In 2017 the British team Ricky Flynn Motorsport returned to the same technical basis as in previous years with its FA Kart chassis and its Vortex engines prepared by One Engines. The main change in the season was the one-year lowering of the driver age. Most of the newcomers to OK-Junior were not yet very seasoned during the first races. The situation also changed significantly in OK, a category that the the RFM drivers joined from the Juniors. The team is now in good shape for the rest of the season, as demonstrated by the excellent overall performance achieved at the start of the European Championship at Sarno.
"The first few months of this season have been busy for the whole team," said Ricky Flynn. "In addition to a very intense racing program, we have all worked hard to get to the European Championship in the best possible conditions. I am satisfied in this respect by the progress of Taoufik and Kruetten in OK, as well as by the arrival of Nannini. We are on the right track. We've already had good results in OK-Junior: Thompson's victory at the Winter Cup, his 3rd place in the WSK Super Master and Doohan's 6th, and the progress of O'Sullivan, Maloney and Skocdopole. We will now be able to refine the work we have put in place and prepare our drivers even more. I am convinced that once again we have very good potential this year".
Following the excellent start of the season by Jack Doohan in OK-Junior, including 2nd in the final of the WSK Super Master Series at Adria, Harry Thompson gradually rose to power with a first result in Lonato where he won the Winter Cup. The other Junior drivers at RFM also took advantage of the first months of the year to enrich their experience and progress in the rankings. Zak O'Sullivan took pole before shining in the heats and Prefinal in WSK at Sarno, while Zak Maloney reached 2nd place in the Final. Dan Skocdopole was a great performer in the top five. In the end RFM placed four drivers in the top 10 of the WSK Super Master Series, with Thompson rising to 3rd place on the podium.
The first OK competitions were harder work for Sami Taoufik and Niklas Kruetten within a field that was both bigger and better this year due to the lowering of the age. The work of the team and the drivers gradually paid off, in conjunction with the arrival of Matteo Nannini, very fast in the last race of the WSK at Sarno.
Two weeks later, still in Sarno, the first event of the CIK-FIA European Championship confirmed the good progress in OK, as Taoufik and Kruetten completed good qualifying heats and several top four finishes in the heats. Taoufik could finally fight at the front in the Final and finished in a promising 5th place while Kruetten ranked 10th. Only Nannini suffered in the heats after an average Qualifying, while still managing to return to 17th in the Final.
As for the Juniors, Thompson and O 'Sullivan took centre stage with several victories in the heats and a Final in the top five. Starting from his 27th in Qualifying, Doohan went back in the heats, with a retirement, but gained 12 places during the Final to take 14th. Also at the front with 5th fastest in Qualifying, Maloney performed well in the heats, even though he had a retirement, but he did not reach the finish line following a crash. Skocdopole missed out in Qualifying, then struggled in the pack during the heats and did not qualify for the Final.
Info Kartcom / © Photos KSP