CRG RACING TEAM CRG WORLD CHAMPION WITH HILTBRAND IN BAHRAIN Pedro Hiltbrand secured the title of OK World Champion on CRG-Parilla, as five CRG
drivers finished in the top six. Felice Tiene third after winning Prefinal. The Brazilian
Gianluca Petecof was the best of CRG lot in OK Junior, ending close to the podium. CRG has secured another stunning and crushing victory also in Bahrain’s World
Championship, icing on the cake of the great results scored in this season. The
International Circuit of Bahrain has seen the Spanish driver Pedro Hiltbrand taking the
world title of category OK at the end of an exceptional weekend. Felice Tiene got on the
third step of the podium, after dominating Prefinal. Both drivers competed on CRG-Parilla. Pedro Hiltbrand obtained his third personal CIK-FIA title of the year with CRG. This result comes
after the victory at the International Super Cup KZ2 in Sweden on CRG-Maxter, and that at the
European OK Championship, on CRG-Parilla. CRG closed a golden season on a high, after the victories at the KZ World Championship in
Sweden with Paolo De Conto on CRG-Tm, and that scored by Fabian Federer at the KZ2
European Championship on CRG-Modena run by Team SRP. PEDRO HILTBRAND IS THE NEW OK WORLD CHAMPION The double appointment of the World Championship for categories OK and OK Junior held at the
International Circuit of Bahrain has seen CRG flag waving high again, as the drivers of the Italian
outfit have been protagonists throughout the weekend with a crescendo of results. In OK, Pedro
Hiltbrand claimed the victory at the end of an exciting duel with the exiting world champion from
Poland Baisz. Felice Tiene also put in a spectacular comeback, winning the Prefinal from team mates Hilbrand,
Hannes Janker and Paavo Tonteri, but was later on handed a 10s time penalty due to an incident
with Leonardo Lorandi. Started from P20, Tiene completed an absolutely amazing comeback Final
that saw him climbing all the way up to the third step of the podium. The competitiveness of CRG material was also highlighted by the three CRG drivers closing their
effort right behind Tiene: the Finn Paavo Tonteri and the German Hannes Janker, both on CRGParilla proceeded in fact the British driver Tom Joyner on Zanardi-Parilla, making 5 CRG drivers in
the top 6. GIANLUCA PETECOF MISSING OUT ON THE OK-JUNIOR PODIUM OK Junior’s Final has been quite exciting too. The young Brazilian Gianluca Petecof has shown a
great competitiveness on CRG-Parilla: his motivation and speed kept him constantly in the leading
group. He would have certainly deserved the podium, but despite holding several times P2 and P3,
he crossed the finish line with a good fifth place at the end of a red-hot closing lap.
Some other CRG drivers ended up being among the quickest of OK Junior: the French Adam
Eteki and the Spanish driver Kilian Meyer ended respectively 10th and 12th, while the Norwegian
Dennis Hauger had to settle for P17 this time around, due to a race contact. The Belgian-German
O’neill Muth retired after shining in qualifying and heats instead. The Argentine Luca Longhi, Esteban Muth, the Italians Matteo Nannini and Mattia Michelotto,
and the German Valentino Fritsch could not get past Prefinals, mainly due to some incidents. Junior’s CRG squad in Bahrain was completed by the Dutch driver of CRG Keijzer Racing Team
Kas Haverkort, the Japanese Shion Tsujimoto, the Czech Dan Skocdopole and the German of
CRG Holland Phil Hill, but these drivers could not qualify for the final stages. INTERVIEWS
Dino Chiesa, Team Principal CRG: “We always hope to get more, but it is difficult – if not
impossible – to improve on what we have done this year. This weekend we won the OK World
Championship with Pedro Hiltbrand, a result that followed the victory of the KZ World
Championship with Paolo De Conto, and that of the KZ2 International Super Cup and OK
European Championship again with Hiltbrand. Everything clicked also in Bahrain. We only regret
not taking the podium in Junior with Petecof, but several contacts happened at the last lap. We
have been competitive both in OK and OK Junior. We bring home another World Championship
and we are happy for this. We achieved a great result in OK, as five of our drivers completed within
the top six. In OK Junior we lined up young drivers that paid fee of their inexperience, but we have
always been very quick. Our drivers have been performing well, and 70% of our squad made it to
the Final. We just missed out on the victory or podium in Junior, but we certainly displayed our
competitiveness also in this category. We repeated the victory scored by Tom Joyner in Barhain
back in 2013. We certainly have to thank Iame, our engine supplier that supported us very well
throughout the year. We are now going to say good bye to some drivers, but this is part of the
sport. We will keep going on, ready to get some more satisfaction.” Pedro Hiltbrand, category OK: “It’s the best year of my life. I will never forget it as I almost won
everything. I am extremely happy and I want to thank the whole team and my mechanic. One
needs a great team at his back to win a World Championship and I had exactly this. In Bahrain I
managed to score a result that rewards my work at CRG, and this has been the best possible way
to end the season.” Felice Tiene, categoria OK: “Everything was perfect and I could have played my chances for the
victory of the World Championship –- had I not been penalized after the victory in the Prefinal. I felt
physically and mentally fit and I got to this event motivated to get the job done. After winning the
Prefinal I could have started the Final from the front row, but I was stripped from this opportunity. I
am really disappointed, because I absolutely feel not to be blamed for the incident with Lorandi.
Performance-wise we were very quick, both in terms of chassis and engine. The third place is not
that bad in the end, but I really wanted to win.” Bahrain International Karting Circuit, 19.11.2016 World Championship, OK: 1. Hiltbrand (CRG-Parilla); 2. Basz; 3. Tiene (CRG-Parilla); 4.
Tonteri (CRG-Parilla); 5. Janker (CRG-Parilla); 6. Joyner (Zanardi-Parilla); 7. Milell; 8.
Travisanutto; 9. Simmenauer; 10. De Pauw. World Championship, OK-Junior: 1. Martins; 2. Vidales; 3. Pourchaire; 4. Shvetsov; 5. Petecof
(CRG-Parilla); 6. Piastri; 7. Jewiss; 8. Bulantsev; 9. Milesi; 10. Eteki (CRG-Parilla). All results are available at www.cikfia.com
CRG SpA Press office www.kartcrg.com
20 November 2016 In the pictures: 1) World Championship, OK category, Pedro Hiltbrand (CRG) with Karol Basz e
Felice Tiene (CRG); 2) Pedro Hiltbrand, OK, Ph. Michele Panzera; 3) CRG Racing Team, OK.
Ph. CRG Press