The ROK Cup Italy continues its seasonal journey with the second round held at the 7 Laghi Kart in Castelletto di Branduzzo (PV). Almost 200 are the attendants in the seven categories competing, in a weekend featured by good weather. At the end of Sunday, we have the following championship leaders: Almekdad Ghazi (Mini ROK U10), Bissa Patrick (Mini ROK), Cichoracki Tomasz (Junior ROK), Giudice Andrea (Senior ROK), Sorbello Andrea (Expert ROK), Ferrari Riccardo (Super ROK) and Pasiewicz Karol (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK U10

Two hard races were fought by the very young drivers of the Mini ROK U10.

In the single qualifying round on Sunday morning, Alessio Ottaviani imposes himself on everyone. The Italian driver takes the pole position with a time of 55.778 seconds, ten thousandths of a second better than the time set by Ghazi Almekdad, second. Edoardo Traina finishes third, ahead of Leo Kralev, fourth, Giovanni Ventorino, fifth, and Leon Giudicelli, sixth. Matteo Meni, Francesco Lisignoli, Elias Boullier and Antoni Martin complete the top-10. The ranking goes on with Farel Beretta Dugat, Nico Fardin, Nicolaj Pietras, Giorgio Sapignoli, Filip Stec, Anna Makolm, Samuel Dal Pozzo, Miguel Spina and Sebastiano Leone Cecchin.
 

In Race 1, Ottaviani takes advantage of his starting from the first row and at the first corner he runs to the lead, followed by Traina and Almekdad. However, during the first lap, the poleman drops back to sixth place, overtaken by the Italian, the Austrian and also by Giudicelli, Kralev - who was forced to retire on the second lap - and Ventorino. In a short time, the race becomes a two-way affair between Traina and Almekdad, who are involved in a long battle until the last lap: on the finishing line, the Italian driver precedes his Austrian rival by 0.195 seconds. Giudicelli gains the third place, finishing ahead of Ventorino, Stec and Fardin. Ottaviani takes the seventh.
 

In Race 2, Boullier starts from the pole position, however, he is not perfect at the start: the Frenchman gives the lead to Ottaviani and is subsequently overtaken by Ventorino, Giudicelli, Traina and Stec. With Ottaviani already far away from the rest of the group, the battle for second place becomes thrilling: halfway through the race it is Stec who runs in the place of honour, before starting the battle with a surprising Kralev, jumped from the last position on the grid. The race ends with Ottaviani first across the line, however, the stewards give him a three-second penalty for jump start. As a result, the victory goes in the hands of Kralev, followed on the podium by Stec and Traina. Ventorino is fourth, Boullier fifth and Ottaviani sixth.

Mini ROK

Great excitement in the Mini ROK category, with gripping and spectacular races.

In the Chrono practices, is Mathias Drexler who emerges at the top of the ranking with the best time of 54.940 seconds. Lorenzo Zucchetto is second by just 0.077 seconds. Following them we also have Aleksander Pelikanski and Ayrton Tonna, third and fourth respectively. Lucas Doillon runs in the fifth, ahead of Niccolò Perico, sixth, Marco Verde, seventh, and Dominik Wojcik, eighth. Patrick Bissa and Simone Seveso close the qualifying top-10, ninth and tenth respectively. The ranking goes on with Jan Gardzielik, Nicholas Bertolani, Thomas Ometto, Tommaso Pomoni, Daniel Hakkinen, Andrea Croce Screpis, Nicolò Poli, Lola Mukhammadiyev, Bryan Filippelli, Johannes Buchhammer, Mattia Pellin, Camilla Amarotti, Romain Lopez, Sebastian Schirripa and Nathan Lotrionte.
 

