The grand finale of the second round of the WSK Super Master Series in Franciacorta
Some qualifying heats have been run today ahead of the closing ones on Sunday before the Prefinals and Finals with Live Streaming.
A series of interesting challenges characterized the second day of the WSK Super Master Series at the Franciacorta Karting Track in Castrezzato (Brescia) with the qualifying heats, that are necessary to define the main protagonists of this second round of the championship, which saw an important participation of 361 verified drivers from 53 nations.
The final phase is scheduled for Sunday, February 19th with the Prefinals and Finals of the MINI, OKJ, OK, and KZ2 categories starting at local 10:20, with the live streaming.
The morning fog created a bit of delay in the program of the heats on Saturday, but everything went smoothly after the sun came out. Only the last three heats, respectively for the MINI Gr3 Under 10, KZ2, and OK, were postponed to Sunday morning to define the finalists of these three categories and complete the total of 43 heats of the event.
MINI GR.3 UNDER 10 – Venant recovers well in from practice.
The Belgian driver Antoine Venant (Kidix/KR-Iame-Vega), who won the first race in Lonato, made up some lost ground in the qualifying and went on to win two heats that projected him to the top of the provisional standings. He was followed by Achille Rea (CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM), who won one heat, and the Swedish driver Maximus Unt (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM). Others drivers are ready to enter the top positions though.
Penalties after the heats: 1. Venant pen. 5; 2. Rea 8; 3. Unt 20; 4. Perico 21; 5. Eskandari Marandi 23; 6. Nagy 24; 7. Colucci 24; Fagot 25.
KZ2 – Palomba surprisingly on top of the heats.
Cristian Bertuca (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM-Vega), who won the previous race in Lonato and also the WSK Champions Cup, was handed a penalty in the closing heat and, therefore, lost the provisional lead. The Italian driver was overtaken by his fellow countryman and teammate Giuseppe Palomba and by the French driver Tom Leuillet (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), the latter won in fact two heats. Also strong were the other French driver Emilien Denner (Sodikart/Sodi-TM), although delayed in one heat, and Maksim Orlov (Modena Kart/Parolin-TM) tied with the other BirelArt driver Riccardo Longhi.
Penalties after the heats: 1. Palomba 13; 2. Leuillet 15; 3. Bertuca pen. 15; 4. Denner 16; 5. Orlov 17; 6. Longhi 17; 7. Skrivan 18; 8. Piccini 21.
OK – Walther and Lammers on top, Iglesias to the fore too.
The Danish driver David Walther (Koski Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont) is the dominant force in the category. He only missed out on victory in the third heat, which was won by the French driver Louis Iglesias (CRG Racing Team/CRG-Iame) – the nephew of the better-known Jeremy Iglesias – in a winning sprint finish over Walther. The performance of the Dutch driver René Lammers (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM) - son of a karting legend - has also been excellent, with a victory and good placements that placed him level with Walther. Also among the top in the rankings was also the Thai driver Enzo Tarnvanichkul (Prema Racing/KR-Iame).
Penalties after the heats: 1. Walther pen. 5; 2. Lammers 5; 3. Tarnvanichkul 10; 4. Iglesias 17; 5. Zhang 17; 6. Blum 22; 7. Saeter 23; 8. Bianco 24.
OKJ – Wherrell shining among a lot of rivals.
The situation is highly competitive in the OK-Junior, where the English driver Lewis Wherrell (Forza Racing/Exprit-TM-Vega) kept the top spot at the end of the heats, as he claimed three victories but faced strong competition. Behind Wherrell, the Swedish driver Elliot Kaczynski (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) secured one victory, the German driver Thibaut Ramaekers (VDK/KR-Iame) two victories, Wherrell's teammate Austrian driver Niklas Schaufler, and Spanish driver Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM) one victory each, and these drivers are all in contention.
Penalties after the heats: 1. Wherrell pen. 15; 2. Kaczynski 23; 3. Ramaekers 27; 4. Schaufler 28; 5. Costoya 35; 6. Slater 48; 7. Hanna Hernandez 52; 8. Van Langendonck 54.
MINI GR.3 – Baglin e Shen davanti a Zulfikari.
The heats of the MINI Gr.3 category have brought new protagonists to the fore, such as the English driver Noah Baglin (iKart/KR-Iame-Vega), who has jumped to the top of the provisional standings with three wins, and the Chinese driver Zeyu Shen (AV Racing/Parolin-TM) in second place with two wins. The Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), who won the first race in Lonato, slipped down to P3 after his pole position in qualifying, despite also standing out in Franciacorta with two wins. Among the best drivers, the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (Kidix/KR-Iame) also stood out with two wins.
Penalties after the heats: 1. Baglin pen. 9; 2. Shen 13; 3. Zulfikari 16; 4. Hoogendoorn 17; 5. Berezkin 26; 6. Arias Chavarri 36; 7. Bagutti; 8. Ochstein 42.
The program:
Sunday, February 19: heats MINI U10, KZ2, OK from 9:30; Prefinals from 10:20; Final OKJ at 13:50; Final MINI U10 at 14:20; Final MINI Gr.3 at 14:50; Final KZ2 at 15:20; Final OK at 15:50.