[Translated with Google Translate]

Last and decisive round for the FIA Karting European Championship OK and OKJ: after Genk, Essay and Sarno, the European titles of the 2021 season will be awarded in the two classes present at the Circuito Internacional de Zuera. 56 drivers are at the start in the queen category of single-speed karting, while 83 are the drivers competing in Junior.

After free practice, Friday ends with the usual qualifications and the starting grids are then established for the qualifying heats that will take place tomorrow and continue until Sunday morning.

OK: Antonelli unattainable in qualifying

• Nobody stops Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME) on the Zuera track. Winner last Sunday in the second round of the Champions of the Future, the current championship leader wins pole position with a time of 1:00.715 in group 3.


• Five Kart Republic branded chassis in the first five positions. Nikola Tsolov (DPK Racing - KR - IAME) is the fastest in group 1 but is “much” slower than Antonelli (+0.192). After the disappointing performance of Sarno, Rafael Camara (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME) raises his sights for the title with the third position, first in group 4. Ugo Ugochukwu (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME) gets the best reference in the group 2 and occupies the fourth position, while Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME), also in contention for the championship, is fifth with the second position in the same group as Antonelli, more than 3 tenths of a second behind the Italian.


• With a first position and a second in free practice, Tuukka Taponen (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex) is a candidate to hinder KR Motorsport's plans for victory. The Finnish driver of Tony Kart Racing Team precedes Evan Giltaire (VDK Racing - KR - IAME), seventh, and Timoteusz Kucharczyk (Birel Art Racing - RK - TM Racing), eighth.


• Rintaro Sato (Ricky Flynn Motorsport - Kosmic - Vortex) confirms the growth of the last rounds with the ninth position. Bruno Del Pino (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex) is also in form, tenth. Martinius Stenshorne (Leclerc by Lennox Racing - Birel Art - TM Racing) is 12th, behind Ariel Elkin (VDK Racing - KR - IAME), 11th.


• Norton Andreasson (Ward Racing - Tony Kart - Vortex) and Juho Valtanen (SP Motorsport - KR - TM Racing) occupy the 13th and 14th position respectively. Second on the starting grid of the Sarno final, Artem Severiukhin (Ward Racing - Tony Kart - Vortex) is slightly slower in Zuera than his rivals: 24th.


• On the podium in the first round of Genk, Edoardo Ludovico Villa (Exprit Racing Team - Exprit - Vortex) approaches the top of the standings: he is 21st.

OKJ: Sorensen puts the first signature

• First pole position of the season for Kai Sorensen (Forza Racing - Exprit - TM Racing). Precisely on the occasion of the last round of the European Championship, the American driver signs the best time in group 3 of qualifying: 1: 03.256, 28 thousandths of a second faster than the second classified in the group James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex).


• Matheus Ferreira (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME), in full fight for the title, wins the qualifying group 1 with a time of 1: 03.289, only 12 thousandths better than Keanu Al Azhari (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex), the latter in his second appearance with the Tony Kart Racing Team.


• Jan Przyrowski (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex) in group 4 was also very fast. The Pole set a time of 1: 03.295, clearly higher than Akshay Bohra (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME) by 0.142 seconds. Finally, in group 2 is Gustaw Wisniewski (Sauber Orlen Karting Team - KR - IAME) the fastest: 1: 03.365, +0.010 from Maxim Rehm (Ricky Flynn Motorsport - Kosmic - Vortex).


• Gaps reduced not only among the best drivers of the four groups, but also among the best four in the standings: Sorensen precedes Ferreira (second at +0.033), Przyrowski (third at +0.039) and Wisniewski (fourth at +0.109). Consequently, from fifth to eighth position we find, in order: Egozi, Al Azhari, Bohra and Rehm.


• Edgar Anpilogov (Ricky Flynn Motorsport - Kosmic - Vortex) and William Macintyre (Birel Art Racing - Birel Art - TM Racing) complete the Top 10, respectively with the ninth and tenth position. Maksimilian Popov (Ward Racing - Tony Kart - Vortex) and Rashid Al Dhaheri (Parolin Motorsport - Parolin - TM Racing) occupy the immediately following positions, 11th and 12th.


• “Only” a 13th position for the championship leader Freddie Slater (Ricky Flynn Motorsport - Kosmic - Vortex) in the qualifying of Zuera. The British driver, whose direct rival is Ferreira, is however not far from the fastest and is ahead of his other title rival Alex Powell (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME), 18th.


• Winner of the second round of the Champions of the Future last week in Zuera, Kirill Kutskov (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME) does not go beyond the 16th time, behind Tomass Stolcermanis (Energy Corse - Energy Corse - TM Racing), 15th.


• Currently fifth in the championship, Ean Eyckmans (Kosmic Racing Department - Kosmic - Vortex) takes 19th position. Harley Keeble (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex) is clearly in difficulty: the winner of the previous round in Sarno is not fast both in free practice and in qualifying and falls behind in 70th position. Last week, in the Champions of the Future, Keeble was the protagonist of a spectacular flight, fortunately without serious consequences.

©Photo: Sportinphoto