In Race 1, Zucchetto starts well from the second place on the grid and ahead of Drexler at the first corner, but the poleman is able to recover his starting position in the following metres. The race goes on with Perico and Verde alternating in the lead, although the battle for first place involves Doillon, Bissa, Drexler and, in the following passages, Wojcik. On the last lap, with a great overtaking move at the start of the third sector, Wojcik forcefully takes the first position and precedes everyone to the finish line. However, during the post-race checks, the Polish driver receives a three-second penalty for his front spoiler in the wrong position and subsequently the victory goes to Verde. Bissa and Perico are second and third respectively, followed by Doillon and Drexler. Wojcik finishes 11th.
 

In Race 2, taking advantage of the pole position at the starting grid, Tonna is able to keep the first position ending the opening lap ahead of Drexler, Verde, Perico and Doillon. The Maltese driver keeps firmly under control the situation until lap 5, when it is Doillon who takes the lead. In the following passages, Verde and Perico also momentarily run at the lead of the race, but the final outcome is clear on the last lap: Verde and Tonna overtake Perico and in the final sprint they run for the victory, which goes to Marco Verde, just 78 thousandths ahead of Ayrton Tonna. Doillon takes the third place, while Perico is ranking fourth due to a three-second penalty received for causing an accident. Bissa is fifth, Drexler sixth.

Junior ROK

The Junior ROK class welcomes a total of 42 participants for the second round of the season.

At the end of Saturday's qualifying sessions, the ranking sees Faidon Papafilippou at the top with the best time of 48.798 seconds, followed by Tomasz Cichoracki in second place thanks to a time of 49.081 seconds. Mael Le Marchand takes the third position, ahead of Matteo Peruccio, fourth, Victoria Farfus, fifth, and Ilias Mitaki, sixth. Completing the top-10 are, in order, Riccardo Brangero, Matteo Melis, Leonardo Lanza and Luigi Antonio Cocchianella. The ranking then continues with Andrea Proverbio, Riccardo Repetto, Olek Mrozik, Natan Rybczynski, Blazej Kostrzewa, Mateusz Wal, Francesca Pietrini, Liam Secall, Julia Angelard, Jan Stencel, Michal Zajac, Flora Odin, Adrian Potepa, Leonardo De Grandi, Enrico Pietro Villa, Vasco De Vito, Michal Czyzewicz, Francesco Koci, Stanislaw Grabowski, Samuel Gabriele Del Gaudio, Francesco Iannuzzo, Stefano Zamponi, Selina Baum, Tommaso Scarato, Matteo Infantino, Lena Pichler, Pietro Chesini, Manuel Giovanni Ranica, Benjamin Pierini, Mikolaj Gawlikowski, Alessandro Gorini and Sebastian Riedel. At the end of the qualifying heat, held on Sunday morning, it is Cichoracki in first place, with a haul of two victories. Le Marchand takes a win in the first heat and places second, followed by Melis, third, and Papafilippou, slipping from first to fourth. Peruccio is fifth, Brangero is sixth, Lanza is seventh, while Mrozik and Rybczynski enter the top-10, in eighth and ninth position. Mitaki and Farfus relegate to 10th and 18th respectively.
 

In the afternoon's final, Cichoracki and Melis take advantage of the start from the inside line to place first and second immediately, with Le Marchard coming in third and the Peruccio-Brangero-Mrozik trio right behind the French driver. Right from the start, Melis proves to have a better pace than his rivals and, having taken the lead on the second lap, begins to gradually increase his advantage. Cichoracki, on the other hand, is caught up in the tussle for the place of honour with Peruccio, Le Marchand and Cocchianella, before the latter two left the scene due to a collision. With a secure gap of almost four seconds over his pursuers, Melis soloes under the chequered flag. Cichoracki precedes Peruccio and gains the second place. Brangero finishes fourth, ahead of Rybczynski, fifth, and Kostrzewa, sixth.

Senior ROK

The ROK Cup Italy’s paddock hosts 37 Senior ROK drivers over the weekend.

