16th May 2022

HARRY ARNETT CHARGES HARD AT ACADEMY TROPHY OPENER IN BELGIUM

Harry Arnett in action at the opening round of the FIA Karting Academy Trophy (Pic: KSP Reportages)

Victorian teenager Harry Arnett showed that he has the speed to mix it with the top young drivers from across the world during the opening round of the 2022 FIA Karting Academy Trophy in Genk, Belgium on the weekend.

Arnett was one of 54 drivers aged between 12 and 14 years of age participating in the three-round Series in identical world-leading equipment supplied by the OTK Kart Group.  Each of the young drivers were nominated by their National Sporting Authority (ASN) to represent their country.

After topping the time sheets in final practice on Friday, Arnett had compromised run in qualifying, which led to him setting the 44th fastest time around the 1360-metre circuit.

From his lowly starting position in this three heat races Arnett was the hard charger and was continually moving forward.  As a result, he started the final from 26^th position.

Throughout the 19-lap journey, the dual Australian Champion recorded lap times equivalent to that of the race leaders on his way to moving up 14 places and crossed the line in 12^th position.  Unfortunately, this result was compromised in the final standings after he received a penalty for a last lap incident leaving him classified 26^th.

“The whole weekend was a bit of a rollercoaster; I was fast in practice finishing fastest in final session but then in qualifying I got caught up with traffic and ended up 44^th.  From there I was fighting back all weekend,” said Arnett.

“To be finish the round by crossing the line 12^th in the final is something that I’m very proud of.  Unfortunately, I got a penalty that dropped me back which was disappointing.  All the racing was very intense, especially the final.

“Overall, I think I showed some great speed and I know that I have the speed to mix it with the front guys.

“I’ll be working extremely hard between now and the next round at Cremona (Italy) to do even better there.”

The round was won by Frenchman Arthur Dorison ahead of Filipino Wendell Go and Cedric Bouzar from Luxembourg.

The next round of the Series will be contested at the Cremona circuit in Italy on June 16-19.

One of Arnett’s fellow Victorian kart racers, Henry Johnstone was also competing at the event in the opening round of the FIA Karting European Championship in the KZ2 class.  Despite a strong run in the Super Heat where he recorded a weekend-best 14^th placing, Johnstone was unable to make the transfer into the final.

FIA KARTING ACADEMY TROPHY CHAMPIONS
2010 – Niklas Tiihonen (Finland)
2011 – Charles Leclerc (Monaco)
2012 – Joonas Lappalainen (Finland)
2013 – Maxime Potty (Belgium)
2014 – Richard Verschoor (Netherlands)
2015 – Marta Garcia (Spain)
2016 – Callum Bradshaw (United Kingdom)
2017 – Xavier Handsaeme (Belgium)
2018 – Mari Boya  (Spain)
2019 – Kaus Siksnelis (Lithuania)
2020 – Connor Zilisch (USA)
2021 – Maciej Gladysz (Poland)