Tony Kart in Sweden for the last round of the European championship for OK and OKJ classes
On the occasion of the 4th round of the FIA Karting European Championship OK-OKJ, at Kristianstad, their Tony Kart Racer 401 RR runs in the top positions of the Junior category over the weekend and closes the final with the fourth place of the rookie Ilie Tristan Crisan.
The 2024 season of the FIA Karting European Championship reserved for the OK and OKJ categories officially ends. The Tony Kart Racing Team attends the last round in Kristianstad, Sweden, with the Tony Kart Racer 401 RR chassis, powered by the VTS (OK) and VTJ (OKJ) engines of Vortex, the "engine division" of OTK Kart Group.
In OKJ, it is the rookie Ilie Tristan Crisan their best representative throughout the weekend. The Canadian driver, in fact, is initially fourth in his group during the qualifying heats and, in the subsequent heats, collects a victory, two third places and a fastest lap. On Sunday, despite the difficult track conditions due to the pouring rain, Crisan remains at the top of the standings: in the B super heat he even takes the lead in the first laps and, with his fourth place under the chequered flag, he gains the top-5 in the overall ranking. In the final, on the other hand, their rookie is able to avoid all sort of contact at the start and narrowly misses a possible podium position with his final fourth place. After the bronze medal won two weeks before at the Champions of the Future Euro Series, Scott Marsh shows off in the qualifying heats, where he gains 16 positions in the intermediate ranking thanks to three fourth places, and in Sunday morning's warm-up, where he finishes with the fastest time in his session. With an error-free run, the British driver finishes the final among the top ten. Also among the protagonists of the fourth round of the 'COTF' as well as third in the previous round of the European Championship in Slovakia, is Joel Pohjola able to hit the fourth place as the best result in the qualifying heat and to climb the intermediate ranking by 12 places. After fighting for the lead in the Sunday morning's B Super Heat, the Finnish driver is involved in an unlucky collision during the afternoon final.
Oliver Rasmussen, author of a constant path in the qualifying heats, is penalised by a stop in the second heat. Thomas Pradier performs well in the eliminatory heats with a top-5 as his best finish.
In OK class, the Tony Kart Racing Team is at the starting grid with Tiziano Monza, David Walther, Blake Nash, Tom Leuillet, Xavier Avramides, Sebastiano Pavan and Maria Germano Neto. Other than the quest for pure performance, the Tony Kart Racing Team focuses on the latest developments in view of the world championship to be held in England in September. In this sense, the Kristianstad circuit, featured by a technical layout, as well as the variable weather conditions have proven to be an excellent test bench, giving excellent results, as evidenced - among other results - by Walther's comeback of 6 positions and his second best lap in the B Super Heat race.
After an intense first part of the season, the Tony Kart Racing Team is taking a rest before returning to the track at the end of the month for the second and final round of the FIA Karting European Championship for KZ-KZ2 categories, scheduled in Val Vibrata, Italy (29 August - 1 September).