The second round of the FIA Karting European Championship OK-OKJ took place this weekend at the International Circuit of Naples, Italy, which saw our team amongst the protagonists of the first round of WSK Euro Series that was contested over a month ago.
Unfortunately, this time around not everything went according to plan and the results achieved don’t reflect the speed of the CL Karting by Birel ART powered TM Racing package, with which the drivers of the Leclerc By Lennox Racing team have now reached a perfect harmony.
“There is a little bit of disappointment – says the team manager Jordon Lennox-Lamb – because it is the first weekend in which things did not go the way we wanted them to as accidents and penalties added to the disappointment. Now we need to look ahead and work to obtain a result in line with our potential in Wackersdorf”.
Despite adverse racing circumstances, all the drivers competing in the OK category managed to reach the finals. Here, Laurens Van Hoepen crossed the finish line in the top ten, bringing home precious points which allowed the Dutchman to remain in the fight for the podium in the overall standings. Jamie Day, whose run in the heats is affected by a penalty, a DNF and often gets caught up in the battle in the middle of the group, pulls off an extraordinary 19-places comeback in the final. On the other hand, Oliver Gray is not able to repeat the victory achieved here in the WSK Euro Series. Although there were all the ingredients to compete at the top, starting from the second best time in qualifying, a victory and a third spot in the heats that allowed him to start sixth on the grid, a contact during the first lap compromises his race.
For the OKJ drivers, who have shown their speed on this track several times, things did not go much better. Two withdrawals and a penalty prevented William Macintyre from lining up for the finals, thus nullifying the excellent third fastest time obtained by the Englishman in qualifying. The same happened to Ivan Domingues, with a top-ten potential in each heat and to Rafael Modonese, who instead, makes it into the top-ten twice and proves his progress by posting the two fastest laps.
After Sarno, the OK and OKJ drivers will be back on the track in three weeks for the third round of the FIA Karting European Championship in Wackersdorf. Meanwhile, the Leclerc By Lennox Racing team will also be at the start of the second and decisive round of the FIA Karting European Championship KZ-KZ2, scheduled on the circuit of Genk from the 4th to the 6th of September.
