The protagonists of qualifying practice of the WSK Final Cup in Lonato
The qualifying practice has been completed with the pole positions going to Trefilov (KZ2), Pavan (OK), Calleja (OKJ), Frigerio (MINI Gr.3 U10), Lazaro (MINI Gr.3), Kumpen (OKNJ) and Tonalini (OKN).
The first of the two WSK Final Cup events has begun with qualifying practice at Lonato in the MINI Gr.3 Under 10, MINI Gr.3, OKN Junior, OKN, OKJ, OK, and KZ2 categories, featuring official manufacturers, teams, and drivers from around the world for a particularly important event in international karting.
A total of 389 drivers out of 400 entered have been verified, making it the highest number of entries in the 2024 WSK Promotion season, along with the number recorded at the WSK Super Master Series in Franciacorta. This significant result once again rewards all the operations and organization of WSK Promotion events in nearly 20 years of activity.
The weekend officially kicked off with qualifying practice, where there were some surprising performances that highlighted new protagonists. The qualifying day continues in the afternoon with the heats, which will conclude on Saturday.
On Sunday, the final phase with Prefinals and Finals will be streamed live.
KZ2 - Trefilov and Kajak are the first actors in the category.
David Trefilov (#118 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart-LeCont) from Germany claimed the fastest overall time in the first session with a 44.961s, beating Samuele Leopardi (#104 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) by 0.154 seconds. In the second session, Trefilov's teammate, the Estonian Markus Kajak, set the best time, just 5 thousandths of a second faster at 44.966, closely followed by a group of rivals led by Cristian Bertuca (#101 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) at 0.03s.
OK - Pavan and Costoya lead qualifying practice.
In the OK category, the fastest time was set in the first session by the Italian Sebastiano Pavan (#237 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart-LeCont) in 45.768s, with a 29-thousandth gap to the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (#228 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart). The best time in the second session was slightly higher, achieved by the Spaniard Christian Costoya (#201 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) in 46.026s, ahead of the Italian Iacopo Martinese (#224 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) by 0.121 seconds.
OKJ - Calleja takes the pole position.
There were three qualifying sessions for the OK Junior category. In the first session, the fastest was the Italian Filippo Sala (#334 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega) in 47.121s. He was followed by the Canadian Ilie Tristan Crisan (#306 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) at 70 thousandths. In the second session, the Peruvian Mariano Lopez (#311 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame) did even better posting a 46.929s, with a 0.038s margin over the Swiss Dan Allemann (#369 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart). The absolute pole position went to the Australian William Calleja (#321 Ricky Flynn Motorsport/LN Kart-TM Kart) though as he posted a 46.975s, with Mark Pilipenko (#312 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame) ending 0.091s.
MINI GR.3 U10 - Frigerio and Perico are the quickest of the two sessions.
In the smallest category, the competition mainly involved Italian drivers. In the first session, Filippo Frigerio (#551 KR Motorsport/ KR-Iame-Vega) stood out with a time of 52.208s, with a 0.056s margin over Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio (#512 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), while in the second session Niccolò Perico (#501 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart) set a faster time of 52.694s, followed by the Englishman Harry Williams (#576 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame).
MINI GR.3 - Lazaro sets the fastest overall time, while D’Ascoli is fastest in the first session.
In the first session of the MINI Gr.3 category, the Italian Luigi D’Ascoli (#562 LA Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega) stood out with the best time of 52.555s, which was 22 thousandths ahead of the time set by the Pole Antoni Ociepa (#593 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE). The Portuguese Xavier Lazaro (#556 DR/DR-TM Kart) set the fastest overall time with a 52.105s, ahead of Giuseppe Noviello (#540 Gamoto/EKS-TM Kart) by 58 thousandths.
OKNJ - Kumpen takes the pole position, while Girardello is the fastest in the first session.
In the OK-N Junior category, the Belgian Henri Kumpen (#717 Jana Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) surprised with the fastest overall time in the second session with a 47.683s, ahead of Italian Leonardo Dondi (#734 Savani Competition/Tony Kart-TM Kart), while in the first session it was Gioele Girardello (#719 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) who set the fastest time with a 47.726s leading the Englishman Henry Carter (#705 Gold Kart/Righetti Ridolfi/TM Kart) by 0.120 seconds.
OKN - Tonalini on pole with the fastest time.
In the OKN category, the Italian Cristian Tonalini (#836 Tona Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart-Vega) stood out with pole position in 47.108s. In the single qualifying session, Tonalini was 0.265 seconds ahead of fellow Italian Antonio Apicella (#823 GSR Team/LN-Iame) and 0.287 seconds ahead of the Pole Juliusz Ociepa (#810 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE). Fourth place went to the Italian Nicolas Marchesi (#816 Team Driver/KR-Iame) at 0.351 seconds, and the fifth to the Greek Nikolao Souvatzoglou with the GSR team.
The program of the WSK Final Cup, Rd1 Lonato:
Friday, November 8th: 8:00 Free practice; 10:10 Qualifying practice; 12:20 Qualifying heats.
Saturday, November 9th: 8:00 Warm up; 9:30 Qualifying heats.
Sunday, November 10th: 8:00 Warm up; Live streaming 9:25 Prefinals and 13:30 Finals.