Tony Kart: First Competition Of 2022, First Success
At the debut of the season, on the occasion of the first round of the WSK Super Master Series in Lonato, the Tony Kart Racing Team hits the victory in OK with Luigi Coluccio, who started from the pole position in the final.
Ready, start, v... Victory. The 2022 racing season of the Tony Kart Racing Team, leader of the first round of the WSK Super Master Series, could not have started better. On the track of South Garda Karting (Lonato), the new Tony Kart Racer 401 RR signs a victory in the OK class, powered by the DST Vortex engine, the "engine division" of OTK Kart Group. The Racer 401 RR is also at the start of the KZ2 and OKJ classes, respectively with the RTZ/RSZ and DJT Vortex engines, while the Tony Kart Rookie attends the MINI with the MCX chassis.
Great performance in OK for Luigi Coluccio. The Italian driver is constantly among the fastest drivers of the weekend, as confirmed by his two victories, a second place and a fast lap in the three qualifying heats, which give him, at the end of Saturday, the first position in the provisional ranking. Coluccio conquers a solid victory also in the pre-final thus ensuring the pole position for the final. In the decisive race, Luigi jumps perfectly at the turning off of the lights and leads the race for all the 21 scheduled laps, until crossing the finish line triumphant.
Nice performance also for Tuukka Taponen. The reigning OK world champion wins the second pre-final, which awards important points for the championship, and finishes fourth in the final. James Egozi's debut among the "Seniors" is definitely positive, with the American driver always in the top positions of the classification during the whole weekend. After collecting a second place and a fast lap in the qualifying heats, Egozi surprisingly leads in the final where he takes the third position in the first laps of the race, and then finishes with a concrete fifth position. Joseph Turney is their fourth Tony Kart classified in the final Top 10 (demonstration of a top-level performance), thanks to a recovery of 6 positions compared to the position he had on the starting grid.
News and certainties in OKJ, a category which sees several young drivers at their debut with their official colours. But let's start from the already known drivers: Jan Przyrowski and Enzo Tarnvanichkul which confirm all their speed with good results in the qualifying heats: the Polish driver scores a second place and a fast lap, while the Thai licensed driver collects a third place. Both reach the Sunday's final, with Przyrowski writing his name in the Top 15.
Alp Hasan Aksoy's first weekend in the "green" suit is certainly an interesting one, with two Top 10 results in the qualifying heats. The Turkish driver closes the appointment with the qualification to the final. Encouraging performances for Maria Germano Neto and Giacomo Pedrini, with the Portuguese girl climbing up not less than 11 positions in the pre-final and the Italian entering the Top 10 in one of the qualifying heats. Not much luck for Jimmy Helias, slowed down by a stop in the eliminatory heats: the French driver however shows to have the right rhythm, as shown by the fourth position in the last heat on Saturday.
A large line-up for their Racing Team in KZ2, one of the most competitive categories of the championship. Adrien Renaudin is one of its best drivers, so much as to close two qualifying heats in the Top 5. What a pity, instead, for a stop in the first heat, which jeopardizes the final of the French driver. A recovery of 9 positions allows Jean Luyet to come close to the Top 15 in the final, also attended by Simo Puhakka, thanks to a good recovery of 18 positions between eliminatory and qualifying heats.
The fate plays tricks on the KZ world champion Noah Milell, unfortunately, absent in the final and ready to redeem himself in the next event. Laura Camps Torras, Samuel Luyet and Juho Valtanen grind out kilometres and accumulate experience in view of the next races.
Finally, the MINI sees the two youngsters Vladimir Ivannikov and Ethan Lennon on track in a category with a total of 90 entries. Both played their cards right in Sunday morning's pre-final without much luck. The head is already now to the next seasonal commitment.
The South Garda Karting of Lonato will host again the WSK Super Master Series in two weeks (February 10th - 13th) for the second round of the championship. The Tony Kart Racing Team will be present in all four categories: KZ2, OK, OKJ and MINI.