On the occasion of the first round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series, the Tony Kart Racer 401 RR gains the third place in OK class with Arthur Poulain as well as the leadership in the championship with Jan Przyrowski. In the WSK Open Series, on the other hand, it is the Tony Kart Rookie finishing second and third, respectively in MINI Gr.3 and MINI Gr.3 U10.
A weekend full of satisfactions for the Tony Kart Racing Team, with the double engagement in the Champions of the Future Euro Series, in Valencia (Spain), and in the WSK Open Series, in Lonato (Italy). The Tony Kart Racer 401 RR conquers a third place in OK, powered by the Vortex VTS engine, and comes close to the Top 3 in OKJ, still powered by Vortex. Their model reserved to the youngest driver, the Tony Kart Rookie, on the other hand, reaches the podium in both Mini Gr.3 and MINI Gr.3 U10, with the VTM unit, again of the "engine division" of OTK Kart Group.
In OK, the Valencia weekend opens immediately with Jan Przyrowski's second best time in his own qualifying group and Arthur Poulain's third position in Group 3. Precisely the two teammates show off as the leaders of the category during the following qualifying heats: the Polish driver scores one win, three podiums and one fastest lap, in addition to success in the super heats and the pole position for the final; the French driver, on the other hand, plays on constancy in terms of results and with three Top 3 positions (as well as one fastest lap) he joins the top five in the intermediate ranking on Saturday evening. In the final, Przyrowski jumps with a perfect start and is able to hold the leadership, but after a few laps he is forced to give up several positions and finishes fifth under the chequered flag: a result allowing him to take the provisional leadership in the championship. Poulain also performs well at the start, despite starting from the outside row. The transalpine driver, thanks to an excellent conduct of the race, even takes the second position, and is able to finish in third place both in the final and in the provisional championship standings.
Luigi Coluccio makes a remarkable comeback, finishing seventh, after recovering 14 positions from the starting grid. The Italian, winner a week ago of the third round of the WSK Super Master Series at Sarno, does not shine in the qualifying heats, but manages to climb the ranking with a series of Top 10 results in the qualifying heats, in which he also sets a fast lap.
Sebastiano Pavan shows off with a win, two podiums and a fastest lap in the qualifying heats: two stops (one in the heats and one in the super heat), however, prevent the Italian driver’s path. Despite this, Pavan gains the access to the final and signs a Top 15 finish. Zoe Florescu Potolea and Jakub Rajski also attend the race in Valencia, training for the FIA Karting European Championship scheduled in two weeks.
In OKJ, once again Kirill Dzitiev is their best representative driver, starting from Friday's qualifyings, with the second-best time in Group 3, a result that earns him the Top 5 in the combined standings. Dzitiev continues with outstanding results in the qualifying heats (two victories, three podiums and one fastest lap), climbs to third place at the end of the day on Saturday, and is a candidate to be leader in the Sunday's final. In the last and decisive race of the Spanish stage, Dzitiev runs well at the start from the second row and finishes at the foot of the podium.
Scott Kin Lindblom is on the rise, fourth in his group during the chrono practices, author of three podiums and two fastest laps in the eliminatory heats and pretender for a Top 10 position. Good results also for Davide Bottaro, constantly among the top ten in all the qualifying heats and able to finish his own super heat on Sunday morning in the Top 5. At his first official appearance this season, Maria Germano Neto records two sixth positions as her best position in the qualifying heats and a solid Top 10 in the super heat. On the other hand, Alp Hasan Aksoy collects a third place in the qualifying heats, but an accident in the final puts a premature end to his weekend.
In MINI Gr.3, Ilie Tristan Crisan is among the fastest drivers at the South Garda Karting of Lonato. The Canadian impresses in the qualifying heats with the best time in his group and records two podiums in the qualifying heats, subsequently confirming himself in the pre-final on Sunday morning with a Top 5. Thanks to a clever race and a final that sees him overtaking his rivals in the last laps, Crisan passes second under the chequered flag in the final. Ludovico Mazzola works hard throughout the weekend and constantly improves his results.
In the MINI Gr.3 U10, Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi steadily runs in the top positions and even takes the victory in the B pre-final. The Australian driver, however, is penalized by starting from the outside line in the final: after being sent from second to seventh position, he climbs up to third place, a result that also gives him the provisional second place in the championship.
Drivers of the OK and OKJ categories will take a short break ahead of the first round of the FIA Karting European Championship in Valencia (March 23rd – 26th), while the youngest MINI drivers will tackle the 34th Andrea Margutti Trophy in Lonato (March 16th – 19th).