OKJ: Perfect Saturday for Ugochukwu

• Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME) makes no mistakes in these first 4 heats disputed today. With 4 out of 4 wins, the American, despite 3 heats still to be run, is the favourite candidate for sitting on pole for the decisive final scheduled for tomorrow.


• Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME), Ugochukwu's direct rival in the fight for the title, ended the day with nine penalty points more than his teammate. The Englishman is currently third behind Harley Keeble (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex). The Tony Kart driver scored three wins and a second place and so far he has shown that he has all the credentials to compete for the podium in the final race.


• In fourth position behind Lindblad we have Brando Badoer (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME), who took home a first place to which he also added a second and two fourth places. The Italian thus managed to stay one penalty point ahead of Aiden Neate (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex) who today was once second and three times third.


• Martinius Stenshorne (Rosberg Racing Academy - KR - IAME), now second, fourth and twice third, is sixth and precedes the pair formed by Karol Pasiewicz (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex) and William Macyntire (Leclerc by Lennox Racing - Birel ART - TM Racing).


• The home driver Maxim Rehm (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex), who finished today ahead of poleman Alex Powell (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME), is ninth. The Jamaican, twice second and once third, closes the provisional top 10 and despite a technical problem that forced him to start from the pit lane in the second heat


• Unlucky day instead for two of the protagonists of the qualifications, Rafael Modonese (Leclerc by Lennox Racing - Birel ART - TM Racing), who also won one heat today, and Gowda Dion (Ricky Flynn Motorsport - Kosmic Kart - Vortex) who come into contact in the last heat. Modonese then was relegated from the 9th position obtained in qualifying to the provisional 26th position in the ranking of the heats, while Dion went down from 3 ^ to 21 ^. Sonny Smith (Pantano Team - KR - IAME), 10th yesterday, lost three positions due to a penalty.


• Another bad day for another of the title contenders, Tuukka Taponen (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex), currently sitting only in 17th: the Finn will probably lose valuable points compared to his rivals at the end of these Qualifying Heats.

OK: Antonelli still in front

• The poleman Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME) uses today's heats to take another step forward in the chase to Taylor Barnard (Rosberg Racing - KR - IAME), leader of the championship standings. The Italian, after today's heats, is in the lead at the moment, thanks to two wins and a second place, while his rival follows him far from close.


• Infact, in second place we find Rafael Camara (Forza Racing - Exprit - TM Racing), even able to beat Antonelli for first place in the hard-fought Heat A-C. But the tussle unleashed turned out to cost dearly to Barnard, who was handed a penalty of 5 seconds in the post-race checks due to an improperly installed front fairing. The Englishman slipped down to 16th position and was only 12th at the end of the day.


• Camara, instead, recovered six positions in the standings with respect to the result obtained in qualifying, thanks to another two third places and went ahead, for a single penalty point, of a brilliant Luigi Coluccio (Kosmic Kart Racing Department - Kosmic - Vortex) today first, third and fourth.


• Norton Andreasson (Ward Racing - Tony Kart - Vortex), also scores a victory and sits in fourth with the same penalty points as Coluccio.


• Behind him, in fifth and sixth provisional position, Marcus Amand (VDK - KR - IAME) and Luca Griggs (SFR Motorsport - Tony Kart - TM Racing) were both able to recover momentarily 6 positions compared to qualifying of yesterday.


• The drivers from 7th to 9th position lost ground from Friday's timed practice. We are talking about Joe Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team - Tony Kart - Vortex), Nikolas Pirttilahti (Pantano Team - KR - IAME) and Lorenzo Patrese (KR Motorsport - KR - IAME). However, it must be said that the Englishman is the only one to have raced 4 heats compared to the other top 16 drivers who have raced 3.


• Tenth position for the driver who was perhaps one of the fastest on the track this weekend: Nikita Bedrin (Ward Racing - Tony Kart - Vortex). The Russian scored 2 wins and a second place. Too bad that the second place, behind Antonelli, turned into a 17th position due to a 10 ”penalty for overtaking under the yellow flags.

©Photo: Sportinphoto