Tony Kart: victory and podiums in Italy and Slovakia
On the occasion of the FIA Karting European Championship for OK-OKJ classes, held at the Slovak Karting Centre, their Racer 401 RR chassis gains the podium among the “Juniors”. In Val Vibrata, at the Italian ACI Karting Championship, the Rookie chassis wins in the MINI Gr.3 category.
The Tony Kart Racing Team is back in action again at the Slovak Karting Centre. After the Champions of the Future competition, their Tony Kart Racer 401 RR chassis, equipped with VTS (OK) and VTJ (OKJ) engines by Vortex, the "engine division" of OTK Kart Group, go back on track in Slovakia for the third round of the FIA Karting European Championship for OK-OKJ classes.
In OKJ category, Friday's qualifying practices immediately see Ilie Tristan Crisan as the leader, able to set the best time of 51.870 seconds in the third group. The Canadian driver subsequently obtained a third place in the second eliminatory heat and a victory in the fifth one, which results confirm him in the top-10 of the intermediate ranking. In the meantime, Joel Pohjola also shows off with three top-5 positions as well as a fast lap in the last qualifying heat and, like his teammate Crisan, is among the top ten of the 'Junior' class at the end of Saturday. Finally, in the A Super Heat, the Finnish driver scores a success and a best lap, while the North American comes very close to a top-3 finish in the B Super Heat. In the decisive final, their drivers initially run in sixth and seventh positions, followed by Scott Marsh, fifth in the A Super Heat and three times placed in the top five positions during the qualifying heats. It is Pohjola going straight on top in the most important race of the weekend: the Finnish driver is able to set an incredible race pace, unapproachable by his rivals, as shown by his best lap time. The Finnish driver climbs up position after position and at the end of the penultimate lap attempts the final attack on the leader. Unfortunately, a collision with his opponent penalises him, causing him to lose second place as well. The chequered flag thus goes to the Scandinavian driver with the lowest step on the podium. Marsh is also the author of an excellent race, with a total comeback of seven positions compared to the starting box that allows him to finish fifth. Crisan, on the other hand, is the third best-placed driver of their Racing Team.
In his second appearance with their official colours, Oliver Rasmussen reaches the finish line of the final, after having taken a second place and two top-10s in the previous eliminatory heats. With a sixth position overall in the heats, Thomas Pradier attends the last race of the weekend and finishes ahead of Maria Germano Neto, first between the girls running the category.
In OK class, David Walther is their main representative among the 'Senior' drivers attending the Slovakia event. The Danish driver's best performance comes during the B-F Heat, where he climbs the rankings by an impressive 16 positions gaining the fourth place. Unfortunately, in the final on Sunday afternoon he is involved in an accident after a few corners and thus forced to stop. Growing performance over the weekend for Sebastiano Pavan with two top-10s in the heats, while Xavier Avramides shows excellent potential with a third place in the Saturday morning's warm-up. Finally, the apprenticeship of the American Blake Nash goes on in the European continent.
On the same weekend, at the Kartodromo Val Vibrata (Italy), their young drivers of the MINI category gain a position at the top of the rankings of the third round of the Italian ACI Karting Championship, at the wheel of the Tony Kart Rookie powered by Vortex VTM.
In the MINI Gr.3 category, Oliver Sini and Leonardo Gorski are second and fifth respectively in the combined qualifying standings, signing a wonderful double win in the B-C Heat (with the Polish driver ahead of the Indonesian, who finishes third in the Heat A-B) and confirms their second and fourth positions at the end of Saturday. In Race 1, Gorski jumps well at the start and, starting from the sixth lap, takes the third position until the final finish, while Sini closes the race in sixth place. In Race 2, thanks to a decisive sprint from sixth place, Gorski immediately runs the top positions and wins with a gap of 0.812 seconds over Sini, the leader of the early stages of the race, confirming an excellent performance for their colours.
Henri Kumpen stands out in the qualifying heats with a fifth-place comeback (+12 positions) in the challenge between groups A and B as well as in Sunday's races with two top-10 positions. Achille Rea also performs a remarkable 17-place recovery in Race 2, at his second attendance in the ‘senior’ MINI class.
In the MINI Gr.3 U10 category, Tiberius Muller is steadily improving in the chrono practices and in the eliminatory heats and, in the last two races in Val Vibrata, he finishes seventh and fourth. Linghan Li is constantly working alongside their staff in view of the upcoming events scheduled on the calendar.
No stop for the activities of the Tony Kart Racing Team, which will be back at the Franciacorta Karting Track of Castrezzato (Italy) for the first out of two WSK Euro Series appointments, scheduled on 27th-30th June, with the drivers of the MINI and OK categories.