Doohan 14th at Euro Championship Opener
| 24 April 2017 |
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Jack Doohan has finished 14th in the OK-Junior class at the opening round of the European Championship in Italy on the weekend.
Continuing with the Ricky Flynn Motorsport team, Doohan (FA Kart/Vortex) qualified 27th in the 70-kart field.
Solid heat results (9, 6, 9) were affected by a DNF (27th) which saw him ranked 26th overall and therefore 26th on the grid for the final. Doohan charged up the order to 14th, finishing 19.7s behind the winner, Jonny Edgar. Jack sits 16th in the Championship standings with four rounds to go.
Reigning Gold Coast Race of Stars champion Paulo De Conto won KZ for CRG/TM. Bas Lammes (Sodi) and Marijn Kremers (Birel-ART), who have both raced in Australia, were 3rd and 17th respectively. Marco Ardigo (Tony Kart) withdrew after qualifying having earlier hurt his ribs in practice.
Above: Karol Basz (103) and eventual OK winner Theo Pourchaire drift their Kosmics (pic - Press.net Images)
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The winners of the season-opener of the CIK-FIA European Championship were not the drivers that everybody expected after the outcome of the qualifying stage of the race. The results of the first round – hosted by the International Circuit Napoli in Sarno (Italy) – tell us that it is going to be a rather unpredictable Championship for the three categories KZ, OK and OK Junior...
De Conto beats all in KZ
The KZ qualifying stage saw Simo Puhakka (Kosmic-Vortex-Bridgestone) finishing in top position. The Finnish, at the start of the Final, had to battle against the French Anthony Abbasse (Sodi-TM), who had managed to gain the lead of the race. Then the two frontrunners made contact and paved the way to the Dutch Stan Pex and the Italian Paolo De Conto (both on CRG-TM); they took over the leadership with Pex in first and De Conto in second. Few moments later the Italian driver passed Pex and won the race, while the Czech Patrik Hajek (Kosmic-Vortex) took advantage of the situation and managed to gain the runner-up position.
Excellent performance for the Dutch Bas Lammers, who recovered from the tenth position and scored third, celebrating his brilliant result with a big smile on the podium.
Above: KZ podium, winner De Conto between Hajek and Lammers (pic - Press.net Images)
| Rnk | No. | Driver | Equipment | Gap | Best Lap |
| 1 | 4 | De Conto, Paolo | CRG / TM Racing / B'stone | 56.616 | |
| 2 | 2 | Hajek, Patrik | Kosmic / Vortex / B'stone | 2.448 | 56.564 |
| 3 | 8 | Lammers, Bas | Sodi / TM Racing / B'stone | 6.534 | 56.55 |
| 4 | 17 | Pex, Stan | CRG / TM Racing / B'stone | 6.926 | 56.738 |
| 5 | 3 | Iglesias, Jeremy | Formula K / TM Racing / B'stone | 7.25 | 56.434 |
| 6 | 22 | Torsellini, Mirko | CRG / TM Racing / B'stone | 7.622 | 56.764 |
| 7 | 15 | Camplese, Lorenzo | Parolin / TM Racing / B'stone | 8.505 | 56.773 |
| 8 | 16 | Dalè, Andrea | CRG / TM Racing / B'stone | 10.888 | 56.811 |
| 9 | 9 | Fore, Davide | Righetti Ridolfi / TM Racing / B'stone | 12.906 | 57.008 |
| 10 | 14 | Carlton, Gary | Formula K / TM Racing / B'stone | 13.288 | 56.961 |
| 11 | 10 | Dreezen, Rick | Birel Art / Vortex / B'stone | 14.199 | 56.772 |
| 12 | 97 | Loubere, Pierre | Zanardi / Parilla / B'stone | 14.257 | 56.759 |
| 13 | 99 | Vigano, Matteo | Tony Kart / Vortex / B'stone | 14.812 | 56.588 |
| 14 | 96 | Prosperi Oliver, Enrico | CRG / TM Racing / B'stone | 16.156 | 56.864 |
| 15 | 11 | Pex, Jorrit | CRG / TM Racing / B'stone | 17.561 | 56.691 |
| 16 | 19 | Tiene, Felice | Birel Art / TM Racing / B'stone | 20.528 | 56.752 |
| 17 | 20 | Kremers, Marijn | Birel Art / TM Racing / B'stone | 21.697 | 56.733 |
| 18 | 21 | Kuovi, Jan | Tony Kart / Vortex / B'stone | 59.623 | 58.128 |
| 19 | 95 | Giardelli, Alessandro | CRG / TM Racing / B'stone | 2 Laps | 57.458 |
| 20 | 5 | Abbasse, Anthony | Sodi / TM Racing / B'stone | 9 Laps | 56.546 |
| 21 | 12 | Lundberg, Douglas | Sodi / TM Racing / B'stone | 9 Laps | 56.764 |
| 22 | 18 | Corberi, Luca | Tony Kart / Vortex / B'stone | 15 Laps | 56.827 |
| 23 | 6 | Puhakka, Simo | Kosmic / Vortex / B'stone | 18 Laps | 57.258 |
| 24 | 98 | Hanley, Benjamin | Croc Promotions / TM Racing / B'stone | 20 Laps | |
| 1 | Ardigo, Marco | Tony Kart / Vortex / B'stone | DNS |
Above: KZ heat start (pic - Press.net Images)
Pourchaire Unbeatable in OK
He finished the qualifying stage in first position and then, in the Final, he did not fall short of expectation: the French Theo Pourchaire (Kosmic-Vortex-LeCont) did not esitate and gained an early lead ahead of the English Clement Novalak (Tony Kart-Vortex). The Polish Karol Basz (Kosmic-Vortex) remained in close pursuit of the leading pair but, during the last laps, the Spanish David Vidales (Tony Kart-Vortex) overtook him and grabbed the third place behind Pourchaire and Novalak.
