Parolin Motorsport returned to action last weekend at the first round of the 2024 international season, the WSK Champions Cup, held in cold weather at the Lonato circuit. Three categories were on the programme for the official Parolin team, with the return of KZ2 scheduled for a later date. Christian Costoya was very competitive in OK-Junior, among the contenders for victory. Anatoly Khavalkin also came close to success in OK. The team's final score after the various ups and downs of the race was one top five and three top 10s, but more importantly, the technical level of Parolin / TM Racing 2024 is already very interesting.
"We have achieved most of our objectives for our return to competition," said Marco Parolin. "It's not easy to draw definitive conclusions after an event held in temperatures close to 0°. However, this phase was necessary for our drivers to get back into shape. In spite of everything, we were able to see that the 2024 equipment was more than equal to our ambitions and we're looking forward to continuing our development work from next week at the first round of the WSK Super Master Series, again at Lonato. The weather is expected to be less cold and the field will be bigger.”
Zac Drummond had a good result in OK despite some setbacks. Qualifying in 2nd position, he missed his first Qualifying Heats before winning the next one. After finishing 3rd with an excellent time in the Prefinal, he made up further places in the Final to finish 7th. Anatoly Khavalkin could count on some very good heats in the top three to put him among the favourites. Unfortunately, over-enthusiasm in the Prefinal broke his momentum and he had to settle for 11th place in the Final.
Christian Costoya put in a magnificent performance in the OK-Junior class. 3rd in Qualifying, he won three of his four Qualifying Heats. He secured his dominant position by finishing 2nd in his Prefinal. Outpaced at the start of the Final, the young Spaniard fought bravely to finish 5th. Indonesian Qarrar Firhand achieved the best result of his career in his first experience with Parolin, finishing in the top 10. A better result was also achieved by Canadian Alexander Chartier, who finished 15th on the finishing line, having been placed 18th because of an incorrectly positioned front fairing.
In the Mini Gr.3 category, Priam Bruno got the year off to a good start with his 6th place finish, while Gioele Girardello climbed to 14th.