Pole position and podium for Tony Kart in Portugal
At the Champions of the Future Shifters event in Portimão, our Tony Kart Racer 401 RR wins the pole position in KZ and the place of honour in KZ2 Masters class
In view of the FIA Karting World Championship for the shifter categories scheduled in two-week-time, the Tony Kart Racing Team attends the Champions of the Future Shifters race at the Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portimão (Portugal). The Tony Kart Racer 401 RR, powered by the VTZ engine of Vortex, the ‘engine division’ of OTK Kart Group, takes the pole position in KZ and conquers a second place in the KZ2 Masters.
In KZ category, Thursday's qualifying immediately sees Marijn Kremers at the top of the category, author of the pole position in 1:00.840 seconds. The Dutch driver obtains a victory and a third place in the subsequent qualifying heats and, at the end of the super heat, he runs the temporary fourth position, which allows him to start from the second row in the final; however, a collision in the first few corners forces Kremers to restart the race from the back, thus dropping out of the games for the victory.
Lorenzo Camplese is also among the fastest in the qualifyings, with the second fastest chrono time behind his teammate Kremers. The Italian driver, unfortunately, cannot achieve the desired results in the qualifying heat and is forced to stop in the second heat. These results force him to an uphill race, which he finishes close to the the top-10, just behind our Francesco Celenta. A recovering Tom Leuillet, instead, does not attend the event.
In KZ2 Masters category, Andre Nicastro obtains the first podium for our sports division in the new category, promoted by FIA Karting, reserved for the Over 35s. With a sixth place as best result in the qualifying heats and the fifth position in the super heat, the Brazilian driver secures a place on the third row of the starting grid for the final. When the lights go off, Nicastro holds his position in the first few corners, after which he settles for third place. After also gaining the second position, the South American rider remains in the wake of the race leader, finishing the race just a whisker away from victory.
Thanks to a solid performance throughout the weekend, Roberto Profico closes the final at the foot of the top-10 list. With a remarkable comeback of 12 positions, Ennio Gandolfi is our third driver in the standings in the last race of the Portuguese appointment, which also sees the Mexican Victor Jimenez on the track, the latter author of the seventh best time in the qualifyings, followed at a short distance, in tenth position overall in the qualifyings, by Eduardo Martins, at the start of the Portuguese appointment with his brother Andre.
In KZ2 class, Genis Civico sets the fourth best time in his qualifying group and achieves a top-3 in the qualifying heats, but in the final of the race he is the victim of a collision that puts an end to his weekend. The apprenticeship among the shifter karts of the young Xavier Avramides and David Walther, who start the afternoon final together with Nicola Rossini, continues. Working closely with our team are Gabin Leuillet and Alfredo Ibiapina, in view of the next commitments of the season.
A short break of two weeks for our Tony Kart Racing Team, ready to be back in action still at the Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portugal, for the long-awaited FIA Karting World Championship (10 - 13 October) reserved to the shifter categories.
