The pole positions of Franciacorta’s opening round of the WSK Euro Series

The opener of the WSK Euro Series kicked off with the pole positions going to Molota (OKNJ), Rafalik (OKN), Kamyab (OKJ), Lindblom (OK), Robertson (MINI U10), and Miron (MINI Gr.3). Qualifying heats will follow. Live Streaming coverage of the event stars on Sunday, June 30th at 9:30. 

The WSK Euro Series has started with excellent prospects, immediately showcasing strong competitiveness in this morning's qualifying sessions among the 245 drivers present for this first event at the Franciacorta Karting Track, competing in the MINI, OKNJ, OKN categories, and the international OKJ and OK.

OK-N JUNIOR - Molota is the quickest in qualifying.

The Slovakian driver Alex Molota (#702 Firefly Racing/Gillard-TM Kart-Vega), who finished second in the WSK Super Master Series, achieved the fastest overall time among the young drivers in the OK-N Junior category with 47.913s in Session-2, while the Australian Sebastien Eskandari-Marandi (#704 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) was the fastest in Session-1 with 47.965s. Behind Molota, the Bulgarian Lyuboslav Ruykov (#729 Zanchi Motorsport/Tony Kart-TM Kart), the winner of the WSK Champions Cup earlier this year, was 65 milliseconds adrift, and the Dutchman Billy Van Staveren (#734 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) 0.146s. In Session-1, the Frenchman Lucas Bonhomme (#717 Jana Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) ended up 0.092s behind Eskandari-Marandi, while another Ward Racing driver, the Chinese Fion Shi, obtained the third fastest time in the session being 0.115 seconds behind his teammate.

OK-N - Rafalik pips Marchesi.

The pole position of the OK-N category was claimed by the surprising Polish driver Maksymilian Rafalik (#802 KRZ Motorsport/KR-TM Kart-Vega) with a time of 47.405s. He was followed by the Italian Nicolas Marchesi (#809 Team Driver/KR-Iame), who finished third in the recent WSK Open Series, just 32 milliseconds behind, and another Polish driver, Juliusz Ociepa (#805 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE), was 0.176 seconds behind. The Italian Lamberto Ferrari (#806 FK Motorsport/IPK-TM Kart), 0.254 seconds behind, and the Turkish driver Bati Ege Yildirim (#804 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart), 0.284 seconds shy of the lead, were also among the fastest.

OKJ - Kamyab takes the pole position.

The English driver Roman Kamyab (#Ricky Flynn/LN Kart-TM Kart-Vega) delivered an excellent performance in Session-1 with a time of 47.652s, which stands as the overall best time, while the American Jack Iliffe (#330 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) recorded a slightly higher time in Session-2 (47.753s). In Session-1, the second-best time was set by the American Devin Walz (#335 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart), 0.155 seconds behind Kamyab, while the third-best time was achieved by the winner of the WSK Champions Cup and WSK Super Master Series, the Austrian Niklas Schaufler (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame), who was 0.263s behind. In Session-2, the other top positions were taken by two more drivers from the Ricky Flynn team: the Englishman Jesse Phillips, who was 76 milliseconds behind, and the Italian Filippo Sala, 0.111s behind.

OK - Lindblom leads the pack.

A great performance by the Swedish driver Scott Lindblom (#221 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont) allowed him to secure the overall pole position with a time of 46.201s set in Session-2. In Session-1, the fastest was the Belgian Kai Rillaerts (#242 Sodikart/Sodikart-TM Kart) with a time of 46.504s, but also notable were the times posted by the Scottish driver Zac Drummond (#216 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) and the French driver Andy Consani (#243 Sodikart/Sodikart-TM Kart), both just one millisecond behind Rillaerts!
 

In Session-2, the Romanian David Cosma-Cristofor (#201 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) was very competitive ending just 0.098s behind Lindblom, with the Italian Ludovico Busso (#230 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) achieved the third fastest time, 0.164s behind.
 

MINI GR.3 UNDER 10 - Robertson takes the lead by a short margin.

In the smallest category, the gaps once again prove to be minimal. The pole position was claimed by the Scottish driver Mason Robertson (#508 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) with a time of 53.565s set in Session-1. He ended ahead of the Italian Antonio Ianni (#557 CRG Racing Team/TGroup-TM Kart) by 0.036s and the Estonian Mark Loomets (#502 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart) by 0.061s. In Session-2, the fastest was time was posted by the Italian David Moscardi (#550 Team Driver/KR-Iame) in 53.698s, followed by fellow Italian Niccolò Perico (#Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart), the winner of the WSK Champions Cup, Super Master Series, and Open Series, who was just 0.001s behind, while the Dutchman Senn Lindeman (#578 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) 0.060s behind.

MINI GR.3 - Miron is the quickest in Session-2.

In the MINI Gr.3, almost everyone in Session-1 did not set a time because they started too late to complete a timed lap. The fastest time in Session-2 was set by the Spanish driver Daniel Miron Lorente (#552 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) in 53.463s, followed by the Italian Gioele Girardello (#574 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) at 0.183s behind and the Mexican Santiago Diaz De La Vega (#512 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). In Session-1, the fastest lap was completed by the Romanian Gergo Buzas (#570 BRT/Alonso Kart-Iame-Vega) in 54.445s.
 

The program continues with the first qualifying heats.

The program of the WSK Euro Series, Rd1 Franciacorta:
Friday, June 28th: Qualifying practice from 11:20; heats from 14:00.
Saturday, June 29th: Warm up from 8:30; Qualifying heats from 10:50.
Sunday, June 30th: Warm up from 8:00; Prefinals from 9:30, Finals from 13:20 covered live on TV and through the Live Streaming.