Vortex conquers the European OKJ title in Zuera
On the Spanish track, the DJT engine, with Freddie Slater and Ean Eyckmans, signs a double win in the final of the OKJ class and becomes the 2021 Champion of the FIA Karting European Championship. Podium also in the OK class.
OKJ - In the "Junior" class, the Vortex DJT engines are not afraid of the high summer temperatures typical of the Spanish climate. Already in the qualifying heats, Jan Przyrowski (Tony Kart Racing Team) is the fastest driver in the fourth group and obtains the third position in the overall ranking, a few hundredths of a second from the best overall timing. In the qualifying heats also the championship’s leader Freddie Slater (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) shows a good performance with an impressive series of five wins and three fast laps out of five heats. Giving a contributiion to Vortex's excellent results are also Przyrowski with two wins and a third place, Reno Francot (Exprit Racing Team) with a win and a fastest lap, Ean Eyckmans (Kosmic Racing Department) with two second places and a fastest lap, and James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team) with a second place and a fastest lap. In addition to them theren are also the podiums obtained by Maxim Rehm (Ricky Flynn Motorsport), Edgar Anpilogov (Ricky Flynn Motorsport), Keanu Al Azhari (Tony Kart Racing Team), Konstantin Krapin (Ward Racing), Dmitry Matveev (Koski Motorsport) and Alexander Gubenko (Tony Kart Racing Team), confirming a general excellent performance of their engine. The final, with a starting grid made up of more than 40% of the participants equipped with a Vortex engine, sees Slater in the pole position and great favourite for the final victory. With intelligence and a bit of tricks, the British driver signs the winning overtaking on the last lap winning the European title, triumphant under the chequered flag. Eyckmans completes the double win with a second place, while Egozi misses the third step of the podium by just 0.133 seconds. Al Azhari and Anpilogov hit the Top 10, while a few places further back we find Maxens Verbrugge (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) with a recovery of no less than 22 places than his starting grid position. Przyrowski finishes in the Top 15, followed by Francot, Gubenko and Matveev. Unfortunately, David Walther (Koski Motorsport), Maksimilian Popov (Ward Racing), Harley Keeble (Tony Kart Racing Team), Krapin and Rehm retire.
OK - Vortex's DST engine, in the master class of single-speed karts, is aiming for a podium result after its fourth place a week ago, on the occasion of the Champions of the Future. Tuukka Taponen (Tony Kart Racing Team) signs the second important score in the first qualifying group and continues his progress in the qualifying heats with a second place and three third places, sending him to the second row in Sunday's final. Joseph Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team) collects a third place in the heats, as well as Rintaro Sato (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) also author of a fast lap; finally, Norton Andreasson (Ward Racing) finishes twice on the podium. One third of the final grid’s drivers is equipped with Vortex engines and, right from the start, it is Taponen's threatening the first positions: the Finnish driver constantly runs in the Top 3 during the whole race and crosses the finish line in third position. Edoardo Ludovico Villa (Exprit Racing Team) signs a comeback of 18 positions with the ninth final place, ahead of Artem Severiukhin (Ward Racing). Also Sebastien Gravlund (Kosmic Racing Department), Eemeli Koivisto (Koski Motorsport), Victoria Blokhina (Ward Racing), Sato, Andreasson, Bruno Del Pino (Tony Kart Racing Team), Andrey Zhivnov (Ward Racing), Turney, Luigi Coluccio (Kosmic Racing Department) and Oscar Pedersen (Ward Racing) also attend the race.