Spectacle on track and great duels at the WSK Super Master Series in Franciacorta
The Finals have been won by Miron Lorente (MINI Gr.3), Perico (MINI U10), Costoya (OKJ), Leuillet (KZ2), Matveev (OK) and Cosma Cristofor (OKNJ).
The third round of the WSK Super Master Series held at the Franciacorta Karting Track provided an exciting spectacle in the penultimate stage of the championship, making the battle for titles in the MINI, OKNJ, OKJ, OK and KZ2 categories even more thrilling. The points increment system added to the intensity, becoming even more crucial in the final round in Sarno on March 2.
Following the previous events in Lonato and Cremona, the Franciacorta race took place on a globally competitive stage with the participation of 389 drivers out of over 400 registered, representing 51 nations. Major manufacturers, top teams, established champions and promising young talents all contributed to the international flair of the event.
After the qualifying heats on Friday and Saturday, the final phase on Sunday, February 18, featured double Prefinals to determine the final qualification for each category's Finals. The winners of this third round were: Miron Lorente (MINI Gr.3), Perico (MINI Gr.3 U10), Costoya (OKJ), Leuillet (KZ2), Matveev (OK) and Cosma Cristofor (OKNJ).
As for the championship standings after three rounds, here are the leaders before the final event in Sarno on March 2: Calleja (MINI Gr.3), Perico (MINI Gr.3 U10), Schaufler (OKJ), Bertuca (KZ2), Eyckmans (OK) and Cosma Cristofor (OKNJ).
The Prefinals.
All the winners of the Prefinals follow.
MINI Gr.3 - Prefinal A: Daniel Miron Lorente (NLD) (#501 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 - Prefinal B: Cristian Blandino (ITA) (#550 Kalì-Kart Racing/TGroup-TM Kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 U10 - Prefinal A: Niccolò Perico (ITA) (#526 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 U10 - Prefinal B: Carl Nellegard (SWE) (#553 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart-Vega).
OKJ - Prefinal A: Dean Hoogendoorn (NLD) (#319 AKM Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega).
OKJ - Prefinal B: Niklas Schaufler (AUT) (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame-Vega).
KZ2 - Prefinal A: Daniel Vasile (ROU) (#4 BirelART/BirelART-TM Kart-Vega).
KZ2 - Prefinal B: Danilo Albanese (ITA) (#82 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega).
OK - Prefinal A: Sebastiano Pavan (ITA) (#218 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex-LeCont).
OK - Prefinal B: Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL) (#275 VDK Racing/KR-Iame-LeCont).
OKNJ - Prefinal A: Sub-judice Pietro Bagutti (#701 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Kart-Vega).
OKNJ - Prefinal B: Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#711 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega).
The Finals and the winners of the WSK Super Master Series, Round-3.
MINI GR.3 - Miron Lorente on the top step of the podium.
The winner of the MINI Gr.3 final was the Spanish driver Daniel Miron Lorente (#501 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) in a closely contested race until the final moments. In the closing stages, Miron executed a decisive overtaking maneuver against the Australian William Calleja (#516 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) just before the finish line. Miron completed an excellent weekend, securing victories in the heats and Prefinal-A, maintaining his lead in the championship. In a close battle for the third position on the last lap, the Polish driver Leonardo Gorski (#514 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) crossed the line behind Miron and Calleja. Finishing in fourth place and just outside the podium was the Italian Cristian Blandino (#550 Kalì-Kart Racing/TGroup-TM Kart), winner of Prefinal-B. Among the top performers was also the American Alessandro Truchot (#510 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega), securing the fifth position in the final.
MINI Gr.3 Final Result
1st Daniel Miron Lorente (NLD)
2nd William Calleja (AUS) +0.105
3rd Leonardo Gorski (POL) +0.166
MINI Gr.3 Championship Standings
1st William Calleja (AUS) points 241
2nd Daniel Miron Lorente (NLD) points 231
3rd Cristian Blandino (ITA) points 212.
MINI GR.3 U10 – Victory to Perico at the end of a nice duel.
Equally thrilling was the competition in the other category of MINI, reserved for the youngest drivers Under 10. The Italian driver Niccolò Perico (#526 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart-Vega) emerged victorious in the Prefinal-A and engaged in an exciting final duel, ultimately securing the win against Prefinal-B winner, the Swedish driver Carl Nellegard (#553 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart), who was later excluded from the race for deemed unsportsmanlike conduct. Behind the victorious Perico, who jumped into the championship lead, the Scottish driver Mason Robertson (#513 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) claimed the second position after leading in the heats and qualifying. The third position went to another Italian, Achille Rea (#515 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), while the Greek driver Jason Kosmopoulos (#558 CRG Racing Team/TGroup-TM Kart) finished in fourth place. A notable performance was also delivered by Henri-Constant Kumpen (#534 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), who finished fifth after a strong comeback.
