Patrizicorse driver Kyle Ensbey is preparing for the toughest challenge of his karting career in Italy this weekend.
The current Castrol EDGE CIK Stars of Karting Series leader will line up in the KZ2 World Cup event at the Sarno circuit in Italy and with 107 drivers vying for the win, competitive is an understatement. However, this competitiveness is something that doesn't faze the Queenslander.
“I don't really care about the number of entries, I just want to go out there and win,” said Ensbey, who will drive for the Birel Motorsport team while supported by Speedcafe.com and V8 Nights this weekend.
“If you go into the weekend with the attitude of just wanting to make the final I think you'll end up worrying yourself out of opportunities which you can't afford to do here in Europe.
“Given that it's a new layout for this year it will be a track that not many people have got a lot of knowledge and data on, so that could be something that will play into my favour.”
Joining Ensbey as the first Australian pair to compete in the prestigious event is Victorian teenager Ricky Capo. It's the third time he's competed on European soil this year and following a strong test last weekend, he believes that nerves won't be a factor this weekend.
“I tested last weekend at Sarno and the amount of grip was phenomenal – it was like nothing I have ever seen before,” said 16 year-old Capo.
“After competing in Europe twice already this year, I'm not nervous, instead I'm already proud of the fact that I am the youngest driver to ever compete at the KZ World Cup – Just being on the track with drivers of such a high quality is an honour.
“My aim for the weekend will be to make it into the final which means that I have to finish every race and be consistently around 15th place or higher in the heats. However, the most important thing for me is to gain experience which I can transfer to Australia in the CIK Stars of Karting series.”
Practice for the event begins tomorrow (Thursday) ahead of qualifying on Friday (10:15pm AEST). Racing will continue on Saturday (6:00pm AEST) with the World Cup to be presented to the winner on Sunday afternoon (10:15pm AEST).