The mild climate of the region, between the Loire Valley and the Atlantic coast, is often praised, but perhaps the tourist offices don't emphasise enough the ability of the skies over the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region to change with astonishing speed. The conditions changed constantly, from a soggy track to an almost dry circuit with disconcerting speed, during the 42 Qualifying Heats contested so far in the three categories racing at Val d'Argenton.

The Maxxis rain tyres stood up well to the intense stresses, while the slick tyres were little used. The drivers had to make the best of technical gambles made before each start and concentrate on the balancing act of each race. There were mistakes, as is to be expected, but there were also achievements, punishable offences such as exceeding the limits of the track, joy and disappointment, throughout this testing phase. The rankings on Saturday evening reflect the competitiveness of the sporting confrontations. Sunday might be easier to manage, but there's always the possibility of a few surprises in the Finals.

Junior: Martinese retains the lead

Italian poleman Iacopo Martinese remains the leader of the second Competition of the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship - Junior thanks to a very solid run with four wins and one second place. Thanks to his consistency and two victories, Britain's Roman Kamyab moved up to second place, while his Italian team-mate Filippo Sala, a three-time winner, moved up 14 places. Christian Costoya (ESP), who won twice, and Daniel Kelleher (IRL), who won once, confirmed the potential revealed in Qualifying to finish in the top five. Vladimir Ivannikov, who also won a heat, was in 6th place ahead of Dries van Langendonck (BEL), who was making positive progress. Louis Cochet (FRA) was eighth ahead of Kit Belosky (GBR), who moved up 21 places, and Sebastian Minns (GBR), who was also very convincing. Niklas Schaufler (AUT), fifth in the provisional Championship standings, boosted his chances by moving up from 50th to 18th.

OK-Junior Qualifying Heats standings
1- Iacopo Martinese (ITA) - 244 points
2- Roman Kamyab (GBR) - 219 points
3- Filippo Sala (ITA) - 218 points
4- Christian Costoya (ESP) - 216 points
5- Daniel Kelleher (IRL) - 208 points

OK: Turney's incredible faultless run

The experienced Joe Turney (GBR) showed the full extent of his talent by winning his five Qualifying Heats without faltering, despite the complex conditions of the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship - OK at Val d'Argenton. David Walther (DNK) also made his mark, climbing from 10th to second place ahead of the excellent Matheus Morgatto (BRA). Fionn Mclaughlin (IRL) was a valiant fourth, while Sebastiano Pavan (ITA) was fifth (up 11 places) and Andy Consani (FRA) moved up 17 places to sixth. Leader of the provisional Championship standings, Gabriel Gomez held on to an interesting seventh place ahead of Oleksandr Bondarev (UKR) and Lewis Wherrell (GBR), who were level on points. Aaron Garcia (ESP) closed the top 10, followed by Ean Eyckmans (BEL), who made a sensational 43-place recovery.

OK Qualifying Heats standings
1- Joe Turney (GBR) - 250 points
2- David Walther (DNK) - 223 points
3- Matheus Morgatto (BRA) - 216 points
4- Fionn Mclaughlin (IRL) - 208 points
5- Sebastiano Pavan (ITA) - 199 points

Academy Trophy: Advantage Herman

Four of the six Qualifying Heats of the FIA Karting Academy Trophy took place this Saturday at Val d'Argenton. The first two heats got off to a rough start on a soaking track. Belgian Gilles Herman and Spaniard Aleix Pinera Rusinol took the morning victories. A second place in the afternoon for Herman gave him the advantage over Pinera, while Frenchman Lilian Soares followed in third place thanks to his victory in the third heat. Japan's Simba Motoda finished with the same number of points. Nikolaos Karagiannis (GRC), Casper Nissen (DNK) and Kian Burnard (GBR) followed close behind, ahead of Lyuboslav Ruykov (BGR) and Jure Levar (SVN). After making a mistake in the A-C heat which cost him victory, poleman Dan Allemann (CHE) made up for it by winning the A-D heat, giving him a chance to shine on Sunday morning in one of the last two Qualifying Heats.

Provisional programme for the Val d'Argenton Competition

Sunday 28th April
08:30 - 09:55: Warm-up
10:05 - 10:40: Qualifying Heats - Academy
10:45 - 12:20: Super Heats - Junior & OK
13.55 - 16.35: Finals

You can follow the Val d'Argenton Competition on the official FIA Karting Championship app for mobile devices and on the website.