The champions of the WSK Final Cup praise season 2023
In the second and closing round at Franciacorta, the titles went to: Trefilov (KZ2), Matveev (OK), Van Langendonck (OKJ), Walz (MINI Gr.3), Miron (MINI Gr.3 U10), Ferrari (OK-N) and Cosma-Cristofor (OKNJ- sub-judice).
The second and final round of the WSK Final Cup concluded the WSK Promotion karting season at Franciacorta, marking another successful participation and sealing a particularly positive year, not only in terms of numbers but also in the quality of the drivers competing in WSK events. At Franciacorta, 342 drivers from 50 countries took to the track in this final event, representing the global karting community.
Following the qualifying heats in the first two days of the competition, the Sunday morning Prefinals and afternoon Finals at Franciacorta highlighted the significance of this WSK Final Cup. The event determined the champions in MINI, OKJ, OK, KZ2, and the two federal categories, OKN and OKNJ. The 2023 champions were Trefilov in KZ2, Matveev in OK, Van Langendonck in OKJ, Walz in MINI Gr.3, and Miron in MINI Gr.3 Under 10. In the two new federal categories, Ferrari secured the title in OK-N and Cosma-Cristofor (subject to judgment) in OK-N Junior.
The winners of the Prefinals.
OK-N - Prefinal: Federico Rossi (ITA) (#811 PRK/Tony Kart-TM Kart-Vega).
OK-N J - Prefinal: Noah Baglin (GBR) (#716 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega).
OKJ - Prefinal A: Dries Van Langendonck (BEL) (#329 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega).
OKJ - Prefinal B: Christian Costoya (ESP) (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega).
OK - Prefinal A: Anatoly Khavalkin (#237 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-LeCont).
OK - Prefinal B: Sebastiano Pavan (ITA) (#218 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex-LeCont)
MINI Gr.3 U10 - Prefinal A: Rocco Simone (CAN) (#603 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame).
MINI Gr.3 U10 - Prefinal B: Mason Robertson (SCO) (#527 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 - Prefinal A: Mariano Lopez (PER) (#517 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 - Prefinal B: Gioele Girardello (ITA) (#611 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega).
KZ2 - Prefinal A: Cristian Bertuca (ITA) (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-LeCont).
KZ2 - Prefinal B: Maksim Orlov (/) (#27 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-LeCont).
The Finals and the Champions of the WSK Final Cup 2023.
KZ2 – Trefilov wins the final and the championship.
Several drivers were in contention for the lead at Franciacorta, but in the end, it was the German driver David Trefilov (#40 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart-Vega) who emerged victorious in the final and ultimately in the championship. He secured the top spot on the championship podium, leaving two of his main rivals, Maksim Orlov (#27 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) and Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart), to take the other two positions. Both Orlov and Bertuca had secured victories in the two Prefinals. In the final race, David Trefilov finished ahead of Maksim Orlov and the Frenchman Tom Leuillet (#10 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex), who performed well in the heats. Unfortunately, Bertuca was forced to retire after a few laps due to an incident. The fourth place went to Brazilian driver Gabriel Gomez (#8 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart) and the fifth to the Czech driver Marek Skrivan (#21 Sumako IPK Racing/IPK-TM Kart).
KZ2 Final Results
1st David Trefilov (DEU)
2nd Maksim Orlov (/)
3rd Tom Leuillet (FRA)
KZ2 Championship standings
1st David Trefilov (DEU) points 176
2nd Maksim Orlov (/) points 156
3rd Cristian Bertuca (ITA) points 139
OK – Pavan wins the final from Matveev, but the championship goes to Matveev for 2 points.
The final of the OK category was particularly intense, and in the latter part of the race, the Italian driver Sebastiano Pavan (#218 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex-LeCont) managed to secure victory over Dmitry Matveev (#204 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame). The duel between the two also had an impact on the championship standings, with Matveev narrowly edging out Pavan, just two points ahead, despite the Italian driver scoring maximum points in both the prefinal and final. The third position in the final went to Belgian driver Thibaut Ramaekers (#227 VDK Racing/KR-Iame), with the fourth position taken by another Belgian, Ean Eyckmans (#223 Leclerc by Lennox/BirelART-TM Kart) and the fifth position by Anatoly Khavalkin (#237 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), who had secured victory in the Prefinal.
OK Final Results
1st Sebastiano Pavan (ITA)
2nd Dmitry Matveev (/)
3rd Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL)
OK Championship standings
1st Dmitry Matveev (/) points 202
2nd Sebastiano Pavan (ITA) points 200
3rd Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL) points 115
OKJ - Van Langendonck takes the win in the final and in the championship.