Saturday's qualifying heats see Andrea Giudice in the lead, author of the best time of 47.733 seconds in group 2. Alberto Bernardi, on the other hand, is the fastest in group 1 in 47.900 seconds and ranks second. Giuseppe Gaglianò and Christian Romeo chase respectively in third and fourth place, ahead of Alexandre Lopez, fifth, and Mattia D'Erme, sixth. Mattia Jentile, Samuele Di Filippo, Iwo Beszterda and Riccardo Salemi also find space in the top-10. The ranking is completed by Christos Chatzis, Colin Wazny, Andrea Barbieri, Riccardo Chiodo, Omar Matteo Mosca, Davide Lombardo, Pietro Santese, Simone Taccola, Federico Zanetti, Lukasz Jezierski, Anh Tu Ranghetti, Leonardo Monzani, Franciszek Lassota, Nik Sculac, Alessandro Cocchi, Marlon Di Salvo, Luca Perelli, Antoni Makuch, Rikardo Bakaj, Ludovica Miceli, Ewa Banach, Arthur Niculiu, Omar Locarini, Alessandro Merigo,  Edward Thompson, Nassim Bouarfa and Giovanni Polato.
 

The standings undergo a few changes at the end of Sunday's qualifying heats. With two victories in his hands, Gaglianò jumps to first place in the category, with Giudice second (author of a success) and Bernardi third. From 13th, Barbieri climbs up to fourth position and overtakes Romeo, Beszterda, Lopez, Di Filippo, D'erme and Jentile who complete the top-10 list.
 

In the final, Gaglianò performs a perfect start keeping Giudice at bay, forced to give up second place to Bernardi for a short time. During the first laps, Giudice maintains the same pace as Gaglianò, but the latter can gain a small advantage in the middle stages of the race. Despite the fastest lap of 48.121 seconds recorded four laps from the end, Giudice is forced to finish in second place, behind the winner Gaglianò. Going ahead we find, in order, Barbieri and Bernardi, who stage a thrilling duel for the third. Wazny and Jentile finish fifth and sixth respectively, also in contention for the podium in the final laps.

Expert ROK

The Expert ROK, the ROK Cup Italy’s most experienced drivers’ category, cannot be missed in Castelletto di Branduzzo.

The weekend begins with an extremely hard-fought qualifying, with the top four drivers running within just 23 thousandths of a second. Filippo Repetto snatches the pole position, thanks to a time of 48.911 seconds, and precedes Alessandro Viganò, second, Gianni Zani, third, and Andrea Sorbello, fourth. Marco Massironi follows in fifth place, with Paolo Baselli, Daniel Zajac, Riccardo Pini, Tino Donadei and Luca Molinari behind him. In the second part of the standings, we find Adrian Marcinkiewicz, Mario Barrios Ferrero, Marco Beretta, Nicola Galloni, Gianfranco Spallarossa, Gianluca Todeschini, Gianluca Pietro Rubiolini and Marcin Wnuk.
 

In Race 1, despite the tussle of the first corners, Repetto maintains the first position, while Zani and Sorbello overtake Viganò. On the second lap, however, Viganò speeds up his pace and even becomes the new leader of the race, ahead of Zani, Sorbello and Repetto who slips to fourth place. During the following laps, Massironi also joins the fight for the top positions, but it is Sorbello who overtakes Zani for second place. The race ends with the victory of Viganò, accompanied on the podium by Sorbello and Zani, while Repetto and Massironi rank fourth and fifth respectively.
 

In Race 2, Baselli makes a perfect start and keeps the lead in the first meters, with Zajac, Massironi, Repetto, Zani, Sorbello and Viganò in the immediately following positions. With a much better pace than the rest of the group, Baselli constantly increases his advantage lap after lap and thus distances Zajac, forced instead to watch his back from Massironi first and, in the last laps, from Sorbello. The chequered flag sanctions Baselli's triumph, with Zajac and Sorbello ranked second and third. Massironi is fourth, Zani fifth and Viganò sixth. Repetto, on the other hand, finishes seventh.

Super ROK

Important figures in terms of participants also in Super ROK class, the most performing single-speed category of the ROK Cup Italy.

