The weather continued to be warm and sunny in the Naples area for the final two Qualifying Heats of the FIA Karting European Championship – OK in Sarno.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR/Iame) started the A-D heat ahead of Tymoteusz Kucharczyk (RK/TM) and Brando Badoer (Parolin/TM). Antonelli was already more than a second ahead on the second lap while Giovanni Trentin (KR/Iame) attacked Kucharczyk for 2nd place. Alfio Spina (Parolin/TM) overtook Rafael Camara (KR/Iame) for 5th place. Kucharczyk took 2nd place, 3″ behind the leader, followed by Spina and Martinius Stenshorne (Birel ART/TM). Antonelli won brilliantly with a 3,6” lead and the fastest lap ahead of Kucharczyk and Spina. Camara had moved up to 4th position ahead of Stenshorne. Arthur Rogeon (Tony Kart/Vortex) finished 13th after having lost ground at the beginning of the race and Romain Andriolo (KR/Iame) took back six places to 14th.
The long awaited final B-C heat featured a strong field of contenders, starting with Nikola Tsolov (KR/Iame) and Artem Severiukhin (Tony Kart/Vortex) who were unbeaten until then, but also Arvid Lindblad (KR/Iame) on pole and Rintaro Sato (Kosmic/Vortex) in 4th place. Marlon Hernandez (KR/Iame) and Evan Giltaire (KR/Iame) were on the third row. Tsolov and Severiukhin were fighting for 2nd place behind Lindblad, while Ugo Ugochukwu was 5th. Sato came in 3rd. Victoria Blokhina (Tony Kart/Vortex) made a big splash in 6th while Eliška Bábíková (Tony Kart/TM) made it into the top 10. Lindblad took his first victory of the weekend with a consequent lead of 2,4”. Sato resisted Tsolov for 2nd place, but the Bulgarian took the pole position for the Final against Severiukhin. Ugochukwu finished 5th ahead of Blokhina, Giltaire 7th and Hernandez 8th.
Behind the first row of the Final occupied by Tsolov and Severiukhin, Antonelli came in third followed by Kucharczyk and Lindblad.
Info Kartcom / Photo © KSP