2017 CIK-FIA Best-Of: World Championship – Reverberations and revelations in Lincolnshire

The OK category has benefited from a rise in numbers this season to reach the respectable number of 87 entries at the CIK-FIA World Championship held from 21st to 24st September 2017 at the PF International circuit, north of London. The Competition had many twists in the qualifying stages before crowning a Driver who was racing for the first time at this level in OK, the Briton Danny Keirle.

The Trent Valley Kart Club, who organised the Competition, completely fulfilled its mission for all participants and the entire weekend was described as a great success on all fronts. Followed by many enthusiasts, the Competition began with Qualifying Practice to determine the starting order of the Qualifying Heats. The young Briton Callum Bradshaw (CRG / Parilla / LeCont) achieved pole position. The highly technical 1382 m route of the biggest English circuit and the harshness of the clashes on the track contributed to the relentless selection of the 34 finalists. Several favourites fell in the Heats and missed out on qualification: Sami Taoufik, Dennis Hauger, Karol Basz, Tom Joyner and Flavio Camponeschi did not start the Final.

A day of glory for Keirle

Danny Keirle (Zanardi / Parilla / LeCont), who set the 7th fastest time and was the winner of four Qualifying Heats out of five, continued his momentum in the 22 laps of the Final. His main opponent on the grid was reigning Champion Pedro Hiltbrand Aguilar (Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont), who made an impressive comeback from 18th overall. Technical problems, however, prevented him from defending his chances and he had to give up after only two laps. Esteban Muth (Zanardi / Parilla / LeCont) was immediately in the wake of his team-mate Keirle. Then Juho Valtanen (Kosmic / Vortex / LeCont) and David Vidales Ajenjo (Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont) joined them to fight a four-way battle until the finish. Keirle masterfully imposed five tenths of a second ahead of Muth and won an incredible World Championship in his first OK race. Muth did not long enjoy his 2nd place because of a wrongly positioned front fairing penalty. Therefore Vidales Ajenjo inherited 2nd position in front of Valtanen. Paavo Tonteri (Tony Kart / Vortex / LeCont) and Rasmus Lindh (Exprit / Vortex / LeCont) completed the top five. After a tough run, Lorenzo Travisanutto (Zanardi / Parilla / LeCont), set the fastest lap in a recovery of 17 places which brought him to 13th position.

CIK-FIA Best of 2017 / © Photo KSP