With record entries and a fast track that is still unfamiliar to most competitors, the second round of the 2023 WSK Super Master Series at Franciacorta presented some interesting challenges. The Parolin Motorsport team did not miss the opportunity to work on a track with very different characteristics than the one in Lonato, the setting for the first three events of the season. The Bassano del Grappa factory team achieved good results: P4 in KZ2 with Francesco Celenta, P5 in OK with René Lammers, top 10 in OK-Junior with Jack Illife, and P6 and P9 in Mini for Bruno Gryc and William Calleja.
"The weekend in Franciacorta was very useful to continue the work started since the beginning of the season. I am very satisfied with the competitiveness of the Parolin chassis in all categories, from Mini to KZ2. Parolin Racing Kart was the second best-represented brand with 61 chassis entered in Franciacorta", commented Marco Parolin. "It is nice to see the increase of private teams using our equipment. As far as the official team is concerned, we came close to the podium in OK with Lammers, a contender during the whole weekend, delayed by his start from the outside lane in the Final and hampered at the beginning of the race, while in KZ2, Celenta recovered after a difficult Qualifying to reach 4th in the Final. In OK-Junior, Iliffe's pole position in his group, then his 10th place in the Final, as well as Costoya's weekend at the top, are to be noted. In Mini, we managed to place two drivers, Gryc and Calleja, in the Top 10. We should also note the performances of our partners, AV Racing on the podium with Shen in Mini, and Modena Kart who were very competitive with Orlov, winner of a heat for his second race in KZ2".
Strong comebacks in KZ2
Francesco Celenta regained 18 places in the heats and moved up another nine positions in the Fi-nal to finish 4th. Lorenzo Travisanutto had recovered 14 places in total but did not finish the first lap of the Final.
Lammers already at the front in OK
2nd in Qualifying, René Lammers won and finished 2nd in every heat until the Prefinal. He fought hard in the Final and crossed the finish line in 4th place before being classified 5th. Solid during the heats, Anatoly Khavalkin had to retire in the Prefinal before taking back six places in the Final despite a badly positioned front fairing which cost him 5''. Miguel Costa discovered the equipment and the team by regaining 21 positions during the heats. His performance was interrupted by a retirement in the Prefinal while he was fighting for a top 10.
OK-Junior: Illife in great shape
3rd in Qualifying among the 105 participants, Jack Illife negotiated the tough heats and regained four places to enter the Final top 10. Christian Costoya was 5th in Qualifying and shone in four of his five heats. 2nd in his Prefinal, he did not finish the Final but remained 4th in the championship. Zac Drummond started in 10th place, completed two good heats, but retired in the last one. 6th on the Final finish line, a 5'' penalty sent him back to 15th position.
Gryc and Calleja defend well in Mini
After an average Qualifying, Bruno Gryc took back 25 places in his heats before gaining another seven places in the Final to finish 6th. William Calleja showed his fighting qualities during the heats and in the Prefinal before recovering after a difficult start in the Final and finishing 9th. These two drivers each moved up more than 20 places in the championship.