Kart Republic: A successful transition from 2023 to 2024
The 2023 season was full of success for the KR Global Motorsport Company factory in the international categories and the results of the first major event of 2024 confirmed this trend, already auguring many successes to come. At the WSK Champions Cup in Lonato, the chassis won two titles, with Niklas Schaufler (DPK Racing) in OK-Junior and Oleksander Bondarev (Prema Racing) in OK, a category that ended with four KR-IAMEs in the top four places!
An excellent overall result
The first thing to note is that the KR chassis was the best represented at South Garda Karting out of the 264 drivers present. The World Champion and European Champion titles won respectively by Paolo Ippolito and Danilo Albanese in KZ in 2023 undoubtedly contributed to the breakthrough in KZ2 for Kart Republic, which remains the most popular in the other categories. And in terms of results, the event ended with a total of ten top-five finishes!
KR still very strong in OK
At Lonato, the top four places in the Final standings went to drivers using the chassis produced in the Padova region. The Prema Racing colours came out on top with the 2023 European OK-Junior Champion, Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev. He beat one of the revelations of the day, Israeli Guy Albag (KR Motorsport). Salim Hanna (Prema Racing) completed the top three ahead of Gerasim Skulanov (DPK Racing).
Schaufler makes the difference in OK-Junior
Already excellent last year, Niklas Schaufler (DPK Racing) got his year off to a winning start after taking the measure of his rivals in this highly competitive category. The French Victory team, which has decided to place its trust in KR-IAME systems this season, began its new collaboration with Kart Republic with some excellent results, including 4th place with Rocco Coronel. Dean Hoogendoorn took 7th place for AKM Motorsport.
Mini performance
As the Finals got underway, a number of drivers equipped with KR chassis were well placed to fight for podium places and even victory in the young driver categories. These included Lucas Palacio and Leon Chelidze in the Mini U10 class, and Oleksandr Legenkyi and Daniel Miron Lorente in the Mini class.
Dmitry Matveev made a remarkable debut in KZ2. After his setbacks in Timed Practice, his comeback did not go unnoticed.
Congratulations also to the drivers who represented the KR brand in OK-N Junior: Valerio Viapiana (pole position, leader after the heats and winner of the Prefinal), Luigi Antonio Cocchianella (P4) and Sara Matsui (P6).
Comments from Dino Chiesa, Head of KR Global Motorsport Company
"This season has started very early, so the rest period was short for everyone, but this WSK Promotion event allowed us to put the oil back in the gears. It was a sort of warm-up lap for the drivers and teams. Things are going to get even more serious with the start of the WSK Super Master Series. 2024 is not a homologation year for either chassis or engines. We know that we have high-performance equipment and we've been able to prove it once again. We're delighted to have won two important categories, OK-Junior and OK, where we secured the entire top four.
"However, I don't want to jump to conclusions. The track was cold and we used tyres that won't be used in FIA Karting events. The rest of the season promises to be very different, but it's always good for morale to start with victories, whether with the KR Motorsport team or with other private teams.”