Birel ART Racing presents its 2021 drivers
19 names have been confirmed by the Racing department of the Italian company, which will be present in all categories, from Mini to KZ, OKJ, OK and KZ2. They will soon be joined by a driver from the "Richard Mille Young Talent Academy" programme who is still to be nominated.
Birel ART Racing has officially announced the list of drivers for the 2021 season, which is now ready to start. Starting from the top category of karting, KZ will feature the trio of the Dutchman Marijn Kremers, Italian Riccardo Longhi and Sweden's Douglas Lundberg. Kremers, the KZ World Champion in 2019 with Birel ART and European Champion in 2020 with Ricciardo Kart, is certainly aiming for a new world success after coming close to victory in 2020 with 2nd place. For Longhi, Vice-World Champion in KZ in 2019 and winner of the WSK Euro Series in 2020, the aim is to continue conquering further prestigious goals with Birel ART. Lundberg, a new face to the Italian team, will rely on Renda Motorsport to defend the colours of Birel ART, but will participate in the FIA European and World Karting Championships with the official team.
In KZ2, Birel ART Racing will field the Italians Giuseppe Palomba and Alessio Piccini in addition to the Thai driver Sutumno Thanapongpan. Palomba, Italian Champion and 2nd in the FIA International Karting Super Cup in 2020, will take to the track to reinforce his presence at the forefront of the international scene. For the newcomer Piccini, the first objective is to quickly familiarise himself with his new equipment in order to be able to fight for the top places in the category. It is a brand new adventure in KZ2 for Thanapongpan, who last season was involved with Birel ART Racing in the Senior category of direct drive karts.
As far as the OK category is concerned, the Italian factory has three familiar faces: the Brazilian Matheus Morgatto, the Italian Cristian Bertuca and the Polish Tymoteusz Kucharczyk, who will make his debut in the top category of direct drive karting in the colours of RK after having been a formidable protagonist in OKJ. The Russian Violentii Nicolay, the Uzbek Ismail Akhmedkhadjaev and the Polish Max Angelard join this trio.
In OKJ, the focus is on young recruits from Mini: the Colombian Hanna Hernandez, Dutchman Keeren Thijs, Finland's Kini Tani and Brazilian Aurelia Nobels will be absolute rookies in the category. Frenchman Matteo Spirgel will be the only one in his second Junior year, but in his first at international level.
Birel ART Racing will also have an official presence in the Mini category. In fact, a development programme will start in 2021 to support the category dedicated to the youngest drivers, in close collaboration with Alessandro Manetti, double World Champion, who will be in charge of this new project. The first official driver will be the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck.
Finally, the "Richard Mille Young Talent Academy" programme continues, with the announcement of a new driver expected soon. Confirming the value of this project, after two seasons with Birel ART Racing under the Richard Mille colours, Maya Weug recently won the "Girls on track - Rising Stars" initiative, created by "FIA Women in Motorsport". This is a result that will give her prestigious access to the world of single-seater racing, as she will be part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, a historic first for a female driver.