World podium for Tony Kart at Muro Leccese

The Tony Kart Racing Team secures third place in the OK category at the FIA Karting World Championship with Ilie Tristan Crisan, at the wheel of the brand-new Racer 401 TS. On the occasion of its absolute debut in a competition, our chassis also comes close to the top-3 in the OKJ class.

The Tony Kart Racing Team further enriches its trophy collection with a podium gained at the FIA Karting World Championship OK-OKJ, held at the World Circuit La Conca in Muro Leccese (Italy). Our Tony Kart Racer 401 TS, making its absolute debut on track, proves to be immediately competitive in both categories, gaining the bronze medal among the "Seniors" with the Vortex VTS and narrowly missing the top-3 in the "Junior" class as well, powered by the VTJ from OTK Kart Group's “engine division”.

In OK class, Gilles Herman and Ilie Tristan Crisan stand out over the course of the weekend. The Belgian driver sets the fastest time in group 4 of qualifyings (46.591 seconds), collects one win, two second places, and a fastest lap in the qualifying heats, besides winning the super heat C. Meanwhile, the Canadian driver finishes fifth in the second group of chrono trials, followed by two third places in the eliminatory heats and second place in super heat C, right behind his teammate Herman. Our two drivers thus secure a place on the front and third rows, respectively, on the starting grid for the final.

Sunday afternoon's decisive race sees Herman hampered in the initial stages by starting on the outside line, which prevents him from staying in the top positions. Crisan, on the contrary, makes good use of his start and, after defending himself against opponents' attacks, progressively increases his pace, even setting the fastest lap of the race with a time more than two tenths faster than the winner's. However, the gap gained behind the top two drivers during the start phases prevents him from climbing higher than the third step of the podium. Herman, instead, is involved in the battle of the chasing pack: he finishes in the top-10, but with a result below expectations.

Jindřich Pešl is particularly unlucky in the qualifyings, and a retirement in the qualifying heats further complicates his path. Nevertheless, the Czech driver manages to secure his access to the final thanks to a remarkable comeback of 18 positions in super heat A, which he closes in third place. Starting from the back in the decisive race, Pešl recovers another ten positions and comes extremely close to the top-10. Valerio Viapiana also shows a solid pace in the qualifying heats, where he takes two third places, but his final is unfortunately compromised by several collisions which prevent him from fully expressing his potential.

Arata Endo provides good feedback during the qualifying heats, but a stop in super heat C prevents him from gaining the access to the final. Jenson Eric Burns and Andrea Giudice face their first FIA Karting World Championship in the OK category, while Lucas Bonhomme and Rayan Carré make their debut with the Tony Kart Racing Team’s colours. Thomas Pradier shows good speed at various stages of the weekend, but two stops in the eliminatory heats heavily impact the outcome of his weekend.

In OKJ, Julian Frasnelli starts Friday positively with the second fastest time in group 4 of the qualifyings and a victory in the first heat, but in the next two he is regrettably involved in as many accidents. The Italian driver shines again on Sunday: he recovers seven positions in super heat C, finishing fourth with the fastest lap, and 12 ones in the final, finishing very close to the podium.

Just back from his success in the fourth round of the FIA Karting European Championship in Kristianstad (Sweden), Emerson MacAndrew-Uren confirms his competitiveness in Muro Leccese as well, claiming a second and a third place in the qualifying heats and third position in super heat A. In the final, the British driver gains ground in the early stages and enters into the battle for the top positions, ultimately crossing the finish line in the top-10.

Yubo Wen achieves a second place as his best result in the qualifying heats and regularly completes the final. Jean Poujol, Oiva Vettenranta, Augustin Feligioni, Stepan Mazepin, and Antonio Ianni complete our team's lineup in the "Junior" category, working closely with the staff throughout the entire event.

With the FIA Karting World Championship OK-OKJ now filed, the Tony Kart Racing Team is returning to the track from November 19th to 22nd at South Garda Karting in Lonato del Garda, for the second round of the WSK Final Cup.