocco, Ider, Sala, Marti and Urwin were very fast until the free practice, always staying in the top three. Some of them had more bad luck during the heats, for example Noah had to retire while he was second in the first heat. However, he then won one heat and finished second in the other one. Unfortunately, that retirement due to an engine problem made the wholeweekend more difficult. All of them were very competitive, including of courseKnopjes, who was fighting for the top positions in the final. Filippo Sala (CL Racing Team) had a few too many contacts and had to start from the back, buthe had all the potential for the podium. We were also competitive in KZ, and Pedro definitely had the chance to fight for the podium and even more. Unfortunately, a race contact in the final also took him out of the top positions, but he showed a very good race pace and recovered into the top ten. The samegoes for me. After a very difficult weekend at the beginning, we made a big step forward in the final and put everything together. I recovered very strongly and got close to the top five. I have some regrets because, if I had started furtherahead, maybe we could have aimed for something more. We are also veryhappy with the Masters, especially Mich and Barrichello, but Zughella alsohad three good finals, with Mich almost on the podium until a few laps from the end. They do not race often, so they did a really good job, and in karting every detail makes a difference. Unfortunately, we did not get the results wedeserved, but overall the team did an excellent job and our level of competitiveness was more than clear”.

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