All the main contenders to the win of the WSK Final Cup in Lonato

Qualifying heats of day two being concluded, the current classification leaders are: Bertuca (KZ2), Coluccio (OK), Van Langendonck (OKJ), Esteves (MINI Gr.3), Perico (MINI Gr.3 U10), Saareks (X30J) and Rossi (X30S).

Competitiveness and a lot of excitement at the South Garda Karting circuit among the 340 participants from 52 nations who gathered in Lonato to compete in the first round of the WSK Final Cup. The categories for this initial round include KZ2, OK, OKJ, MINI, X30J, and X30S.

A total of 39 qualifying heats were held in the first two days on Friday and Saturday, necessary to determine the finalists and, more importantly, the top contenders for the final phase on Sunday, November 19th. The action will be live on TV streaming.

The result of all qualifying heats on Friday and Saturday.

KZ2 – Bertuca puts his name forward to the win.

In KZ2, Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-LeCont) missed out on the pole position in the qualifying session, but in the race, the Italian driver promptly recovered by winning both of his heats. The other heat went to the German driver David Trefilov (#40 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart). Other Italians performed well and secured high positions in the standings. These include Matteo Zanchi (#52 Zanchi Motorsport/CRG-TM Kart) and Alex Maragliano (#12 Renda Motorsport/Sodikart-TM Kart), who were among the most competitive. Also, in contention were the Estonian Markus Kajak (#25 KH Racing Team/BirelART-Modena Engines) and German Daniel Stell (#33 Dorr Motorsport/KR-Iame). The pole-sitter, Artem Severiukhin (#24 Racing Line/BirelART-TM Kart), had to settle for two placements. Despite an unfortunate retirement in one heat, the French driver Tom Leuillet (#10 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex) secured second place in the last heat.      

OK – Coluccio takes the lead of the provisional standings.

With a victory and a third-place finish, the Italian driver Luigi Coluccio (#216 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex-LeCont) jumped to the top of the provisional standings, ahead of pole-sitter Dmitry Matveev (#204 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame), who secured a win in the second heat. Another triumph allowed the Polish driver Gustaw Wisniewski (#230 Koski Motorsport/Tony Kart-Iame) to end sixth overall. The third position went to another Italian, Sebastiano Pavan (#218 OTK/Tony Kart-Vortex), who was followed by the Belgian driver Ean Eyckmans (#223 Leclerc by Lennox/BirelART-TM Kart) in fourth and Colombian Salim Hanna (#208 Prema Racing/KR-Iame) in fifth. 

OKJ – Van Langendonck to the fore among many rivals.

In the category with the highest number of heats, a total of 15 between Friday and Saturday, the Belgian driver Dries Van Langendonck (#329 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) stood out with three heat victories, one on Friday and two on Saturday. His main rival proved to be the Finnish driver Sebastian Lehtimaki (#311 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), also with 3 victories. The American Jack Iliffe (#377 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) with one win and the Italian Iacopo Martinese (#301 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) making a great comeback with two victories were following closely. Pursuing them were also the Spanish driver Christian Costoya (#376 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), the Austrian Niklas Schaufler (#345 DPK Racing/KR-Iame) and the British driver Roman Kamyab (#326 Ricky Flynn Motorsport/LN Kart-TM Kart). 

MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – Perico is the main contender.

In total, there were 6 heats for the MINI Gr.3 Under 10, and among all, Niccolò Perico (#557 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart-Vega) stood out with two victories and a second-place finish in the three heats contested by the Italian driver. Among the top performers was also the Polish driver Blazej Kostrzewa (#619 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) with one victory. Other winners include the Greek Jason Kosmopoulos (#583 Cosmorally/Energy-TM Kart), the Spanish poleman Daniel Miron Lorente (#501 Team Driver Racing Kart/KR-Iame) and the Estonian Mark Loomets (#558 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart).

MINI Gr.3 – Esteves still in the lead.

In MINI Gr.3, the Swiss driver Riven Esteves (#509 Team Driver Racing Team/KR-Iame-Vega) kept his lead, already securing the pole position in qualifying, winning two heats on Friday and finishing fourth in Saturday's heat. The Italian Cristian Blandino (#622 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart) with two victories was also among the top performers. In the other heats, a victory went to the Peruvian Mariano Lopez (#517 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) and one to the Italian Pietro Bagutti (#535 Gamoto/EKS-TM Kart), who staged an impressive comeback.

X30 Junior – Saareks and Cosma Cristofor are the great protagonists.

The Swedish driver Fred Saareks (#724 AD Motorsport/Energy-Iame-MG) just missed out on achieving a clean sweep after securing the pole position in qualifying and winning the first two heats. The victory was claimed by the Romanian Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#712 Team Driver/KR-Iame) in the final moment of the third heat. He made his debut in the Junior category and was also an excellent performer with a second-place finish in the overall standings. Also performing well were the French girl Angelina Proenca (#701 Moni Nicolas/Exprit-Iame), the Serbian Luka Malbasa (#714 Team Driver/Tony Kart-Iame) and the Bulgarian Lyuboslav Ruykov (#711 Team Driver/Tony Kart-Iame).

X30 Senior – Rossi flies away.

A retirement by Federico Albanese (#815 Italcorse Racing Team/Italcorse-Iame-MG) due to a chain failure in the third heat interrupted the continuous duel that had developed with Federico Rossi (#807 PRK/Tony Kart-Iame). Rossi, after securing pole position in qualifying, concluded the heats at the top of the standings with two victories, while Albanese was third with a win in the second heat. Between the two Italian drivers, the Greek Emmanouil Lioudakis (#813 Martins Nicolas/KR-Iame)  entered the picture, finishing second in the third heat and currently holding second place in the standings.

The first two Prefinals of the weekend.

The first two Prefinals took place at the end of the day: those of X30 Junior and X30 Senior. The winners are:
X30 Junior: Prefinal: Fred Saareks (SWE) (#724 AD Motorsport/Energy-Iame-MG).
X30 Senior: Prefinal: Federico Rossi (ITA) (#807 PRK/Tony Kart-Iame-MG).

The program in Lonato.
Sunday, November 19th: 8:00 Warm up; Prefinals 09:40 and Finals 12:40 Live TV and Live Streaming: 12:40 X30J, 13:10 X30S, 13:40 OKJ; 14:10 OK, 14:40 MINI U10; 15:10 MINI GR.3; 15:40 KZ2.