Beitske Visser Wins in WSK Master Series

30 august 2010

In addition to the many visitors who come to the city during summer time, Siena (Tuscany) also hosted karters on 28th and 29th August for the much-awaited launch of the new WSK Master Series. Beitske Visser was up for the challenge, with a phenomenal race where she snatched victory at the very end of the race, at the wheel of her Intrepid-TM. For the Dutch girl this means another great performance to add to her list of achievements.

Beitske Visser (pic: KSP)

It was with pleasure and determination that Beitske Visser returned to racing after a few weeks of holiday. She was impatient to be back in an international race, but she was even more eager to make it to the podium again. On the 1,037-meter long circuit of Siena (Italy), Beitske suffered disappointment during timed qualifying. After a technical problem with her equipment, she fell down to last place.

But Beitske had a goal and did everything to get to the front in the first heast. She had made it to seventh place, but when she tried to go one better it all went wrong. She was pushed off the track and had to restart her kart and finished 21st, with a lot of damage to the kart.

"I kept my optimism anyway, because I felt I was getting there. I had already had some difficult times during the season and I knew I could still make it, once my chassis was back in order," said Beitske.

Indeed, the Dutch karter staged a great performance. She gained 16 places during the second heat and finished fifth. Her second place in the last qualifying heat meant she started the pre-final from seventh on the grid. In pre-final Beitske worked her way to second place, but unfortunately, after the race she was handed a 10 second penalty because her kart touched the white line during the start. This dropped her back down to eighth position.

Beitske Visser on the podium (pic: KSP)

Despite this stroke of bad luck, Visser's determination grew even stronger in the final race, as she herself explained:

"I made an excellent start and I could win a few places. Slowly I could work myself to the front and after 10 laps I was second. Because of my overtaking, the leader had taken a little advantage, so I risked it all to close the gap. During practice we had worked hard to keep our equipment competitive during the final race and our strategy worked. In the sixteenth lap I had closed the gap, didn’t wait a second and overtook. With a few laps to go I made a little mistake, so the second place kart could get on my bumper again. With only two laps to go he overtook me, but I thought, this victory is mine, and immediately took it back. I pushed really hard to create a little gap so he could pass again and finished first.”

There was loud applause from the crowd. The Italian people took Beitske into their hearts, her fighting spirit which she showed whole weekend, had made a deep impression. A big crowd and an even bigger applause from the Italians when the winner climbed on the podium and ......it was for a Dutch! Beitske Visser - who has already won a round of the European championship in June - is now in second place of the very hard-fought WSK Master Series and is determined to become the leader. She is definitely the most sensational revelation of the 2010 season in KZ2 (125cc gearbox).