Podium for Tony Kart at the WSK Open Series in Franciacorta
At the first appointment of the WSK Promotion series, their Tony Kart Rookie powered by Vortex engine achieved second place in the MINI Gr.3 with the Racing Team driver Oliver Sini.
The 2024 WSK Open Series started with great performances for the Tony Kart Racing Team. In the inaugural race of the championship, at the Franciacorta Karting Track in Castrezzato (Italy), their chassis Tony Kart Rookie got on the podium in the MINI Gr.3 category and achieved a Top 5 in the MINI Gr.3 U10, powered by the VTM units of Vortex Engines, the engine division of OTK Kart Group. Their Tony Kart Racer 401 RR also got on track in the KZ2, equipped with Vortex VTZ.
In the Mini Gr.3, Oliver Sini started the first round of the WSK Open Series, boosted by the podium gained last month at the 35th Andrea Margutti Trophy. Thanks to a victory, a third place and a fifth place in the qualifying heats, the Indonesian ascended third place in the intermediate ranking and, after the prefinals, he secured the first row on the starting grid of the final. During the crucial race on Sunday afternoon, Sini constantly fought with the leading group and managed to conquer the final place of honour. Winner of the last race of the WSK Super Master Series in Sarno, Leonardo Gorski got the highest position in the ranking of the eliminatory heats and, in the first lap of the final, placed himself in the top 5. However, during the next lap of the race, he had to raise the white flag. Henri Kumpen finished the race, managing to stand out in the prefinal B of Sunday at his second presence in the highest class of the MINI.
In the Mini Gr.3 U10, Achille Rea proved his capability to contend for the top positions since the rankings, in which he got second place in Group 1. Then he secured his ambitions in the qualifying heats, notching two Top 3 and two fastest laps on three races in the program. In the final, the Italian and other ten drivers fought for the leadership with their driver who finished fifth, a few tenths of a second after the winner. Tiberius Müller, instead, recovered 13 positions in the ranking during the race on Sunday.
In KZ2, Tom Leuillet and Marijn Kremers were the main protagonists of the category. The French recorded the best time in his own group in the ranking of Friday (45.472 seconds) and achieved two victories and a third place in the following qualifying heats; the Dutch driver got second place in the same group as his teammate in the qualifying practices (45.475 seconds) and notched a success and three podiums in the eliminatory heats. In the intermediate ranking Kremers hit the fourth position and Leuillet the ninth (due to an unlucky withdrawal in the B-F heat). Francesco Celenta also showed off during the qualifying heats: the Italian gained fourth place as best result and, recovering 11 positions, he finally got the tenth place in the ranking. At the end of the prefinal of Sunday morning, their three drivers secured a spot among the first ten positions. In the last race of the weekend, Kremers and Leuillet performed a good start when the light went down, but the two contenders ahead made contact with each other at the first lap and unfortunately, they involved their two drivers in the accident. Leuillet managed to take the track again, while Kremers was forced to retire. Celenta passed the corner unharmed and, during the remaining twenty laps in the program, fought for the Top 5 until the checkered flag. Genis Civico also took part in the final, attending the third appointment with the Tony Kart official colours and performing a fifth place as best result in the qualifying heats. Nicola Rossini continued his launch in the Tony Kart Racing Team, with interesting performances during the weekend in Franciacorta. Ziming Wang made his debut in their line-up, enriched by the presence of Xavier Avramides and David Walther, mainly involved in the OK category and at their beginning in the shifter kart class.