Tony Kart: double event in Denmark and Italy

At Rodby, our Racing Team faces the third round of the FIA Karting European Championship reserved for the OK and OKJ classes, while at Muro Leccese, for the Italian Championship, it gains the podium twice in the MINI Gr.3 and MINI Gr.3 U10 categories.

After the Champions of the Future Euro Series, our Tony Kart Racing Team is back on track in Rødby (Denmark) for the third round of the FIA Karting European Championship for the OK-OKJ classes. Leader, as always in the two single-gear categories, is our Tony Kart Racer 401 RR, powered by VTS (OK) and VTJ (OKJ) Vortex engines, the engine division of OTK Kart Group.

In OKJ, the top performances shown in the category of our technical package are soon given by Kirill Dzitiev's best time in group 1 of the qualifying practices, a result that guarantees him the second place overall in the combined ranking. Our driver, despite not fitting to race, due to a flu-like illness, is able to score two Top 3s and a fastest lap in the subsequent qualifying heats, as well as a fifth place in Super Heat B before the final. After the qualifying heats, Scott Kin Lindblom also shows off, able of gaining an impressive 12 positions during the eliminatory heats, of setting the fastest time in Sunday morning's warm-up and of achieving a solid Top 10 in Super Heat B. Just Lindblom and Dzitiev are our fastest drivers in the final: the Swedish driver, thanks to a series of overtakes, climbs a total of 10 positions and finishes in the top ten; Dzitiev, on the other hand, is seventh under the chequered flag, but a 5-second penalty for his front spoiler in the wrong position puts him just outside the Top 10.

The final also sees two drivers of ours at the start, Davide Bottaro (tenth in Super Heat A) and Alp Hasan Aksoy (author of a seventh place in the qualifying heats), while Maria Germano Neto does not get a pass for the last race of the weekend, despite a first position in Saturday morning's warm-up and interesting lap times in the eliminatory heats. Unfortunately, the Portuguese driver, very fast in the previous round of the European Championship, has an unlucky qualifying session, which makes her weekend harder, despite her top speed, amply demonstrated.

In OK, Luigi Coluccio and Arthur Poulain are our best representatives during the whole event. Thanks to a clear run in the qualifying heats (where a third place stands out as best result), the Italian driver enters the Top 15 of the intermediate ranking and finishes Sunday morning's Super Heat A among the top ten drivers. The French driver is also able to gain a series of solid placings in both Friday and Saturday's races and gains an easy access to the final. Our two official drivers fight fearlessly in the middle of the group during the last race of the weekend, but are then unable to climb the ranking due to some collisions with their rivals.
After the podium gained on the occasion of the last round in Třinec (Czech Republic), Sebastiano Pavan climbs not less than 18 positions between qualifying and the eliminatory heats, but in Super Heat B he is involved in an accident which unfortunately forces him to stop. The Italian driver does not give up and in the final he performs a second comeback of 18 positions, confirming a good potential in terms of performance, which, however, does not translate into a result up to his potential.

Good results for Jan Przyrowski in the qualifying heats, author of a sixth position as his best finish: it is a pity, however, that a stop in the second heat ruins the Polish driver's scoreboard. Also at the starting grid are Zoe Florescu Potolea and Jakub Rajski, who constantly worked with our staff in Denmark.

Moving on to La Conca (Italy) for the second round of the Italian ACI Karting Championship, our little protagonists in the MINI categories score a double podium in the finals. In MINI Gr.3, Ilie Tristan Crisan signs a podium and a fast lap in the qualifying heats, to close a littler further with a second place in Race 1 and a sixth place in Race 2. Bruno Blanco is the fastest driver in Saturday morning's warm-up, but cannot realise the good performances gained in the qualifying heats. Oliver Sini, in his second race with our official colours, continues to grow.
In MINI Gr.3 U10, Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi is once more at the top of the ranking after his success obtained at the WSK Super Cup by MINI the previous week. The Australian driver secures a victory, a fast lap, a second and a fourth place in the qualifying heats, climbs on the third step of the podium in Race 1 and finishes Race 2 among the top ten. Achille Rea is also very fast, ahead of everybody in group 2 of the qualifying heats and able to conquer two top 3 positions in the eliminatory heats.