Armstrong Eighth In OK Class Debut In Portugal

Armstrong Eighth In OK Class Debut In Portugal

Kiwi kart ace Marcus Armstrong has enjoyed a strong OK class debut - finishing the Final in eighth place - at the third round of the 2016 CIK-FIA European OK Championships in Portugal on Sunday.

"Not a bad weekend," the 15-year-old said on Monday morning (NZ time)."Our speed was good for a better result but a win was out of reach."

The OK class is an evolution of the direct drive KF class Armstrong contested with success in Europe last year. With a month to go before the final round of this year's 6-speed gearbox-equipped KZ class championship (which Armstrong moved up to this year) the Christchurch driver took the opportunity to contest the third round of the 2016 OK class title chase over the weekend.

The Final there was won by Tom Joyner (Zanardi/Parilla/Vega) from fellow Brit (and Pre-Final winner) Ben Hanley (Croc Promotions/TM/Vega) with young Spanish driver Pedro Hiltbrand (CRG/Parilla/Vega) third.

Armstrong (Tony Kart/Vortex/Vega) qualified eighth and finished the Pre-Final in 11th position before working his way back to eighth in the Final.

"This circuit (Portimao) is quite different to others with the length of the straights and elevation and I'm not convinced it played to our strengths. Never-the-less I'm happy with our debut and I look forward to Bahrain (in November) which will be my next race in OK," Armstrong said.

The young Kiwi's next appearance in a KZ kart, meanwhile, will be at the third round of that category's European Championship chase at Genk In Belgium at the end of July.

ENDS

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