All the winners of the second round of the WSK Super Master Series
The victory in the finals at the Cremona Circuit went to Denner (KZ2), Eyckmans (OK), Van Langendonck (OKJ), Lovatt (OKNJ), Calleja (MINI Gr.3) and Palacio (MINI Gr.3 U10).
In a weekend largely influenced by rain, the Cremona Circuit hosted the second round of the WSK Super Master Series, an international event that, like the first one in Lonato, saw over 300 drivers from 50 different nationalities. The most prominent karting manufacturers and highly qualified teams worldwide participated in the competition across the KZ2, OK, OKJ, OKNJ and MINI categories.
Following the qualifying heats, the climax of the weekend unfolded with the Sunday morning Prefinals and the much-anticipated Finals in the afternoon, finally free from rain. The winners of this second round were: Denner (KZ2), Eyckmans (OK), Van Langendonck (OKJ), Lovatt (OKNJ), Calleja (MINI Gr.3) and Palacio (MINI Gr.3 U10).
The Prefinals.
The winners of the Prefinals follow:
KZ2 - Prefinal A: Cristian Bertuca (ITA) (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-Vega).
KZ2 - Prefinal B: Artem Severiukhin (#5 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 U10 - Prefinal A: David Moscardi (ITA) (#560 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 U10 - Prefinal B: Carl Nellegard (SWE) (#553 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 - Prefinal: Bruno Priam (BEL) (#576 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega).
OKJ - Prefinal A: Iacopo Martinese (ITA) (#309 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega).
OKJ - Prefinal B: Niklas Schaufler (AUT) (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame-Vega).
OK - Prefinal A: Ean Eyckmans (BEL) (#209 BirelART Racing/TM Kart-LeCont).
OK - Prefinal B: Fionn MacLaughlin (IRL) (#267 VDK Racing/KR-Iame-LeCont)
OKNJ - Prefinal: Archie Lovatt (GBR) (#712 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega)
The Finals and the winners of the WSK Super Master Series, Round-2.
KZ2 – Denner comes back and wins.
In the final, with no rain but still on a wet track, the Frenchman Emilien Denner (#11 Sodikart/Sodi-TM Kart-Vega) emerged victorious, relentless in securing the win after a strong performance in the qualifying phases. The initial standout, Italian Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart), had to relinquish the lead around one-third into the race, ultimately conceding the second position to Denner's teammate, fellow Italian Giuseppe Palomba (#12 Sodikart/Sodi-TM Kart), who also made a notable comeback to secure second place on the podium. Bertuca finished in third place but, with his victory in the first round in Lonato, kept the lead in the standings with a significant advantage. The Estonian Markus Kajak (#14 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart) claimed fourth place, followed by Artem Severiukhin (#5 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart), the Dutch driver Marijn Kremers (#35 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex) and the two other BirelART drivers, the Romanian Daniel Vasile and the Swiss Jean Laurent Luyet.
KZ2 Final Result
1st Emilien Denner (FRA)
2nd Giuseppe Palomba (ITA) +1.421
3rd Cristian Bertuca (ITA) +4.449
KZ2 Championship standings
1st Cristian Bertuca (ITA) points 171
2nd Emilien Denner (FRA) points 97
3rd Giuseppe Palomba (ITA) points 88
OK – Eyckmans triumphs.
Between the two main contenders, the Belgian Ean Eyckmans (#209 BirelART Racing/TM Kart-LeCont) and Brazilian Gabriel Gomez (#263 CRG Racing Team/CRG-Iame), who started the final on the front row, Eyckmans emerged victorious. After an initial duel, Eyckmans had no trouble securing the win with a comfortable lead. Gomez lost some positions midway through the race but managed to recover and finish in second place ahead of Irishman Fionn MacLaughlin (#267 VDK Racing/KR-Iame), who secured third place in the final moments. With this victory, Eyckmans took the lead in the championship, surpassing the Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev (#201 Prema Racing/KR-Iame), who had dominated the previous round in Lonato. Bondarev settled for fourth place. The fifth place went to the British driver Freddie Lloyd (#227 Ricky Flynn/LN-TM Kart).
OK Final Result
1st Ean Eyckmans (BEL)
2nd Gabriel Gomez (BRA) +2.081
3rd Fionn MacLaughlin (IRL) +5.864
OK Championship standings
1st Ean Eyckmans (BEL) points148
2nd Oleksandr Bondarev points138
3rd Fionn MacLaughlin (IRL) points 72
OKJ – The final goes to Van Langendonck.
Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (#328 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega) managed to secure victory in the final, quickly taking the lead in the race that was initially led by the Italian Filippo Sala (#327 Ricky Flynn/LN-TM Kart) in the early laps. Despite a challenging qualifying, the Austrian Niklas Schaufler (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame) staged a remarkable comeback to claim the second position in the final, maintaining his championship lead after the Lonato win. Filippo Sala rounded off the podium with a third-place finish. The Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (#319 AKM Motorsport/KR-Iame) showcased an impressive comeback of 14 positions, securing the fourth position. The Ukrainian Lev Krutogolov (#380 Borsch Racing/Tony Kart-Iame) finished in fifth place.
OKJ Final Result
1st Dries Van Langendonck (BEL)
2nd Niklas Schaufler (AUT) +2.884
3rd Filippo Sala (ITA) +3.664
OKJ Championship standings
1st Niklas Schaufler (AUT) points 172
2nd Dries Van Langendonck (BEL) points 154
3rd Iacopo Martinese (ITA) points 77
OKNJ - Lovatt wins the final sprint.
In OK-N Junior, the English driver Archie Lovatt (#712 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega) secured a hard-fought victory in the final, winning a close race after dominating the heats and prefinal. His main rival proved to be the Romanian Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#711 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart), the winner of the first round in Lonato, who also had a strong performance in the final at Cremona. Lovatt managed to clinch the victory by a mere 0.028s over Cosma Cristofor. However, due to a penalty for incorrect positioning of the front spoiler, the Romanian driver was classified in third place. The Slovakian Alex Molota (#717 Firefly/Gillard-TM Kart) took the second position. The Italian Valerio Viapiana (#702 Team Driver/KR-Iame) finished fourth, followed by the American Drew Walz (#728 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) in fifth.
OKNJ Final Result
1st Archie Lovatt (GBR)
2nd Alex Molota (SVK) +2.685
3rd Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU) +3.028
OKNJ Championship standings
1st Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU) points 137
2nd Archie Lovatt (GBR) points 126
3rd Alex Molota (SVK) points 109
MINI GR.3 – Final win for Calleja, who takes the championship lead.
In MINI Gr.3, the Australian driver William Calleja (#516 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) staged an exciting comeback, eventually taking the lead in the last two laps from the Italian Cristian Blandino (#550 Kalì-Kart Racing/TGroup-TM Kart), who had won the previous race in Lonato. Blandino settled for second place in this round. The third step of the podium went to the Belgian Bruno Priam (#576 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), followed by the Spanish driver Daniel Miron Lorente (#501 Team Driver/KR-Iame) and the American Alessandro Truchot (#510 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame).
MINI Gr.3 Final Result
1st William Calleja (AUS)
2nd Cristian Blandino (ITA) +0.370
3rd Bruno Priam (BEL) +2.960
MINI Gr.3 Championship standings
1st William Calleja (AUS) points 143
2nd Cristian Blandino (ITA) points 127
3rd Daniel Miron Lorente (ESP) points 99
MINI GR.3 U10 – A nice win to Palacio.
In MINI Gr.3 Under 10, the American driver Lucas Palacio (#575 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) secured victory with a comfortable lead over Polish racer Blazej Kostrzewa (#521 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) and Italian David Moscardi (#560 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-Vega), who had performed well in the qualifying. However, a retirement, just one lap from the finish, affected the winner of the previous Lonato race, the Swedish driver Carl Nellegard (#553 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart), along with another key contender in the category, the Italian Niccolò Perico (#526 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart). The Canadian Rocco Simone (#565 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame) claimed fourth place, and the Greek driver Jason Kosmopoulos (#558 CRG Racing Team/TGroup-TM Kart) secured the fifth spot.
MINI Gr.3 U10 Final Result
1st Lucas Palacio (USA)
2nd Blazej Kostrzewa (POL) +2.132
3rd David Moscardi (ITA) +4.153
MINI Gr.3 U10 Campionato
1st Carl Nellegard (USA) points 132
2nd Luca Palacio (USA) points 125
3rd Blazej Kostrzewa (POL) points 106
The next round:
WSK Super Master Series
3rd Rd – 18/02/2024 Franciacorta / MINI – OKNJ – OKJ – OK – KZ2
Info, classifications, results: www.wskarting.it/index.asp