Brilliant KZ2 victory for Longhi in the WSK Euro Series at Sarno

The post-lockdown calendar includes successive races in the second half of the season. Just a week after the end of the WSK Super Master Series, the WSK Euro Series has started at Sarno. Birel ART confirmed the performance of the chassis made in  Lissone  with  the  superb  victory  by  Riccardo  Longhi  in  KZ2, accompanied  by  3rd  place  for  Giuseppe  Palomba,  while  British driver  Oliver  Gray  won  in  OK  with  the  Leclerc  by  Lennox  Racing team.

Alessandro  Irlando  was  also  4th  before  finishing in  6th  place  due  to  a  technical  problem.  Leonardo Marseglia  made  a  very  convincing  performance that brought him to 9th place in the Championship. Finally,  Valentino  Fritsch  found  his  marks  for  his return to racing.Clayton  Ravenscroft,  who  set  the  5th  fastest  time in  the  OK  class,  was  3rd  in  his  Prefinal.    But  his ambitions  were  dashed  by  an  incident  at  the  start of the Final, which resulted in a spoiler penalty, and his Final result was disappointing despite finishing 7th  in  the  championship.  He  was  joined  at  Sarno by  three  other  drivers  with  interesting  potential.  Finland’s Nikolas Pirttilahti reached 14th in the Final position  after  starting  from  28th,  while  Belgium’s Kobe Pauwels climbed from 45th to 21st place after fighting fiercely. Maja Weug, entered in the colours of the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy, also took the wheel with a lot of spirit, but had to retire during a contact in the last lap of the Final race when she was 11th.Tymoteusz  Kucharczyk  was  once  again  one  of  the protagonists in the OK-Junior category on his Kubica Racing Kart chassis. 3rd in Timed Qualifying, 5th after the heats and 4th in his Prefinal, he unfortunately did not complete more than two laps in the Final after a racing incident.

Cristian Bertuca and Keanu Al Azhari were able to defend their chances until the Final with various  successes,  while  Andrea  Frassinetti  was unable to make up his Qualifying deficit.The  season  is  now  off  to  a  good  start  and  the adventure continues for Birel ART. The first event of the new Champions of the Future series will be the next stop next week in Spain, at the Zuera circuit.“This time we really got to the heart of the matter”, declared  Ronni  Sala,  the  President  of  Birel  ART Group. “We  quickly  learned  the  technical  lessons from the restart event at Adria to further increase the  competitiveness  of  our  karts.  The  competition in  Sarno  was  very  tough,  because  of  the  high temperatures,  as  well  as  the  harshness  of  the battles on the track. Several incidents delayed some of our drivers and the results could have been even better.  However,  everyone  will  have  noticed  our excellent  level  of  performance  in  the  international categories. In KZ2 Longhi finished in P1 and Palomba P3, Ravenscroft was very fast in OK, following in the footsteps of the winner Gray from the official Charles Leclerc by Lennox Racing team. In the Junior class, Kucharczyk  had  all  the  attributes  in  hand  before being forced to retire at the beginning of the Final.

Alessandro  Irlando  was  also  4th  before  finishing in  6th  place  due  to  a  technical  problem.  Leonardo Marseglia  made  a  very  convincing  performance that brought him to 9th place in the Championship. Finally,  Valentino  Fritsch  found  his  marks  for  his return to racing.

Clayton  Ravenscroft,  who  set  the  5th  fastest  time in  the  OK  class,  was  3rd  in  his  Prefinal. But  his ambitions  were  dashed  by  an  incident  at  the  start of the Final, which resulted in a spoiler penalty, and his Final result was disappointing despite finishing 7th  in  the  championship.  He  was  joined  at  Sarno by  three  other  drivers  with  interesting  potential.  Finland’s Nikolas Pirttilahti reached 14th in the Final position  after  starting  from  28th,  while  Belgium’s Kobe Pauwels climbed from 45th to 21st place after fighting fiercely. Maja Weug, entered in the colours of the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy, also took the wheel with a lot of spirit, but had to retire during a contact in the last lap of the Final race when she was 11th.

Tymoteusz  Kucharczyk  was  once  again  one  of  the protagonists in the OK-Junior category on his Kubica Racing Kart chassis. 3rd in Timed Qualifying, 5th after the heats and 4th in his Prefinal, he unfortunately did not complete more than two laps in the Final after a racing incident. Cristian Bertuca and Keanu Al Azhari were able to defend their chances until the Final with various  successes,  while  Andrea  Frassinetti  was unable to make up his Qualifying deficit.The  season  is  now  off  to  a  good  start  and  the adventure continues for Birel ART. The first event of the new Champions of the Future series will be the next stop next week in Spain, at the Zuera circuit.

“Very  sad  news  tarnished  the  satisfaction  of  this weekend  in  Sarno.  Karting  has  just  lost  one  of  its major figures with the death of Claudio Flenghi, the soul of TM Racing. I have always had a deep respect for Claudio, whom I seem to have always known. The collaboration  between  TM  and  Birel  is  a  long  and beautiful story that will continue, but it will not be the same from now on...”Riccardo  Longhi  and  Giuseppe  Palomba  had  a remarkable journey with the Birel ART Racing Team during  this  first  WSK  Euro  Series  event  at  Sarno. Constantly  at  the  forefront  since  the  beginning  of the competition, they shone in the top three. Longhi finished  unstoppably  by  winning  the  Prefinal  and the  Final  with  the  fastest  lap  in  each  race,  while Palomba  climbed  on  the  third  step  of  the  podium in  a  competition  where  there  was  no  shortage  of opponents.