Karting talent Anthony Bongartz shows his racing skills and scores a P2 in challenging final of GK4 Kart Series!
GENK - Go-kart driver Anthony Bongartz had a great weekend at the Genk circuit during the second round of the GK4 Kart Series. The 14-year-old racer from the Belgian town of Amel showed his racing skills and scored a resounding P2 in the IAME X30 Junior category.
“I'm happy with the result”, Anthony said. "We were expecting a podium, and P2 was what we could do. The driver at the front was too far away to catch. That's why I decided to defend my position because there was a whole group behind me. I just had to defend for the last three laps. It was very, very difficult, but I did it.”
With his second place, Anthony showed that he has great speed. And, of course, a podium finish was a great way to end a weekend that didn't start well for the talented Belgian. “On Friday, it rained a lot, and things didn't go very well”, the TD Racing Team driver recalled.
“But on Saturday, we were in the top five right from the warm-up. In qualifying we were P4. In the first race, I stayed in P4 and nothing special happened. In the second race, I was P5 for a while, but in the last corner, I managed to move up to P4. Then, I did a divebomb on the driver in third place. That's how I finished the race in P3.”
His combined results from the heats meant he was fourth on the grid for the final. “I had a great start. As I had to start from P4, I started on the outside of the track.” As this is the dirty part of the track (it is not on the race line), Anthony immediately moved to the inside.
“That way I tried to stay with the leader. I managed it, but the last laps were quite difficult because everyone was defending and trying to catch me at the same time". Well, as he said, he managed to hold his position and crossed the line in second place. “All in all, it was a good weekend”, he concluded.
Despite scoring a lot of points in the GK4 championship, Anthony won't be competing in the full series this year. "We only planned to race the last round in Mariembourg, and this weekend's round in Genk. For us, it's basically a training.”
Anthony also races in the Dutch Championship this year and the prestigious IAME Benelux Championship. He is, however, skipping the Euro Series. “Last year, we did some Euro Series races and the IWF in Portimão, but this is my last year in the Junior category. We want to concentrate on racing in the Senior category next year.”
Anthony Bongartz is looking for some support because he wants to climb up in karting and in the future in car racing.
Anthony thanks his parents, Thierry Delré for all his support and the whole team at TD Racing.
Website Garage Bongartz: https://www.garage-bongartz.be/
Instagram Anthony Bongartz: https://www.instagram.com/anthony_bongartz_karting/