The RFM team did an excellent job at Sarno during the second round of the OK and OK-Junior European Championship. While the incidents were constant during the races, the drivers from the British team showed impressive progress during the entire weekend. Slater finished 2nd in Junior, Ten Brinke was in the OK top six and most of the other drivers made remarkable place gains.
Near Naples, it wasn’t just the air that was hot. The races were the scene of many collisions. The well-advised RFM drivers managed the situation particularly well to take advantage of the competitiveness of their Kosmic/Vortex karts and to achieve very interesting results. After relatively average Qualifying sessions, they managed to come back to the top of the classification despite some spoiler penalties.
A brilliant 2nd place for Slater in OK-Junior
Starting in 18th position, British driver Freddie Slater had some excellent Qualifying Heats: one victory and two 2nd places allowed him to get into the top 10 despite a retirement. With a superb finish in the Final, he mounted the second step of the podium and moved back into the top five of the Championship.
The revelation Anpilogov
Until then relatively unknown, the young Ukrainian Edgar Anpilogov has done a great job in Sarno. 31st in Qualifying, then delayed by an incident in the first heat, he managed an exceptional Final by moving up 19 places to 14th position.
British driver Coskun Irfan made significant progress in the heats, despite a retirement, finishing twice in the top four. Thanks to a very good Final, he regained a total of 19 positions to finish 16th. Singaporean driver Dion Gowda was very strong in the pack during the Qualifying Heats. Thanks to an incredible gain of 25 places, he started from 17th position for the Final. The last race was more complicated for him and he finished only 26th with a spoiler penalty. The Spaniard Lucas Fluxa Cross began to regain ground in his first three heats, but the last two were less favourable for him and he didn’t qualify for the Final.
Ten Brinke at the edge of the top five in OK
Dutch driver Thomas Ten Brinke achieved his best OK performance to date at Sarno. He was first in the leading group at the end of the heats, combining speed and consistency. A spoiler penalty c him narrowly miss the top five. This didn’t prevent him being very competitive in the Final. He remained in the top four for a long time and concluded in 6th position neck and neck with three of his rivals. After his retirement at Zuera, he made a 21-place jump in the Championship classification.
Danish driver Sebastian Gravlund was also very fast. Starting from a long way back, he managed a 26-place climb during some strong races. He fought for a long time in around 15th position in the Final and crossed the finish line in 17th position, but a spoiler penalty relegated him to 20th place.
Info Kartcom / Photos © KSP