Victory always in the air for Kart Republic
The end of the season is near, but the motivation is still intact for KR Global Motorsport Company. At each new event, the objective is the same: to win and demonstrate the efficiency of the KR chassis, whatever the conditions and whatever the circuit. Once again, the mission was accomplished, particularly in OK with the victory for Dmitry Matveev. In Lonato, the first round of the WSK Final Cup (17th-19th November) also provided an opportunity for young drivers to move up a step and discover the category in which they will be competing in 2024.
KR tops the statistics
No fewer than 340 drivers took part in the WSK Promotion at South Garda Karting, and it was the KR brand that topped the statistics with 92 chassis entered, i.e. 27% of the field across all categories. From Mini to KZ2, as well as the IAME brand cup, many drivers and teams put their trust in KR.
Pole position and victory in the Final for Matveev in OK
Dmitry Matveev put in a solid performance at Lonato. The young KR Motorsport driver took pole position and rarely left the top spot during the meeting. However, he dropped back to 2nd at the start of the Final, but regained the lead on the seventh lap, before storming to victory. Still a Junior at the recent World Championship, Salim Hanna confirmed his rapid adaptation to the OK category by finishing 5th in the Prema Racing colours. European OK-Junior Champion at the wheel of a KR-IAME, Oleksandr Bondarev made his OK debut and did not fail to shine. He won the Super Heat, before the first lap of the Final unfortunately proved to be the end of his race. There were plenty of KR chassis in the Final, such as those of Gerasim Skulanov (DPK Racing) and Enea Frey (VDK Racing), who finished P10 and P11 respectively.
Two top five finishes including a podium in OK-Junior
Already crowned 2023 OK World Champion with Kirill Kutskov, the DPK Racing team once again distinguished itself, this time by allowing Niklas Schaufler to climb onto the second step of the podium in Lonato. The Austrian also set the fastest lap of the Final. A candidate for victory, Iacopo Martinese finished P4 after starting P5. The Kart Republic factory was delighted to see the Victory Lane team adopt the KR chassis. With the French team, Rocco Coronel proved to be very fast. The Dutchman was P10 at the chequered flag, before being demoted due to a penalty. Of the 12 drivers in the Final with KR chassis, David Cosma-Cristofor finished P9 and Matt Corbi (VDK Racing) P11.
"The WSK Final Cup has got off to an excellent start for the KR Global Motorsport Company," commented Tom Joyner, one of the Italian brand's competition managers. "We'll be at Franciacorta to fight for the titles in both OK and OK-Junior. At Lonato, we benefited from excellent weather conditions, even if the temperature remained cool, particularly in the morning. The track was often slippery, with little grip. The technical staff from the various teams using the chassis did an excellent job of adapting to the situation. I would like to congratulate Dmitry Matveev on his victory in OK. Congratulations also to Bogdan Cosma Cristofor of the Driver Racing Kart Team who won the X30 Junior class with his KR chassis, even though he was still racing a Mini a few days earlier!"