Tony Kart closes the European Championship with a win
The Tony Kart Racer 401 RR files the last round of the FIA Karting European Championship at the Franciacorta Karting Track celebrating the success in the OKJ category with Jan Przyrowski, second in the score ranking. In OK, Joseph Turney also finishes in the Top 3 in the overall standings just 3 points behind the title.
Tony Kart Racing Team's 2022 FIA Karting European Championship season closes with another important victory in the OK and OKJ categories. At the Franciacorta Karting Track in Castrezzato (Italy), the Tony Kart Racer 401 RR arrives ahead of everybody on the finishing line of the "Junior" final and with excellent performances also shown in the "Senior" one, always powered by the DST (OK) and DJT (OKJ) engines, manufactured by Vortex, the OTK Kart Group "engine division".
In OKJ class, the weekend immediately starts in the best of ways with Jimmy Helias' pole position, the first ever for the Frenchman in the European Championship. During the qualifying heats, also his teammates Jan Przyrowski and Enzo Tarnvanichkul perform at best: in fact, the two driver score 6 victories and 4 fastest laps in the 15 races between Friday and Saturday. At the end of the heats, the Polish driver is second in the intermediate ranking and the Thai follows in third place, with Helias positioned a little further back. Sunday morning also confirms the competitiveness of the team, with Tarnvanichkul winning the A Super Heat and Przyrowski second in the B Super Heat, results that confirm both in the first two rows of the starting grid of the final.
The last and decisive race of the weekend seems to be tough and hard-fought from the very first moments, with several competitors looking for a place on the podium. Several collisions affect the final result, as evidenced by the 18 total retirements and four time penalties awarded at the end of the race. However, this certainly did not affect the performance of Przyrowski, who was able to avoid any kind of trouble and keep himself in the top positions until the winning jump on the penultimate lap. The Polish driver conquers his first victory in the European Championship, as a result of a positive growth in terms of performance gained over the course of the season, and earn the silver medal of second place in the championship. Unlucky, on the other hand, are Tarnvanichkul and Helias: the Thai driver has all the cards to play for victory and takes the third place before retiring due to an accident with another driver; the Frenchman also raises the white flag due to contact, just when the podium was within reach.
Two more of their drivers take part in the final: Alp Hasan Aksoy who qualifies with an excellent way through the qualifying heats and a Top 10 in A Super Heat, and Maria Germano Neto who opens the weekend with an excellent second best time in the qualifying of Group 3 and reaches the last race by setting the fastest lap in B Super Heat. Both finish in the top fifteen. A weekend of continuous learning for Arthur Dorison and Giacomo Pedrini who are now ready to tackle the second half of the season.
In OK, Tuukka Taponen is their best driver throughout the Franciacorta event. The reigning world champion of the queen category of the single-gear karts records a victory in addition to three second places in the qualifying heats and wins the A Super Heat. Again in the final, the Finnish driver constantly runs in the top positions and comes close to the Top 5 by a few tenths of a second. After a silent qualifying, James Egozi makes a remarkable comeback in the overall ranking, recovering 12 positions in the final and finishing in the top ten.
Bad luck did not help Joseph Turney in the challenge for the European title. Winner of the first two rounds of the championship at Portimao (Portugal) and Zuera (Spain), the British driver at the Franciacorta track comes close to the continental title, finishing third in the championship just three points off the top. A premature stop prevents Luigi Coluccio from showing his potential during the final.
Also Keanu Al Azhari and Juho Valtanen narrowly miss the final, while a collision on the first lap in B Super Heat which compromises Liu Ruiqi's chances. Steadily improving performances for Kuba Rajski and Oscar Wurz, already ready for the next engagements.
The Tony Kart Racing Team does not allow itself any breaks: in fact, already next weekend (July 15th-17th) it will be on the track again in the first of the two rounds of the WSK Euro Series scheduled at the South Garda Karting of Lonato, in the OK, OKJ and MINI classes.