MINI Gr.3 U10 Final Result
1st Niccolò Perico (ITA)
2nd Mason Robertson (SCO) +0.291
3rd Achille Rea (ITA) +0.918
MINI Gr.3 U10 Championship Standings
1st Niccolò Perico (ITA) points 208
2nd Mason Robertson (SCO) points 141
3rd Blazej Kostrzewa (POL) points 130.
OKJ - Costoya wins the Final.
In the final, just before the halfway point, the Spanish driver Christian Costoya (#337 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega) managed to take the lead and win over the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (#319 AKM Motorsport/KR-Iame), who had secured victory in Prefinal-A. However, the winner of Prefinal-B and championship leader from Austria Niklas Schaufler (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame), was forced to retire. In the closing moments of the race, the American driver Jack Dennis Iliffe (#330 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) claimed the third position, ahead of the Dutch driver Rocco Coronel (#343 Victorylane Karting/KR-Iame).
The fifth place went to the Belgian driver Dries Van Langendonck (#328 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart), who had won the previous race in Cremona. Niklas Schaufler maintains his lead in the championship thanks to the points earned in Prefinal-B.
OKJ Final Result
1st Christian Costoya (ESP)
2nd Dean Hoogendoorn (NLD) +0.386
3rd Jack Dennis Iliffe (USA) +4.779
OKJ Championship Standings
1st Niklas Schaufler (AUT) points 231
2nd Dries Van Langendonck (BEL) points 187
3rd Christian Costoya (ESP) points 147.
KZ2 - Leuillet wins a nice Final.
A thrilling Final was won by the French driver Tom Leuillet (#33 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex-Vega) who secured victories in the heats as well. The French driver triumphed over the Dutch driver Senna Van Walstijn (#95 Sodikart/Sodi-TM Kart), who staged an impressive comeback. In the third position, maintaining his championship lead, was the Italian Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart). His teammate, the Romanian Daniel Vasile, winner of Prefinal-A, settled for fourth place, ahead of other notable contenders in the category, such as the Swedish driver Viktor Gustavsson (#90 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart), the Spanish driver Pedro Hiltbrand (#16 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart), and Prefinal-B winner, the Italian Danilo Albanese (#82 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame).
KZ2 Final Result
1st Tom Leuillet (FRA)
2nd Senna Van Walstijn (NLD) +0.322
3rd Cristian Bertuca (ITA) +0.687
KZ2 Championship Standings
1st Cristian Bertuca (ITA) points 229
2nd Daniel Vasile (ROU) points 154
3rd Tom Leuillet (FRA) points 125
OK – Matveev takes victory.
In the OK category, the weekend duel between the Italian driver Sebastiano Pavan (#218 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex-LeCont) and Belgian driver Thibaut Ramaekers (#275 VDK Racing/KR-Iame), who also won the respective Prefinals, continued into the final until a few laps from the end when the two leaders came into contact: Pavan finished ninth, while Ramaekers was forced to retire. The race lead then passed into the hands of Dmitry Matveev (#276 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame), who secured the victory, defeating the championship leader, the Belgian driver Ean Eyckmans (#209 BirelART Racing/TM Kart). The Italian driver Davide Bottaro (#278 CRG Racing Team/CRG-Iame), who set the fastest time in qualifying, finished on the podium. Among the top performers the Irish driver Fionn MacLaughlin (#267 VDK Racing/KR-Iame) who ended fourth and the English driver Lewis Wherrell (#229 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart).
OK Final Result
1st Dmitry Matveev
2nd Ean Eyckmans (BEL) +1.482
3rd Davide Bottaro (ITA) +1.617
OK Championship Standings
1st Ean Eyckmans (BEL) points 223
2nd Sebastiano Pavan (ITA) points 141
3rd Oleksandr Bondarev (UKR) points 138
OKNJ - Cosma Cristofor wins and confirms his championship lead.
The OK-N Junior category was also highly contested, and in the end, the Romanian championship leader Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#711 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega), already a winner in the first round at Lonato, emerged victorious. After winning the Prefinal-B, Cosma Cristofor also secured victory in the Final, defeating the Italian driver Valerio Viapiana (#702 Team Driver/KR-Iame), who had performed well in qualifying and heats. Ludovico Mazzola (#713 Mazzola/Exprit-Vortex) claimed the third step of the podium, closely following Viapiana after a comeback. The standings are pending an appeal regarding an exclusion imposed on Pietro Bagutti (#701 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Kart) following an incident with another Italian driver, Giacomo Giusto (#729 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart), as they were battling for victory in Prefinal-A.
OKNJ Final Result (sub-judice)
1st Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU)
2nd Valerio Viapiana (ITA) +0.809
3rd Ludovico Mazzola (ITA) +0.875
OKNJ Championship Standings(sub-judice)
1st Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU) points 268
2nd Valerio Viapiana (ITA) points 171
3rd Archie Lovatt (GBR) points 165
The next round
WSK Super Master Series
4th Rd – 02/03/2024 Sarno / MINI – OKNJ – OKJ – OK – KZ2 (Final Day Saturday)