The Mondokart.com - FIA Karting World Championship - OK & Junior got underway late on Friday morning with Qualifying Practice. The large number of participants, 105 in OK and 119 in OK-Junior, meant that five heats were needed for each category. The two British polemen Joe Turney and Noah Baglin set very fast times and distanced themselves clearly from their rivals. The competition was tighter between the other drivers. Harrison Whitticombe later took pole position for the FIA Karting World Cup - OK-N.
The Qualifying Heats followed in the afternoon to finish on Saturday evening after a total of 38 races in the three categories. The weather was fine on Friday, with a completely dry track, sunny skies and temperatures in excess of 15°C.
Turney is in pole position in OK
With his fastest time of 54''558, the reigning European Champion was more than a tenth and a half clear of all his rivals. British driver Joe Turney took pole position in Session 2, three tenths quicker than Session 1 leader Noah Monteiro (PRT) and between 1.6 and 2.8 tenths ahead of Dmitry Matveev in Session 4, Freddie Lloyd (GBR) in Session 3 and Ethan Jeff-Hall (GBR) in Session 5.
Top 10 Qualifying Practice Times for the OK World Championship
1- Joe Turney - GBR (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
2- Dmitry Matveev - (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
3- Freddie Lloyd - GBR (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
4- Ethan Jeff-Hall - GBR (CRG / IAME / Maxxis)
5- Noah Monteiro - PRT (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
6- Thibaut Ramaekers - BEL (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
7- Kaï Rillaerts - BEL (Sodi / TM Kart / Maxxis)
8- Jimmy Hélias - FRA (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
9- David Cosma Cristofor - ROU (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
10- Oleksandr Bondarev - UKR (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
Winners of the Qualifying Heats on Friday 13th September
Joe Turney, two wins, Matthew Higgins, Freddie Lloyd, Fionn Mclaughlin, Andy Consani.
Baglin the Junior poleman
Great Britain's Noah Baglin set a fastest time of 56'342 in the fifth session to edge out his rivals in the other heats by more than 3.5 tenths, a remarkable performance. The other four session leaders, Roman Kamyab (GBR), Mats Van Rooijen (NLD), Arjen Kraeling (DEU) and Jack Iliffe (USA), were just a tenth apart. The drivers in the fifth session put in some very fast times. Jacob Ashcroft (GBR) followed Baglin by 27 thousandths and even sixth-placed Christian Costoya (ESP) was faster than all the other sessions.
Top 10 Qualifying Practice Times for the OK-Junior World Championship
1- Noah Baglin – GBR (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
2- Roman Kamyab – GBR (LN / TM Kart / Maxxis)
3- Mats Van Rooijen – NLD (CRG / IAME / Maxxis)
4- Arjen Kraeling – DEU (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
5- Jack Iliffe – USA (Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis)
6- Jacob Ashcroft – GBR (Energy / TM Kart / Maxxis)
7- Devin Walz – USA (Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis)
8- Drew Walz – USA (Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis)
9- Turner Brown – USA (LN / TM Kart / Maxxis)
10- Zac Green – GBR (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
Winners of the Qualifying Heats on Friday 13th September:
Arjen Kraeling and Zac Green, two wins, Jacob Ashcroft, Devin Walz, Roman Kamyab, Noah Baglin.
OK-N World Cup: Fastest time for Whitticombe
Italy's Gino Rocchio and Federico Rossi battled it out for first place before Great Britain's Harrison Whitticombe took the lead to claim pole position in 56'978. Frenchman Hugo Herrouin was 53 thousandths back in second place, while Korea's Kyuho Lee finished equal third with South Africa's Muhammad Wally. Fifth place went to Rossi.
Top 5 Qualifying Practice times for the OK-N World Cup
1- Harrison Whitticombe – GBR (KR / IAME / Maxxis)
2- Hugo Herrouin – FRA (KR / TM Kart / Maxxis)
3- Kyuho Lee – KOR (LN / IAME / Maxxis)
4- Muhammad Wally – ZAF (Energy TM Kart / Maxxis)
5- Federico Rossi – ITA (Tony Kart / TM Kart / Maxxis)
The provisional schedule for PF International
Saturday 14th September
08:30 - 09:53: Warm-up
10:00 - 18:19: Qualifying Heats
14:00 and 17:30: Demonstration of historic karts
Sunday 15th September
09:00 - 10:15: Warm-up
10:35 - 10:50: 3rd OK-N Qualifying Heat
10.55 - 12.40: OK and Junior Super Heats
13.00 - 13.30: Presentation of the drivers (OK and Junior finalists, OK-N and Historic Karts)
13.45 - 14.05: Demonstration of historic karts
14.10 - 16.10: Finals