Above: OK podium, winner Pourchaire between Novalak and Vidales (pic - Press.net Images)
| Rnk | No. | Driver | Equipment | Gap | Best Lap |
| 1 | 127 | Pourchaire, Théo | Kosmic / Vortex / LeCont | 57.186 | |
| 2 | 104 | Novalak, Clément | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 0.298 | 57.105 |
| 3 | 122 | Vidales Ajenjo, David | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 0.802 | 57.117 |
| 4 | 103 | Basz, Karol | Kosmic / Vortex / LeCont | 1.297 | 57.138 |
| 5 | 119 | Taoufik, Sami | FA Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 2.364 | 57.199 |
| 6 | 108 | Milell, Noah | Kosmic / Vortex / LeCont | 4.461 | 57.19 |
| 7 | 128 | Bulantsev, Pavel | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 5.823 | 57.311 |
| 8 | 107 | Tonteri, Paavo | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 6.299 | 57.309 |
| 9 | 161 | Schumacher, David | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 8.042 | 57.289 |
| 10 | 136 | Kruetten, Niki | FA Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 8.322 | 57.28 |
| 11 | 118 | Hauger, Dennis | CRG / Parilla / LeCont | 8.431 | 57.166 |
| 12 | 120 | Collet, Caio | Birel Art / TM Racing / LeCont | 9.001 | 57.27 |
| 13 | 199 | Irlando, Alex | Sodi / TM Racing / LeCont | 12.02 | 57.262 |
| 14 | 146 | Nouet, Theo | Energy Corse / Parilla / LeCont | 13.043 | 57.232 |
| 15 | 126 | De Pauw, Ulysse | Kosmic / Parilla / LeCont | 14.397 | 57.288 |
| 16 | 133 | Eteki, Adam | Zanardi / Parilla / LeCont | 17.749 | 57.687 |
| 17 | 139 | Nannini, Matteo | FA Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 18.024 | 57.326 |
| 18 | 123 | Muizzudin Musyaffa, B. A. G. | DR / Parilla / LeCont | 18.403 | 57.493 |
| 19 | 148 | Vebster, Daniel | Kosmic / Vortex / LeCont | 18.534 | 57.446 |
| 20 | 160 | Van Berlo, Glenn | CRG / Parilla / LeCont | 18.85 | 57.349 |
| 21 | 132 | Muth, Esteban | Zanardi / Parilla / LeCont | 18.89 | 57.206 |
| 22 | 164 | Schimpf Mateos, Adrian | DR / Parilla / LeCont | 20.668 | 57.648 |
| 23 | 101 | Hiltbrand Aguilar, Pedro | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 21.024 | 57.399 |
| 24 | 130 | Lindh, Rasmus | Ricciardo Kart / TM Racing / LeCont | 24.99 | 57.553 |
| 25 | 157 | Guazzaroni, Alessio | Evokart / Parilla / LeCont | 26.563 | 57.613 |
| 26 | 153 | Valtanen, Juho | Kosmic / Vortex / LeCont | 27.672 | 57.483 |
| 27 | 152 | Sitnikov, Nikita | Tony Kart / TM Racing / LeCont | 31.552 | 57.526 |
| 28 | 115 | Kenneally, Finlay Jack | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 45.543 | 57.495 |
| 29 | 114 | Camponeschi, Flavio | CRG / Parilla / LeCont | 9 Laps | 57.957 |
| 30 | 172 | Ferrari, Lorenzo | Exprit / Vortex / LeCont | 17 Laps | 59.82 |
| 31 | 111 | Gheno, Jacopo | Zanardi / Parilla / LeCont | 18 Laps | 59.599 |
| 32 | 129 | Simonov, Mikhail | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 19 Laps | 01:14.2 |
| 33 | 137 | Moretti, Marzio | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 20 Laps | |
| 34 | 140 | Ollikainen, Jonne | Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont | 20 Laps |
Edgar Wins in OKJ
Qualifying Heats finished with the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (CRG-Parilla-Vega) and the English Jonny Edgar (Exprit-TM) ahead of the pack. The script didn’t change in the Final, even though the two drivers exchanged positions. Edgar led ahead of Bortoleto, while behind them it was O’neill Muth (Zanardi-Parilla) who put in an outstanding performance: the German driver recovered from eleventh to third, thanks to a last overtaking manoeuvre on the English Harry Thompson (FA Kart-Vortex). Eventually, Edgar managed to grab the final first position with the runner-up, Bortoleto, always in close pursuit.