A great battle for victory in the final of the OK-Junior category was fought by the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (#329 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega) and the Spanish driver Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega), who were also winners of their respective prefinals. At the finish line, Christian Costoya initially took the win, but he received a 5s time penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. As a result, the victory went to Dries Van Langendonck, with Costoya classified in ninth. The Chinese driver Xiao Yu Sun (#341 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex), who had crossed the finish line in third place, also received a 5s penalty for the position of the spoiler. In the end, behind Dries Van Langendonck, the Austrian Niklas Schaufler (#345 DPK Racing/KR-Iame) secured the second position, and the English driver Lewis Wherrell (#328 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) finished third. The fourth and fifth positions were claimed by the Italian drivers Filippo Sala (#324 Ricky Flynn Motorsport/LN Kart-TM Kart) and Davide Bottaro (#310 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex).
OKJ Final Results
1st Dries Van Langendonck (BEL)
2nd Niklas Schaufler (AUT)
3rd Lewis Wherrell (GBR)
OKJ Championship standings
1st Dries Van Langendonck (BEL) points 183
2nd Niklas Schaufler (AUT) points 144
3rd Christian Costoya (ESP) points 135
MINI Gr.3 – Crisan wins the final, Walz the championship.
In the MINI Gr.3, the Canadian Ilie Crisan Tristan (#539 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) took the lead in the latter part of the final and secured the victory. The Australian driver William Calleja (#513 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) crossed the finish line in second place but received a 5-second penalty, dropping him to 13th. Consequently, the American Devin Walz (#514 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) moved up to second place and, with the points from this result, clinched the championship. The Italian Cristian Blandino (#622 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart) took the third step on the podium and claimed the second position in the championship. The Peruvian Mariano Lopez (#517 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) finished fourth, securing the third position in the championship.
MINI Gr.3 Final results
1st Ilie Crisan Tristan (CAN)
2nd Devin Walz (USA)
3rd Cristian Blandino (ITA)
MINI Gr.3 Championship standings
1st Devin Walz (USA) points 188
2nd Cristian Blandino (ITA) points 169
3rd Mariano Lopez (PER) points 150
MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – Miron wins the final and the championship.
In the MINI Gr.3 U10 category, the Spanish driver Daniel Miron Lorente (#501 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) managed to secure the victory in the Final despite a 3-second penalty in Prefinal-A. In the final, Miron successfully outraced the Estonian Mark Loomets (#558 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart), who had won in the heats and secured pole position in qualifying. The third place went to the Portuguese driver Xavier Lazaro (#552 DR/DR-TM Kart) after an impressive climb of eight positions. The fourth was claimed by the Scottish driver Mason Robertson (#527 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), followed by the Greek racer Jason Kosmopoulos (#583 Cosmosrally/Energy-TM Kart). With this victory, Daniel Miron Lorente also clinched the championship over Mark Loomets, while the third place went to the Italian Niccolò Perico (#557 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart), who finished seventh in the final.
MINI Gr.3 U10 Final results
1st Daniel Miron Lorente (ESP)
2nd Mark Loomets (EST)
3rd Xavier Lazaro (PRT)
MINI Gr.3 U10 Championship standings
1st Daniel Miron Lorente (ESP) points 162
2nd Mark Loomets (EST) points 152
3rd Niccolò Perico (ITA) points 124
OK-N – Ferrari is super in the finale.
After securing the third place in the prefinal, Lamberto Ferrari (#804 Sumako IPK Racing/IPK-Modena Engines-Vega) continued his charge toward the front positions in the final. On the last lap, he managed to prevail over the Estonian Robin Sarg (#810 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE) and the Italian Andrea Volpato (#M2 Racing/Gillard-TM Kart). The Italian Federico Rossi (#811 PRK/Tony Kart-TM Kart), winner of the Prefinal, maintained his competitiveness but finished fourth in the final.
OK-N Final result and championship standings
1st Lamberto Ferrari (ITA)
2nd Robin Sarg (EST)
3rd Andrea Volpato (ITA)
OK-N Junior – The first place to Bogdan Cosma-Cristofor, but the classification is sub-judice.
The final of the OK-N Junior was quite heated, with the classification currently under review due to an ongoing appeal following a penalty imposed on the race winner, the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (#726 AKM Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega), accused of an improper maneuver against an opponent. With a 5-second penalty, Hoogendoorn slipped to sixth place in the standings. The first position is now occupied by the Romanian Bogdan Cosma-Cristofor (#712 Team Driver/KR-Iame), followed by the American Asher Ochstein (#729 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart) and the Swiss Kais Aziza (#710 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Kart).
OKNJ final classification sub-judice
1st Bogdan Cosma-Cristofor (ROU)
2nd Asher Ochstein (USA)
3rd Kais Aziza (CHE)
Info, classifications, results: www.wskarting.it/index.asp