The initial heats of the WSK Final Cup highlighted some surprises at the Cremona Circuit
After qualifying practice, the first heats of the weekend in Cremona provided the first direct on-track challenges. The heats will end on Saturday and the final stages will follow on Sunday.
A splendid but rather cold day characterized the opening of the weekend of the second round of the WSK Final Cup at the Cremona Circuit, with qualifying on Friday morning and heats in the afternoon revealing the first protagonists determined to secure success in the MINI, OKNJ, OKN, OKJ, OK, and KZ2 categories after the first round in Lonato.
An exceptional competition immediately emerged among the 316 drivers from 43 nations, which will continue with further heats on Saturday to earn the top positions for the final phase on Sunday, November 24th.
The first qualifying heats.
OKNJ - Orlando and Gorski are the first two winners.
The first A-B heat confirmed Michele Orlando's (#703 DR/DR-Modena Engines-Vega) competitiveness. The Italian driver, who had already won in Lonato, managed to prevail over the French driver Alessandro Truchot (#720 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart), who had secured pole position in qualifying. The Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (#713 Team Driver/KR-Iame) finished third. In the second C-D heat, the Pole Leonardo Gorski (#701 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) won ahead of Bruno Blanco (#731 LA Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) and the Dane Matteis Stigsen (#712 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart). The Belgian Henri Kumpen (#717 Moni/Tony Kart-Vortex), who had secured the second fastest time in Session-2 qualifying, retired.
OKN - Marchesi wins the first heat.
The OKN championship leader Nicolas Marchesi (#816 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) recovered five positions to win the first heat, ahead of Andrea Giudice (#842 Marra61/Tony Kart-Vortex) and Nicholas Tomasella (#819 MLG Racing/Parolin-TM Kart). The pole-sitter Antonio Apicella (#823 GSR Team/LN-Iame) finished fourth, and the Pole Juliusz Ociepa (#810 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE) finished fifth. Cristian Tonalini (#836 Tona Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart) finished 13th.
OK - Coronel puts in a great performance.
In the OK category, the Dutch driver Rocco Coronel (#211 VictoryLane/KR-Iame-LeCont) continued his strong performance after securing pole position, winning both heats. In the third heat, Sebastiano Pavan (#237 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart), the winner in Lonato, took the victory. Coronel maintained a lead in the first heat with the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (#228 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) in second place. Coronel secured his second victory ahead of the English driver Kit Belofsky (#223 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame), while Pavan won his heat, followed by his teammate, the Swede Elliot Kaczynski.
KZ2 – A victory to Bertuca, two to Skrivan.
Cristian Bertuca (#101 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-LeCont), third in the championship, won the first A-B heat, ahead of the German Simon Rechenmacher (#131 TB Racing Team/KR-TM Kart) and the winner in Lonato, the Estonian Markus Kajak (#121 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart). In the second C-D heat, the championship leader, the Czech Marek Skrivan (#133 IPK Factory Team/IPK-TM Kart), won ahead of Moritz Ebner (#132 Emme Racing/EKS-TM Kart). Skrivan repeated his victory in the third A-C heat, finishing ahead of Maksim Orlov (#106 CPB Sport/Sodikart-TM Kart), while the pole-sitter Dmitry Matveev (#113 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) finished fifth, and Kajak retired. The French driver Emilien Denner (#136 Renda Motorsport/Sodikart-TM Kart) made a remarkable recovery, gaining nine positions in the C-D heat and twelve positions in the A-C heat.
OKJ – Two heats go to Zulfikari, one to Hoogendoorn.
The Dutch pole-sitter Dean Hoogendoorn (#308 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) won the first A-B heat, but in the other two heats of the first day, the Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari (#336 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) took the lead. He won in fact the C-D heat, while his teammate, Filippo Sala, the winner in Lonato, was forced to settle for seventh place. Zulfikari then secured his second victory in the A-C heat, ahead of Hoogendoorn who had led in the early laps.
MINI U10 - Papageorgiou takes the pole and two wins, Moscardi one.
The young Andreas Papageorgiou (#548 Monster K Factory/T-Group-TM Kart-Vega) continued his ascent and on the first day won two heats after securing pole position in qualifying. In the first A-B heat, Papageorgiou won over the Georgian Leon Chelide (#510 Team Driver/KR-Iame), and in his second heat, he won over Antonio Ianni (#536 CRG Racing Team/T-Group-TM Kart). In the other heat, David Moscardi (#543 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE) prevailed over Stepan Mazepin (#517 SM Racing/OTK-TM Kart), while the winner in Lonato, the Estonian Mark Loomets (#503 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart) finished tenth.
MINI GR.3 – Two wins to Kosmopoulos, one to Miron.
The Greek driver Jason Kosmopoulos (#586 CRG Racing Team/T-Group-TM Kart-Vega) won the first heat of the day, ahead of the Swede Carl Nellegard (#532 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart) and the French driver Stan Ratajski (#520 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). The American pole-sitter Lucas Palacio (#623 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) finished fourth. In the second heat, the Spaniard Daniel Miron Lorente (#504 Team Driver/KR-Iame) won ahead of the Portuguese Xavier Lazaro (#556 DR/DR-TM Kart) and the winner in Lonato, Julian Frasnelli (#521 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). In the third heat, the French driver Stan Ratajski (#520 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) prevailed over Kosmopoulos, but Ratajski was handed a 3s penalty and Kosmopoulos secured a second victory.
The program of the WSK Final Cup, Rd2 Cremona:
Saturday, November 23rd: 8:00 Warm up; 9:30 Qualifying heats; 16:00 Prefinals OKNJ.
Sunday, November 24th: 8:00 Warm up; Live Streaming 9:25 Prefinals and 12:50 Finals.