Kiwi karter Marcus Armstrong is heading to the next big test in his career as a works kart driver for Italy’s Tony Kart team.
That test is the 20th annual ‘Winter Cup’ meeting at the Lonato track in Brescia.
The Winter Cup is the first major European kart meeting of the new season, this year’s event this weekend having attracted a 243-strong entry across four classes, KZ2, KF (the class 14-year-old Armstrong is contesting this season), KF Junior and Vortex Mini ROK.
Armstrong has had a good build-up to this year’s Winter Cup meeting, enjoying a strong run at the second round of Italy’s WSK Champions Cup kart series at La Conca two weeks ago, qualifying seventh and finishing the Final sixth.
The weekend before, at the first round of this season’s WSK Champions Cup Series at the same track the Christchurch driver qualified 10th and finished two of the three heats in the top 15 before working his way up to 10th in the Pre-Final.
However an engine issue saw him complete only 12 of the 16 laps of the rain-lashed Final.
Armstrong’s Tony Kart teammate, Dane Nicklas Nielsen, is being touted as one of the drivers to beat in the KF class at the Winter Cup meeting after a dominant winning run at the second WSK Champions Cup meeting.
