The Assen circuit remains popular with 80,000 spectators in the stands during the weekend. The first Competition of the 2014 CIK-FIA European Superkart Championship was a sporting spectacle with two superb high quality races, full of twists, won respectively by Kout and Vinuales.

At the first Qualifying session, Emmanuel Vinuales (Anderson / DEA) was the fastest on the track. With a lap of 1'37'' 139, the defending champion initially demoted his rivals by a second and a half. Peter Elkmann (MSKart / VM), Henrik Lilja (PVP / PVP) and Andreas Jost (Anderson / PVP) followed him, but Adam Kout (MSKart / DEA) worked hard and ended up in the same tenth as Vinuales at the end of the session. It was a disaster for the British drivers, with Morley and Bennett, both Anderson / DEA, down and out. During the second session, Bennett was not yet quite on the pace, but recovered to the second row. At the end of the session, the drivers who stayed on track all improved, including Kout who set a surprising 1'35'' 785 which was a new circuit record.

The first race started with drama. Vinuales failed to start on the formation lap (ignition sensor). At the lights, Elkmann was the quickest, and Kout tucked into his bumper. Arjan Kievitsboch (MSKart / VM) and Jost took off after the two leaders. The quartet began to take a slight lead over Lilja, Marcel Maasmann (Anderson / FPE) and Guido Kleinemeyer (PVP / DEA). Bennett did not seem quite on the pace, but with his legendary expertise, he managed to catch Kleinemeyer.

Kout gradually gained a gap of 4 seconds to Elkmann and Jost. His task was made easier by the fact that the "infernal trio" were battling. The racing was wonderful, with Drivers overtaking several times and taking the straight wheel to wheel. Behind, their pursuers dropped off except Maasmann who kept up a steady pace on his home territory. The Dutch Driver dropped his companions and gradually caught up with Jost. Bennett was stuck to Lilja but was never able to overtake. Kout increased his lead over Elkmann, who watched out for the young Jost, trying to surprise, and Kievitsbosch took the lead of the group, joined by Maasmann. Suspense remained until the chequered flag. Indeed, Elkmann passed Kievitsbosch but he came out of the last chicane better to throw himself ahead on the line with a small lead of 4 mils!

Jost was embarrassed by contact with Maasmann who came off. Note the comeback from Morley who finished 15th despite starting 41st.

The second race proved to be even more spectacular, as this time the battle involved almost all the favourites. Kout grabbed the lead ahead of Vinuales. Jost slipped ahead of the Briton Bennett, Elkmann, Kievitsbosch and Lilja to form the chasing group. Kout seemed to escape again. This time it was Kievitsbosch who most often led the chase. With Jost, Vinuales, Elkmann, Bennett and Lilja, they put on a show. They passed and repassed at each opportunity. Maasmann was more isolated ahead of a German trio of Kleinemeyer, Hentschel and Reinke. Vinuales remained incisive but was confronted by a tough opponent in Kievitsbosch. He made a mistake, and dropped back again in combat. On the fifth lap Vinuales went up the inside of Kievitsbosch to gain second position. Granted, he was the fastest on the track. He also accelerated the pace and closed up on the Czech. On lap 8, Vinuales overtook Kout. A new duel began between the two leaders. Meanwhile, Bennett was more incisive than yesterday and managed to pass Kievitsbosch and gained a small margin of safety. Elkmann and Jost waited for an opportunity, and Lilja was dropped. Vinuales overtook Kout but missed out and lost a few metres. He regained them and this time waited for the last lap to overtake the Czech using the slipstream and won a resounding victory. The podium was nothing new. Vinuales saved his honour and beat the recent lap record (1'35'' 743). Kout is the new championship leader with 45 points ahead of Kievitsbosch on 33 points; Elkmann, Vinuales and Bennett follow on almost the same total and preserve their chances as one result will be counted. This first round reveals the dominance of the DEA and VM engines. Next will be Val de Vienne on the 4th & 5th October.

The two winners said:

A. Kout: "... no, we have not changed much, just details but thanks to the team and Milena, who you will have noticed, was very moved by my success ..."

E. Vinuales: "What a frustration yesterday, we wanted to show that we were going to win ... but the failure was unpredictable, which prevented us from blaming ourselves all evening and we stayed focused."