334 verified drivers in the opening round of the WSK Super Master Series. Qualifying stages are underway.

The pole positions have been set by Zulfikari (MINI Gr.3), Truchot (MINI Gr.3 U10), Van Langendonck (OKJ), Coluccio (OK) and Slater (KZ2). The winners of the initial qualifying heats.

The paddock in Lonato was even more crowded for the second consecutive 2023 WSK Promotion event. After last Sunday's WSK Champions Cup, it's now the turn of the first of four classic WSK Super Master Series races, with an international field of over 330 drivers from 51 countries competing in the MINI Gr3, MINI Gr3 Under 10, OKJ, OK and KZ2 categories.

The signs of an exceptional sports show were immediately evident with the qualifying heats on Friday morning and the first qualifying heats in the afternoon. The program will continue on Saturday with further elimination heats, and finally on Sunday, February 5th with the final phase Live on TV and Live Streaming.

Qualifying practice.

KZ2 – Good performance by Vasile.

Three qualification Sessions were necessary for the KZ2. Romanian Daniel Vasile (Birel Art Racing/BirelArt-TM-Vega) impressed with a time of 45.497s, which was the best in Session-1 and overall. Vasile was followed by his two teammates, the young Englishman Freddie Slater, who went faster in Session-3 in 45.634s, and the Italian Moritz Ebner, who topped the charts of Session-2 in 45.715s. Among the best were also the French driver Emilien Denner (Sodikart/Sodi-TM) in Session-1 (45.530s), and the winner of the last race, the Italian Cristian Bertuca (Birel Art Racing/BirelArt-TM) in Session-3 (45.746s). The winner of the 2022 edition, the Dutchman Senna Van Walstijn, had to forfeit due to the consequences of a recent snow injury.

OK – Coluccio takes the pole by 0.007s.

Two sessions were held for the OK. The fastest was Luigi Coluccio (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont) in Session-1 and overall in 46.461s, with a 7-thousandth advantage over the winner of the last race, the Dane David Walther (Koski Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex). In Session-2, the best performance was posted by Coluccio's teammate, the American Luis James Egozi, in 46.468s, who led the Italian Simone Bianco (CRG Racing Team/CRG-Iame) in 46.547s.

OKJ – Van Langendonck to the fore.

Among the young drivers contesting OKJ, the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (Energy Corse/Energy-TM-Vega) immediately stood out with the overall best performance posted in Session-3 (47.464s). The fastest of Session-2 and with the second overall time, was the Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) in 47.531s, while the Spanish driver Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM) led the pack in Session-3 in 47.779s.

MINI Gr.3 – Zulfikari posts the fastest time.

In the MINI Gr.3, the young Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega), who already won the last event of the WSK Champions Cup, secured the overall pole position in 52.223s. In the other two Sessions, the best were the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (Kidix/KR-Iame) in Session-3 in 52.311s, and Ilia Berezkin (Team Driver/KR-Iame) in Session-2 in 52.504s.  

MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – Truchot is the fastest.

In the MINI Gr.3 Under 10 (8 to 10 years old), the fastest overall and in Session-2 was the French driver Alessandro Truchot (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM-Vega) in 52.480s. He was followed by the Belgian driver Henri Kumpen (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) in 52.565s. The fastest time of Session-1 was set by the Swiss driver Orlando Rovelli (Kidix/KR-Iame) in 52.552s, who led the Portuguese driver Xavier Lazaro (DR/DR-TM) in 52.628s.   

The winners of the heats run on Friday.

A total of 16 heats have been run on Friday, while 27 further races will follow on Saturday, February 4th to round off the qualifying heats.
The winners of the heats follow:
KZ2: Cristian Bertuca (manche A-B), Emilien Denner (C-D).
OK: Luigi Coluccio (manche A-B), David Walther (C-D).
OKJ: Sebastian Lehtimaki (manches A-B/A-C), Christian Costoya (C-D), Elliot Kaczynski (E-F), Jindrich Pesl (D-F), Oleksandr Bondarev (B-E).
MINI Gr.3: Ilia Berezkin (manche C-E/C-D), Dean Hoogendoorn (B-D), Iskender Zulfikari (A-E).
MINI Gr.3 Under 10: Wiktor Stalmach (manche A-B), Albert Tamm (C-D).  

The program of the WSK Super Master Series, Round 1, South Garda Karting of Lonato:
Saturday, February 4: qualifying heats from 10:10.
Sunday, February 5: Prefinals from 10:10, Final OKJ 13:50, Final MINI U10 at 14:20, Final MINI Gr.3 at 14:50, Final KZ2 at 15:20, Final OK at 15:50.

The calendar of WSK Super Master Series:
1st Rd – 05/02/2023 LONATO / MINI – OKJ – OK – KZ2
2nd Rd – 19/02/2023 FRANCIACORTA / MINI – OKJ – OK – KZ2
3rd Rd – 05/03/2023 SARNO / MINI – OKJ – OK – KZ2
4th Rd – 30/04/2023 CREMONA / MINI – OKJ – OK – KZ2

Results: www.wskarting.it/index.asp