The qualifying sessions on Friday officially kicked off the first round of the 2024 WSK Open Series at the Franciacorta Karting Track, immediately highlighting the main protagonists of this event, which features significant international participation.
This 7th edition of the WSK Open Series is particularly crowded, with 250 drivers across the MINI, OK-NJ, OK-N and KZ2 categories, as well as the seasonal debut of the KZ2 Masters for drivers aged 35 and over. There are many prominent competitors in each category, from the youth categories to the more performance-oriented ones, with the gearbox category announcing an exciting showdown among the many champions on the grid.
KZ2 - Orlov on the edge of the thousands of a second. Bertuca OK in Session-2.
The first series of qualifying heats in KZ2 immediately saw an exciting duel among the top drivers of the category. The stopwatch's response was significant, with times on the razor's edge: Maksim Orlov (#52 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-LeCont) led the pack with a time of 45.303s, just 0.026s ahead of the Dutchman Senna Van Walstijn (#11 Sodikart/Sodi-TM Kart) and 0.037s ahead of his equally fast teammate, the Frenchman Emilien Denner. In Session-2, the winner of the recent WSK Super Master Series, the Italian Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART/BirelART-TM Kart), remained highly competitive with a time of 45.523s, followed by the Swede Viktor Gustavsson (#CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart) at 0.013s and the revelation of this early season, Markus Kajak (#42 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart), with the Estonian driver at 0.121s. In Session-3, the Frenchman Tom Leuillet (#31 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex) has been shining with a time of 45.472s, which was just 0.003s ahead of his teammate, the Dutchman Marijn Kremers, and 0.046s ahead of Matteo Spirgel (#19 CPB Sport/Sofi-TM Kart). Alessio Piccini (#55 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) also performed rather well being just 0.071s behind.
KZ2 Masters - Davide Forè is the fastest.
Few but good drivers in this first outing of the KZ2 Masters, for an interesting comparison among the various champions present at Franciacorta. The multi-champion Davide Forè (#102 GSR Team/BirelART-TM Kart-LeCont) set the fastest time in 45.917s. Among his opponents, Manuel Cozzaglio (#106 VZeta/BirelART-TM Kart) stood out with the second time at 0.237s behind, and Kristijan Habulin (#112 TBKart Racing Team/TBKart-TM Kart) was at 0.259s behind. Another karting multi-champion, Alessandro Manetti (#101 Intrepid Driver Program/Intrepid-TM Kart), was a bit further back, 0.393s behind Forè, with the seventh time.
MINI Gr.3 Under 10 - Lazaro and Poujol are the fastest.
In the first Series, the very young Frenchman Jean Poujol (#510 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) topped everyone with a time of 53.633s, followed by the Italian Achille Rea (#525 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) at 0.112s, and the Estonian Mark Loomets (#502 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart) at 0.134s. The latter finished ahead of his teammate, the Italian Niccolò Perico, who was 0.222s behind. But the fastest in the U10 category was the Portuguese Xavier Lazaro (#519 SM Racing/OTK-TM Kart) with a time of 53.559s obtained in the second series. He was followed by the two Italians Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio (#504 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) at 0.046s and Daniel Pasquali (#581 King Racing/KR-Iame) at 0.119s.
MINI Gr.3 - Truchot is leading tha pack. Girardello shines in the first session.
In Session-1, the Italian Gioele Girardello (#578 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) took the lead with the fastest lap in 53.321s, just 47 milliseconds ahead of his teammate, the Belgian Bruno Priam, while the Frenchman Stan Ratajski (#516 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) achieved the third time at 0.100s. In Session-2, the American Alessandro Truchot (#512 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) did even better with a time of 53.206s, ahead of his teammates Mark Pilipenko by 0.035s and the Swiss Albert Tamm by 0.086s.
OK-N Junior - Bagutti and Berezkin split by a thousand of a second.
A great duel was fought in the first Session of the OKNJ, with only one millisecond separating Ilia Berezkin (#322 Monster K/CRG-TM Kart-Vega) from the Australian Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi. Berezkin finished with a time of 48.008s, Eskandari-Marandi with a 48.009s. The third time came from the American Drew Walz (#307 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM kart) at 74 milliseconds. But the absolute pole position of the OKNJ arrived in the second Session, again by just a few milliseconds, with the Italian Pietro Bagutti (#313 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Kart) leading everyone in 48.004s, while the Monegasque Andrea Manni (#306 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) achieved the second time at 43 milliseconds, and the Italian Valerio Viapiana (#326 Team Driver/KR-Iame) the third at 77 milliseconds.
OK-N – Sweden and Switzerland on top with Stureson and Canonica.
In OK-N, in Session-1, the Swede Fabian Stureson (#215 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE-Vega) surprised with the best absolute time obtained in 47.587s, followed by the two Italians Lamberto Ferrari (#235 FK Motorsport/IPK-Modena Engines) at 0.229s and Nicolas Marchesi (#204 Team Driver/KR-Iame) at 0.278s.
In Session-2, another surprise came from the Swiss Christian Canonina (#234 KGT Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex) with the best time in 47.662, followed by the Greek Vasileios Apostolidis (#206 AKM Motorsport/KR-Iame) at 35 milliseconds and the Italian Gino Rocchio (#223 Monster K Factory/CRG-TM Kart) at 44 milliseconds.
The program of the WSK Open Series, Rd1 Franciacorta:
Friday, April 5th: Qualifying heats from 14:00.
Saturday, April 6th: Warm up from 8:00; Qualifying heats from 10:00.
Sunday, April 7th: Warm up from 8:00; Live TV and Live Streaming for Prefinals from 9:20 and Finals from 13:05.