Above: OK Junior podium, winner Edgar between Bortoleto and Muth (pic - Press.net Images)
| Rnk | No. | Driver | Equipment | Gap | Best Lap |
| 1 | 216 | Edgar, Jonny | Exprit / TM Racing / Vega | 59.61 | |
| 2 | 217 | Bortoleto, Gabriel | CRG / Parilla / Vega | 0.955 | 59.56 |
| 3 | 207 | Muth, O'neill | Zanardi / Parilla / Vega | 1.412 | 59.422 |
| 4 | 215 | Thompson, Harry | FA Kart / Vortex / Vega | 3.898 | 59.753 |
| 5 | 223 | O'Sullivan, Zak | FA Kart / Vortex / Vega | 4.297 | 59.794 |
| 6 | 228 | Gustafsson, Viktor | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 8.413 | 59.708 |
| 7 | 220 | Coluccio, Luigi | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 8.793 | 59.792 |
| 8 | 203 | Marseglia, Leonardo | Zanardi / Parilla / Vega | 10.159 | 59.822 |
| 9 | 243 | David, Hadrien | Zanardi / Parilla / Vega | 14.204 | 59.659 |
| 10 | 205 | Civico, Genis | FA Kart / Parilla / Vega | 14.517 | 01:00.3 |
| 11 | 263 | Maisch, Luca | CRG / Parilla / Vega | 14.757 | 01:00.1 |
| 12 | 231 | Stanek, Roman | Kosmic / Vortex / Vega | 16.107 | 01:00.2 |
| 13 | 230 | Lulham, Christopher | Tony Kart / Parilla / Vega | 18.836 | 59.461 |
| 14 | 214 | Doohan, Jack | FA Kart / Vortex / Vega | 19.704 | 01:00.1 |
| 15 | 245 | Mallet, Evann | Exprit / Vortex / Vega | 19.795 | 01:00.0 |
| 16 | 271 | Salonen, Matias | Kosmic / Vortex / Vega | 19.99 | 59.834 |
| 17 | 236 | Smal, Kirill | Energy Corse / Vortex / Vega | 20.531 | 59.811 |
| 18 | 257 | Sagrera Pont, Francisco Javier | CRG / Parilla / Vega | 20.916 | 59.933 |
| 19 | 206 | Fusco, Giuseppe | Evokart / Parilla / Vega | 21.069 | 01:00.0 |
| 20 | 227 | Brizhan, Alexey | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 22.058 | 01:00.1 |
| 21 | 240 | Gomez Gutierrez, Jose Antonio | CRG / Parilla / Vega | 23.034 | 01:00.2 |
| 22 | 224 | Bosco, Luca | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 23.305 | 01:00.2 |
| 23 | 235 | Famularo, Anthony | Birel Art / TM Racing / Vega | 30.623 | 59.877 |
| 24 | 246 | Navalon Boya, Jose Maria | Kosmic / Parilla / Vega | 31.449 | 01:00.3 |
| 25 | 260 | Joutsimies, Rasmus | FA Kart / Parilla / Vega | 31.54 | 59.88 |
| 26 | 237 | Seppänen, Elias | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 32.321 | 01:00.1 |
| 27 | 209 | Michelotto, Mattia | Zanardi / Parilla / Vega | 37.149 | 59.978 |
| 28 | 226 | Beganovic, Dino | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 2 Laps | 01:00.0 |
| 29 | 211 | Haverkort, Kas | CRG / Parilla / Vega | 5 Laps | 59.622 |
| 30 | 265 | Maloney, Zane | FA Kart / Vortex / Vega | 8 Laps | 01:00.6 |
| 31 | 202 | Morozov, Ilya | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 11 Laps | 01:00.2 |
| 32 | 208 | Rosso, Andrea | Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega | 14 Laps | 01:00.1 |
| 33 | 239 | Pirttilahti, Nikolas | Kosmic / Vortex / Vega | 14 Laps | 01:00.4 |
| 34 | 251 | Pizzi, Francesco Raffaele | Luxor / LKE / Vega | 17 Laps |
Above: Sullivan leads Bortoletto in a heat race, OK-J (pic - Press.net Images)
