Extraordinary hat-trick in OKJ and first place in the OK class with the new VTS engine, for the OTK Kart Group's "engine division" at the South Garda Karting, on the occasion of the first round of the WSK Super Master Series.
OKJ – There could not have been a better way than a hat-trick to celebrate the new season in the Junior category, one of the most attended of the weekend with almost 100 drivers at the starting line. Once again Vortex confirms its competitiveness, being the world champion in force in this class.
The way to success begins to take shape during the eliminatory heats, where our engine records 7 victories (almost half of the heats scheduled), 9 podiums and 5 fastest laps, to which a further success in the pre-finals must be added. Not surprisingly, in Sunday's final, one third of the starting grid sees our engines at the start.
After proving to be fast in the eliminatory heats, Alp Hasan Aksoy (Tony Kart Racing Team) shines in the decisive final thanks to a great start and a run without mistakes, scoring a comeback of 8 positions compared to the start. The podium is completely tinged with Vortex colours: in addition to Aksoy's victory, the second place goes to Sebastian Lehtimaki (Koski Motorsport), first at the end of the eliminatory heats with a total of four victories, while the third place goes to Salim Hanna (Ricky Flynn Motorsport), who started from the bottom of the ranking in the qualifying heat.
Mees Houben (Ward Racing) hits the Top 10 and precedes Scott Kin Lindblom (Tony Kart Racing Team), Kirill Dzitiev (Tony Kart Racing Team), Arata Endo (Ward Racing), Davide Bottaro (Tony Kart Racing Team), Elliot Kaczynski (Ward Racing), Alfie Slater (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and Borys Lyzen (Koski Motorsport).
OK - Winning at the debut of the championship with a new project is always difficult: thanks to the newborn VTS (new homologated model and for the first time officially at the start of an international competition), Vortex hits this target in the master class of single-gear karts.
The weekend in the Senior class opens immediately with a hat-trick in the qualifying sessions of our VTS, thanks to the performances of Luigi Coluccio (Tony Kart Racing Team), James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team) and David Walther (Koski Motorsport). Then, in the qualifying heats, we also gain 4 victories and 4 fastest laps out of a total of six races, as well as 7 further podiums. In addition, in the pre-finals on Sunday morning, another win and two best laps are also recorded.
From the front row, Egozi is soon one of the favourites for the final victory. And, in fact, the American does not disappoint expectations: thanks to a race run with no stains, he is able to perform the winning overtaking in the final laps and, with authority, flies solo to the victory. The lowest step of the podium goes, instead, in the hands of Jimmy Helias (Ward Racing), able to recover not less than 6 positions compared to the start. Remarkable are also the climbs of Sebastiano Pavan (Tony Kart Racing Team) and Maksimilian Popov (Koski Motorsport), sixth and seventh on the finishing line, respectively. The Italian gains 13 positions, while the Koski Motorsport driver climbs 11 positions.
After being involved in several collisions both in the eliminatory heats and the pre-finals, Coluccio finishes fifth under the chequered flag, but goes back to the tenth due to a five-second penalty for having his front spoiler in the wrong position; however, the Italian recovers a total of 12 positions. Marcus Saeter (Ward Racing) sets the fastest lap of the final and finishes ahead of Maxim Rehm (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and Arthur Poulain (Tony Kart Racing Team). Jan Przyrowski (Tony Kart Racing Team), Maciej Gladysz (Ricky Flynn Motorsport), Dante Vinci (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and Walther also enter the last race of the weekend, for a total sharing of our engines up to 36%.
KZ2 - In the class of the shifter karts, the VTZ engine brings home a Top 5 and a fastest lap with Tom Leuillet (Tony Kart Racing Team) and Noah Milell (Tony Kart Racing Team) in the qualifying heats. Unfortunately, in the final, in the early laps the bagarre heavily penalises the two Tony Kart Racing Team drivers. Jean Luyet (Tony Kart Racing Team) and Norton Andreasson (Tony Kart Racing Team) also attend the last race of the weekend.
MINI - Ilie Tristan Crisan (Tony Kart Racing Team) and Ludovico Mazzola (Tony Kart Racing Team) take the VTM unit to its debut. In the final, the Canadian finishes inside the Top 15, while the Italian driver climbs not less than 11 places. In the U10 category, Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (Tony Kart Racing Team) fights for a place in the top five, but during the final he suffers a collision which prevents him from finishing in the top ranking.
Press Release © OTK Kart Group