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A Strong Result For Ollie Millroy At Trofeo Andrea Margutti |
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Sunday, 04 March 2007 |
In his second race with the Zanardi works team Claygate kart ace Ollie Millroy finished seventh in the KF1 final against the most highly rated kart drivers in the world. Starting 13th on the grid for the final Ollie had to drive the full race distance of 20 laps with a bent steering column and possibly a bent chassis, when he was unable to avoid a crash that happened in front of him, at the second corner of the first lap.
“I’ve learned a bit these last few days about the new engines and the
way the team works,” said Ollie. “It’s been a challenging but
satisfying weekend and a top ten finish against these guys is a good
result at this stage. On Friday I had a slight timing problem with the
engine in qualifying and ended up with a lot to do back in 24th
position. In the two heats on Saturday I started in 16th and finished
10th and 11th, putting me on the seventh row, in14th place for the
pre-final this morning.
“The pre-final was over 15 laps and starting 14th I could only manage
moving up one place to 13th. Starting from this position in the
afternoon final, I had a good start but I could do nothing about
avoiding an accident in front of me, only just managing to keep it on
the track, at only the second corner of the first lap. It was quite a
big one and although I got through it I came away with a bent steering
column and as we later discovered, possibly a bent chassis. I just put
my head down and got on with it and with a best lap time only three
tenths of a second off Gary Catt who won it, I finished seventh.
“To be honest, considering the damage to the kart, I’m pleased with the
result and Dino (Chiesa) said he was pleased with the lap times bearing
in mind what damage there was. These guys in KF1, like the current
world champion Davide Fore, Marco Ardigo and Francesco Antonucci are
the best kart drivers in the world and most of the top group have years
of experience. They are professional kart drivers and I intend to learn
from them and compete against them for as long as I stay in karting.
The major championships start in the next couple of weeks and these
first two races of the year have prepared me nicely. I am really
looking forward to the challenge.”
Ollie’s next race will be the first round of the WSK championship, at Sarno in southern Italy on 16th/17th/18th March.
To follow Ollie’s progress visit his website on www.olliemillroy.com
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