Tony Kart Champion of the WSK Euro Series 2021
On the Naples International Circuit, stage of the last championship’s round, the Harley Keeble-Tony Kart Racer 401S pairing wins the OKJ title. Podium also in the OK final for Joseph Turney.
The WSK Euro Series has a new champion in the OKJ class and it is one of the Tony Kart Racing Team's drivers, Harley Keeble. The English driver conquers the title on the Naples International Circuit thanks to three good results in the three rounds of the championship and thanks to the solid technical package signed by OTK Kart Group, made up of their Tony Kart Racer 401R combined with the Vortex DJT engine. Positive results also in the KZ2 and OK classes, still with the "401R" chassis, and in the MINI class, with the Tony Kart Rookie 2020.
Keeble is at the start of the last round of the season leading the OKJ championship’s standings and does not disappoint expectations: a victory, two podiums and two fourth places in the qualifying heats ensure the British driver the access to the pre-final, which gives him the pass to the final, on the third row. Keeble is one of the protagonists of the last race of the weekend and wisely avoids unnecessary fights to finish under the chequered flag in fourth place. Not even a 5-second penalty for the incorrect placing of the front fairing (and the consequent drop back to ninth position) takes the deserved WSK Euro Series title out of Keeble's hands.
Another positive performance for James Egozi, constantly growing during this championship. This time, the American driver fights for a position on the podium and inherits Keeble's fourth position, which translates into a fourth place in the general standings at -3 points from the driver who precedes him in third place. Egozi also adds the fastest timing in his own qualifying group, later converted to a second place in the overall standings, and a streak of five podiums (a third place, three seconds and a win) in the qualifying heats. Alexander Gubenko, fast during the whole weekend, also finishes in the top ten. The Russian driver, fifth at the end of the qualifying session, reaches the pre-final with two podiums in the qualifying heats and climbs of 6 positions during the final, finishing in seventh place.
On the other hand, a bitter end for Jan Przyrowski. The Polish rookie recovers not less than 11 positions between qualifying and eliminatory heats. In the pre-final, he climbs another three positions, but at the starting grid of the final he is involved in an accident forcing the red flag to be shown. His kart is so damaged that he cannot take part in the decisive race. At his second race in the "Junior" class, Jimmy Helias continues his learning path with our Racing Team and also obtains a Top 10 in the qualifying heats.
In KZ2, Simo Puhakka is the best of their drivers on the circuit of Sarno. The Finnish driver is fourth in the qualifying, a position he keeps also after the three heats held before the pre-final. In the final, Puhakka crosses the finish line in fifth place, while Josef Knopp ends the race prematurely.
Excellent form for Joseph Turney in OK class. The British driver puts into practice on Sunday the intense work done during the weekend: he enters the top 5 in the pre-final and in the decisive final he climbs 6 positions, gaining a well-deserved third place on the podium. Tuukka Taponen is also very fast and among the favourites for the victory, especially after two second places and a fast lap in the qualifying heats and the second place in the pre-final: the Finnish driver fights at every lap and finishes in fifth position. A stop and a penalty in the three eliminatory heats do not help Bruno Del Pino's path and a position in the last rows in the pre-final does not allow him to have a positive race.
Ethan Lennon continues his experience in the MINI class. At his second race and against 68 other drivers, the South African driver collects useful results to increase his skills in a championship of international level.
After three intense weekends, the Tony Kart Racing Team has a break before facing in two weeks (July 8th – 11th ) the third round of the FIA Karting European Championship for OK-OKJ classes at the Naples International Circuit.