Their Tony Kart Racer 401 T gains two third-place finishes in the finals of OK and OKJ category at the FIA Karting European Championship held at the Mülsen circuit in Germany.
The Motorsportarena Mülsen has once again proved to be a circuit that suits the Tony Kart Racing Team. Following last week’s podium finish in the Champions of the Future Euro Series, their Tony Kart Racer 401 T secures the third place in the final race of the third round of the FIA European Karting Championship (OK), run at the German circuit and powered by Vortex Engines. Furthermore, their chassis also shows off in the OKJ category, equipped as always with units from the OTK Kart Group’s ‘engine division’.
In OK, Valerio Viapiana finishes the event with a bronze medal, at the end of a weekend of steady improvement. After a difficult qualifying session that prevents him from demonstrating his pace, the Italian soon adapts to the constantly changing weather conditions during the qualifying heats and recovering a total of 42 places in the provisional standings. Thanks to a solid result in Super Heat B, Viapiana climbs other nine places in the standings, starting the final from the middle of the field. With a start to remember, their driver immediately gains 14 positions on the first lap and, throughout the race, proves himself to be one of the fastest drivers on the track, eventually reaching the third place. Due to a sudden rainstorm three laps from the end, the red flag takes the race to a premature stop, though Viapiana still conquers a podium finish.
Unlike his teammate, Jindřich Pešl starts the weekend positively, setting the third-fastest time in Group 2 of the qualifyings, and goes on gaining a win and a second-place finish. However, partly due to a stop in the heats, the Czech driver is forced to start from the back of the grid in the final, but with a smart race, he manages to climb eight places.
Endo Arata shows off with two third-places in the heats and finishes the final ahead of Gilles Herman, third in Group 1 of the qualifying session and able of setting a fastest lap in the heats. Ilie Tristan Crisan’s final, meanwhile, ends prematurely at the first corner after he is involved in an accident: a shame for the Canadian driver, who had climbed 27 places between the standings and the qualifying heats and was in the fight for victory in the third round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series. Gabin Adam also gains 21 places in the intermediate standings, coming close to qualifying for the final.
In OKJ class, fresh from the podium at the “COTF”, Julian Frasnelli opens the weekend with the second-fastest time in Group 3 of the qualifyings; however, his time is cancelled by the race stewards, relegating him to the bottom of the standings. Despite this, the Italian shows off in the qualifying heats, climbing a remarkable 57 places in the provisional standings – also setting a fastest lap – and improving his position by a further five places thanks to his result in Super Heat A. In the final, which sees a third place for the Tony Kart Racer 401 T, Frasnelli makes no mistakes and crosses the finish line.
Emerson MacAndrew-Uren also managed to climb significantly up the standings between qualifyings and the Super Heat (+32 positions), securing his place in the final. Oiva Vettenranta, Antonio Ianni, Augustin Feligioni, Jean Poujol and Yubo Wen gather useful data over the weekend ahead of their upcoming commitments.
The Tony Kart Racing Team will take a short break before returning to the track for the third round of the ACI Italian Karting Championship (June 26th–28th) at the Naples International Circuit. Subsequently, the racing division will take part in the final round of the FIA Karting European Championship KZ-KZ2, scheduled once again at the Sarno circuit.