On the occasion of the first round of the FIA Karting European Championship, at the Kartodromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero in Valencia, the Tony Racer 401 RR is soon at the top with Jan Przyrowski's second place in OK class.
The FIA Karting European Championship of our Tony Kart Racing Team, reserved for OK and OKJ classes, starts with a podium. At the Kartodromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero in Valencia (Spain), the Tony Kart Racer 401 RR gains a second place in OK, with the power of the Vortex VTS engines. Their chassis are at the starting grid also in the OKJ category, powered again by the engines of OTK Kart Group's 'engine division'.
Beyond the single outstanding result, however, the many placings by several drivers, with different degrees of experience especially in the demanding OK category, feature the excellent performance of the Racing Team. In the final, for example, the Tony Kart-Vortex technical package is the most present and best placed in the top ten. In the A Super Heat on Sunday morning, on the other hand, their drivers are at the top of the ranking with no less than 3 appearances in the top 5.
As far as the individual performances, once again Jan Przyrowski proves to be perfectly at ease on the Valencia track after his Top 5 finish gained two weeks earlier on the occasion of the Champions of the Future Euro Series. The Polish driver opens the weekend with the second best timing in his qualifying group and collects two victories and a fastest lap in the qualifying heats, to which he adds a further second place (and subsequent best lap) in A Super Heat. In the final, Przyrowski jumps with a perfect start and immediately moves up to third position, before going into second place after a few laps. For the entire length of the race, Jan stays right behind the leader and, at the end of it, takes the definitive place of honour, also proving to be also the best rookie in the category.
Another great comeback is Luigi Coluccio’s, in the final, with 10 positions gained compared to the start. The Italian driver, with a fourth place as best placement in the eliminatory heats, avoids the chaos of the initial stages and quickly goes close to the Top 5, until he is in a tussle for fourth place in the final stages of the race. In the end, Coluccio finishes sixth, just 84 thousandths of a second behind the driver in front of him.
Positive path for James Egozi, the fastest driver in the first free practice on Friday and constantly in the top positions during all the qualifying heats. The American driver also achieves a fourth place in the A Super Heat, but the many battles in the middle of the group prevent him from finishing the weekend in the best possible way. Sebastiano Pavan, author of a fourth place as best result in the qualifying heats, and an unlucky Arthur Poulain also find a place on the starting grid of the final: the French driver, on the podium at the Champions of the Future Euro Series and one of the main protagonists of Friday and Saturday, raises the white flag shortly after the start of the final due to a collision with a rival, while he is fighting for the fourth position.
A challenging start of the championship for Zoe Florescu Potolea and Jakub Rajski, constantly working with their team throughout the Spanish weekend.
In OKJ category, Davide Bottaro realises what he gathered at the Champions of the Future Euro Series and starts with a solid Top 10 in Friday's qualifying. The Italian also makes no mistakes in the qualifying heats, where he collects four places in the top-five, and finishes seventh in Sunday morning's A Super Heat. In the decisive final, Bottaro is good at defending himself against his rivals and, having passed under the chequered flag, is among the top ten drivers of the weekend. Kirill Dzitiev also shows to have what it takes for a good placing in the rankings, but a stop in the heats adds an obstacle to their driver. Nevertheless, Dzitiev is able to perform a comeback of eight places in the final and finishes in the Top 15.
Positive growth curve for Scott Kin Lindblom, fastest driver in the second free practice session on Friday and able of gaining a third place in the eliminatory heats. Bad luck forces the Swedish driver to stop in B Super Heat; nevertheless, he stages a 12-place recovery in the final before receiving a 5-second penalty for his front spoiler in the wrong position. Good start for Maria Germano Neto, sixth in her qualifying group and gaining a fifth place as her best haul in the qualifying heats. Thanks to these results, the Portuguese driver easily enters the final and finishes behind her teammate Lindblom. After the good performance shown throughout the weekend and a 10-place comeback in B Super Heat, Alp Hasan Aksoy prematurely ends his own final with a stop.
The next engagements for the Tony Kart Racing Team are the second round of the WSK Open Series in Cremona (30th March - 2nd April) for the drivers of the MINI categories and the first round of the FIA Karting European Championship KZ-KZ2 in Zuera (April 13th - 16th).