After a commanding run through the heat races, Victorian young gun Anagnostiadis started from pole in the OK World Championship Final, poised to become the first Australian world karting champion since James Courtney in 1997.
He led early, but a tough fifth lap dropped him back to fifth. Anagnostiadis clawed back to fourth by the chequered flag but never quite threatened the podium.
Belgium’s Thibaut Ramaekers finally claimed his long-awaited world title, steering his Kart Republic to victory by 0.7 seconds. Ramaekers, the 2022 European vice-champion with multiple FIA European Championship wins, at last stood on the top setp.
Kart Republic’s Joe Turney once again had to settle for second — his second consecutive runner-up finish and third in six years — while Ukrainian Lev Krutoholov completed the podium in his factory Energy Kart. Aussie Lewis Francis was unable to make the final, bowing out in 50th.
In OKJ, Forza Racing’s Calleja looked set for a big Sunday after sitting sixth in the intermediate standings, but a disastrous day ended his charge.
First-lap incidents in both his Superheat and the Final cruelled his chances. Fellow Aussie Sebastian Eskandari-Mirandi scraped his Ward Racing kart into the final from 33rd and fought through to 22nd — a strong finish to his rookie OKJ season.
Britain’s Noah Baglin made no mistakes this time, dominating every lap to take the world title by 4.2 seconds. Baglin’s redemption came a year after crashing out of a last-lap lead.
Italian Valerio Viapiana claimed second, with reigning OKJ European champion Dean Hoogendoorn third for Prema Kart Republic.
Australia’s other hopefuls — Liam Carr, Mason Lucchitti and Braxton Regan — missed Sunday’s cut, finishing 89th, 93rd and 103rd respectively in their FIA Karting debuts.
Discussion about this post