TONY KART RACING TEAM
2007 CIK-FIA ASIA-PACIFIC KF1 CHAMPS
14 - 16.12.2007 Coloane (Macau)

TONY KART AND VORTEX CONQUER ASIA

Wonderful triple win of Tony Kart Racing Team in Macau! Our team ended this exciting 2007 with another excellent result, all the KF1 podium was tinged with green. Marco Ardigò ended his fantastic season, centring the umpteenth victory, followed by Matias Laine and Gary Catt. This ending closed an unforgettable season, celebrated by a great and expert public, who literally stormed the workshop tents of Tony Kart Racing Team joyfully coming and going just to greet their champions. In the pre-final Catt and the Kosmic of Bressan ruled the first laps, then, at 9th lap the Tony Kart standard-bearer was forced to stop due to a banal damage. Bressan stood out and led the race, until the last lap, when a breakdown stopped the Kosmic-Vortex number 27 and forced him to give up. So, Marco Ardigò won the pre-final, conquering the victory thanks to his perfect drive during the whole race. The two young drivers of Tony Kart-Vortex, Laine and Stevens, did a good race, conquering the second row at the end of a race, in which they proved to be growing during the whole weekend. At the starting light of the Final, the World champion flashed past with his perfect kart, exploiting the empty track at his best and managed to open up a large gap for his competitors. The two English drivers, Stevens and Catt, together with the other Tony Kart of Laine raised enthusiasm in the people attending the race. Unfortunately at the 14th lap Stevens stopped being overcome by his team-mates Catt and Laine, trying to reach the podium just after the unreachable Marco Ardigò. In the final part of the race Laine, who didn’t extremely exploit the tyres at the beginning of the race, gained a little margin on his team-mate and reach the second position. The podium tinged with green in the last International event in Macau and the Tony Kart Racing Team ended in a flourish this wonderful year.

Giacomo Aliprandi Team Manager Tony Kart Racing Team
“Apart from the victory of Marco, I think that the race was a good test-bench for the whole team. If we consider the times of the first five classified drivers, the gaps were nearly one tenth and we have also to notice that the World Champion and the second classified driver were racing, so the level of the first drivers was high. Laine, the newcomer, had great performances and raced well, although he didn’t exploit 100% of his potential, Matso raced in a good way as well. The material proved to be perfect, we didn’t studied new technical solutions since we are now at the end of the season and we will show new developments next year.”

Marco Ardigò #1 - driver Tony Kart Racing Team Winner 2007 CIK-FIA ASIA-PACIFIC KF1
“In the prefinal I did a good start and I let my competitors go durino the first laps. Then, I managed to overcome without damaging tyres, since in this track having good tyres for the final was fundamental. So, from mid prefinal on, I progressively overtook until the first position, having tyres in a good condition for the final. So… everything went good and I kept an excellent pace during the whole race. I am particularly satisfied, this season has been fantastic, everything was great and I could gain the best results in the extra-European racer as well… Next year everybody will expect the same results of 2007 from me, this is why everything will be even more difficult.”

Matias Laine #7 - driver Tony Kart Racing Team 2nd classified 2007 CIK-FIA ASIA-PACIFIC KF1
“This was my first experience with my new team, I conquered a great second position. I fought hard with Gary during the first laps, then he had problems with tyres, on the contrary, I was in better conditions, so I managed to overtook him.”

Gary Catt #2 - driver Tony Kart Racing Team 3rd classified 2007 CIK-FIA ASIA-PACIFIC KF1
“Unfortunately an inconvenience stopped me in the prefinal, when I was racing well, I was at the top and I was determined to preserve my tyres and start with great chances in the Final. Pity! So, I had to give up and for this reason I had to push hard in the first laps of the final, in two laps I sprang from the 18th position and I reached the “top-five”. This great recovery forced me to exploit the tyres, so I had problems during the last laps and I had to be content with a third place.”

Will Stevens #3 - driver Tony Kart Racing Team
“Although I didn’t reach an important result, I gave up, I think this race was great. This was my first away race in the KF1 category and I learnt very much, I think that if I didn’t stop, I would fight for the second position.”