Dave Ritzen and Richard Scheffer together with grid girls Karting Genk Home of Champions
The most talked about event of the Fia Karting European Championship scheduled in Genk has passed the difficult exam, thanks to the Belgian structure’s organization that was able to manage the Covid-19 emergency well using the web platform to avoid gatherings as much as possible. After the unforgettable event of the 2018 World Cup, which made this facility one of the best in the world, the Genk “Home of Champions” track emerges head-up from a complicated situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Here is what Dave Ritzen, responsible for the facility located in Flanders, told us.
1) The Genk track hosted karting events of international importance over the course of a few days, from the Rotax Max Euro Trophy to the BNL Karting Series to the FIA Karting European Championship event.
We can certainly affirm that all anti-Covid- 19 efforts and prevention measures have been rewarded, everything has gone well and so far there have been no consequences as regards Covid-19.
Are you satisfied with the result? And what do you feel you can recommend to all those who have to organize international karting events in this pandemic period?
Each country, and to make it more difficult, each region has their own restrictions regarding the pandemic. So that is one. The second point is that an organizer should give all guests (teams, drivers, staff members, etc.) the feeling that if they are coming everything has been well prepared. As we started in June with the rule that faces masks are mandatory at our site it didn`t make us popular. But look where we are standing now: in almost every country face masks are compulsory to wear.
2) Which event, which you’ve hosted, gave you the most organizational problems, and based on these, which solutions have you subsequently adopted?
Actually, there were no big ‘problems’. During the lockdown we already took some steps in advance. Preparing online registration forms for people other than drivers who want to visit the race is one of them. But also ‘simple’ things such as uploading licenses through our Rotax EVA registration system, only accepting online payments. With these small things, we tried to avoid as much as possible physical contact between the organization and teams. We also introduced the rule that Team Managers (read Entrants) must sign in for all their drivers on-site. With this rule, we avoid waiting queues during the registration period. Besides, this also saves a lot of time. And this all went well!
3) The round of the FIA Karting European Championship that you hosted awarded the 2020 title. This title will certainly be remembered in history for all the difficulties faced.
Indeed, comparing it to other years, this will probably be the one we will never forget even as we never will forget the 2018 World Championship.
4) What do you feel like saying to the champions?
First of all, I would like to thank them all for coming to Genk in these difficult times. Even for them, it was a big challenge to come to Genk as we were (again) the first event where PCR tests were compulsory. To become a champion in karting is not easy, even when the numbers are much less than in previous years. To be a champion you should be the best at all times, because the other competitors are too close, ready to catch you.
5) In October and November there are other important karting events; are there any suggestions to help tackle the races even more safely?
I guess all organizers on the FIA Karting race calendar are that professional enough to give every involved person a safe feeling.
Article created in collaboration with Vroom Karting Magazine.
Post time: Oct-19-2020