VORTEX IN GENK: STILL WINS AND PODIUMS

Freddie Slater gains a success for the engines of the OTK Kart Group's Engine Division on the occasion of the first round of the FIA Karting European Championship of the OKJ class. There are also two third places: the first in the "Junior" class and the second in the OK one.

OK - Good start for Vortex in the "senior class" weekend with DST engines. Luigi Coluccio (Kosmic Racing Department), Tuukka Taponen (Tony Kart Racing Team) and Andrey Zhivnov (Ward Racing) sign the second best time in the group 2, 3 and 4 of the qualifying heats respectively and immediately enter the fight with their rivals. At the end of the qualifying heats, the general balance is of several podiums and a couple of fast laps, with 3 drivers in the top 10 and a total of 9 Vortex engines on the starting grid of the final. In the final race of the event, Edoardo Ludovico Villa (Exprit Racing Team) surprises for his race rhythm and fights until the end for the podium: the Italian driver is third, at his second race with the Exprit Racing Team. The "prize" of best climber goes instead to Joseph Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team), sixth place with a record comeback of 19 positions and the "best lap" of the race missed by only 10 thousandths. The English driver shows an impressive pace, unmatched by the other rivals: a pity for the start of the drivers in the back of the group. Artem Severiukhin (Ward Racing) reaches the top 10 at the end of the whole 23 laps, while Tuukka Taponen (Tony Kart Racing Team) recovers 16 positions and enters the top 15. At the starting grid of the final, we also find Zhivnov and Coluccio, with Norton Andreasson (Ward Racing), Eemeli Koivisto (Koski Motorsport) and Sebastian Gravlund (Kosmic Racing Department), who had to stop unfortunately.

OKJ - Vortex is soon among the best drivers in the weekend of the "Junior class": already starting from the qualifying heats, Dion Gowda (Ricky Flynn Motorsport), Freddie Slater (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) and Ean Eyckmans (Kosmic Racing Department) fight for the pole position with the DJT engine and take three of the first five positions in the combined ranking of the qualifying sessions. Considering the whole 15 eliminatory heats, Vortex signs not less than 11 victories: 4 with Eyckmans, 3 with Slater, 2 with Maxens Verbrugge (Ricky Flynn Motorsport), 1 with Gowda and 1 with Julius Dinesen (KSM Official Racing Team). Eyckmans and Slater, the two most successful drivers in the qualifying heats, jump from the first two positions of the final and are among the main protagonists of the final race: the British driver, as occurred two weeks ago on the occasion of the Champions of the Future, is leader from the first laps until the checkered flag, while the Belgian driver finishes third. Harley Keeble (Tony Kart Racing Team) climbs a total of 8 positions from the starting grid gaining a fifth final place. In a competition with a total of 17 Vortex engines out of 36 at the starting grid - about 50% of the starters - Maxim Rehm (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) hits the top 10 ahead of his teammate Gowda.

Scrolling down the ranking we also find: James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team), Jayden Thien (KSM Official Racing Team), Dinesen, August Therbo (Ward Racing), Alexander Gubenko (Tony Kart Racing Team), Jan Przyrowski (Tony Kart Racing Team), Leon Hoffmann (KSM Official Racing Team), Arthur Poulain (Kosmic Racing Department) and Edgar Anpilogov (Ricky Flynn Motorsport). Verbrugge and Kevin Lantinga (KSM Official Racing Team) off the race, and Joël Bergström (Kosmic Racing Department) who could not jump from the starting grid.