Saturday's qualifying assigns the pole position to Alex Desario, author of the best time of 47.526 seconds. With just four-thousandths of a second behind, Cardinali is second, while Riccardo Ferrari is third at +0.046 seconds from Desario. Domenico Cicognini hits fourth place and precedes Mattia D'Abramo, in fifth, and Emmanouil Lioudakis, in sixth. In the top-10 list, we also find, in order, Matteo Berruti, Edoardo Prioglio, Fabio Silvestri and Daniele Galbiati. The ranking goes on with Davide Mizzoni, Alex Laghezza, Scott Reilly, Guido Bidoli, Alessandro Zini, Nicholas Giuseppe Reino, Tommaso Curione, Simone Donchi, Chiara Bolognini, Manuel Giovanni Gritti, Matilde Seregni, Andrea Saporiti, Giuseppe Palladino, Emanuele Romanelli, Gabriele Cucinotta and Luca Fiorenti.
 

In Race 1, a performing Desario still runs in the lead of the category while Ferrari steals the second position from Cardinali. Cicognini and Prioglio momentarily take the fourth and fifth place. In the following laps, D'Abramo shows off by climbing from sixth to fourth position, subsequently managing to overtake Cardinali as well, thus conquering third place. In the meantime, Desario is able to keep Ferrari at a good distance and, at the end of the 15 laps scheduled, triumphs on the final finish line. D'Abramo is third ahead of Cardinali, Cicognini, Liodakis, Galbiati and Prioglio.
 

In Race 2, the swap on the starting grid of the first eight drivers of Race 1 assigns the pole position to Prioglio who, at the start, maintains the lead at the first corner, before handing it over to an exciting Lioudakis. Ferrari, on the other hand, attacks and overtakes Cardinali for third place on the second lap. After examining the situation, Lioudakis sets his own pace in the race running far away from Proglio, forced to watch his back from Ferrari and Cardinali. At the end of the 13 scheduled laps, Lioudakis celebrates his first win of the season, with Proglio and Cardinali preceding Ferrari at the finish line. Desario finishes fifth, followed by D'Abramo and Galbiati.

Shifter ROK

Firing up the atmosphere of the second round of the championship there are the protagonists of the Shifter ROK.

Just back from a victory in the Franciacorta round, Karol Pasiewicz precedes everyone in the qualifyings. The Polish driver records the best chrono time of 47.317 and beats Lorenzo Bedetti, second at +0.083 seconds. Nicola Rossini gains third place, Federico Albanese fourth and Manuel Daziano fifth. The sixth position goes to Marco Acquarella, ahead of Leonardo Principalli, Brando Pozzi (winner of Race 1 in Franciacorta), Matteo Orengo, Davide Cominazzini, Giacomo Prandelli, Mateo Moni and Tymoteusz Ksiadz.
 

In Race 1, Pasiewicz performs an excellent jump when the lights go out and maintains the first place, unlike Bedetti who is immediately forced to defend himself from a threatening Rossini. However, during the opening lap, Daziano overtakes Rossini in the third position. Pasiewicz and Bedetti run far from the rest of the group and start an intense duel for the first position until the race direction decides to assign a three-second penalty to the Polish driver. In the meantime, behind them, Rossini is forced to give up two positions to Pozzi and Albanese. The chequered flag gives the victory to Bedetti, with Pasiewicz second classified due to the penalty, while Daziano is able to defend himself from Pozzi securing the lowest step of the podium. Albanese is fifth, and Rossini is sixth.
 

In Race 2, Cominazzini starts badly from the pole position and Acquarella immediately takes advantage of it to take the reins of the race, ahead of Rossini and a very fast Bedetti. On the second lap, Bedetti and Pasiewicz emerge in the top positions, starting next to him: the Italian and the Polish driver occupy the first and second place, after having overtaken both Rossini and Acquarella. The two protagonists of Race 1 remain glued for the rest of the race, even if Pasiewicz gives up in the last laps. Bedetti thus runs fast, always ahead of Pasiewicz. This time, however, the lowest step of the podium goes to Albanese. Pozzi finishes fourth, followed by Rossini, Principalli and Acquarella.