Kiern Jewiss prepared for South Garda
MB Partners’ young driver, Kiern Jewiss, travels to Italy this weekend for his second race weekend of the year where he will compete in the 22nd annual Winter Cup at the South Garda Karting Circuit, Italy.
The event, taking place from the 16th to the 19th of February, will see 290 racers travel from all over Europe to compete in the ever-growing event in Northern Italy. The South Garda Karting Circuit, which was built back in 1988, features a 1200 metre length track with a 9 metre width that provides excellent opportunities for overtaking and action packed racing. The grand stands hold a capacity of 2000 people and the circuit is one of the most iconic international tracks on the karting calendar. The circuit is CIK FIA homologated and has been specifically designed to deliver entertaining races and has recently been renovated and widened further to provide drivers with the highest level of competitive driving.
The 22nd Winter Cup will feature a novelty in the race format. Qualifying will be held on Friday February 17th and qualifying heats on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Super Heats have been introduced this year ahead of Sunday’s final stages. Two heats for each category (featuring a maximum of 34 drivers on track) will award some further points useful for defining the list of the 34 finalists and the starting grid of each final.
Kiern travels to the track on the back of his trip to Adria in mid-January where he made the step up from the OK-Junior class to the OK class for the first time. Being one of the youngest drivers in the category, Kiern delivered a solid performance in Adria where he consistently finished in the top-10 throughout the weekend.
The Kent-based driver is under no illusions of how tough this weekend will be, lining up against the 2015 and 2016 World Champions and the 2016 European Champion. However, Kiern is not afraid of going toe-to-toe with the best in the world and has a pragmatic approach heading into the weekend’s action.
“Adria was a huge learning curve for me and I came away with a lot to think about. Looking back, I understand where I went wrong and what my weaknesses were and I’ve been working hard to turn them into positives for this weekend. While I have the right structure behind me, it will be this weekend where I can really showcase the hard work that’s been put in away from the track.”
Kieren Clark, Head of MB Partner’s Young Driver Academy, knows that this weekend will be tough for Kiern but is fully confident that he can produce a positive result if everything goes to plan.
“Kiern has some realistic but tough goals set in place for this weekend and there is a focused plan of action to help achieve his potential. It won’t be easy for him as he’s competing against the best in the world but he’ll be looking forward to proving himself against these big names. Fortunately, Kiern has his family, a great team and everyone at MB Partners to support him.”
Action gets underway in Italy on Thursday the 16th, with free practice starting at 08:30 local time.