Good performances and several surprising results in qualifying practice of the third round of the WSK Super Master Series at the International Circuit Napoli. The initial heats have also been run and will continue on Saturday. The Final stages on Sunday, March 5 with Live Streaming.
Outstanding performances in Sarno (Salerno) at the International Circuit Napoli for the third round of the WSK Super Master Series, the second-to-last event of this international series which is once again receiving a good participation and an excellent line-up of drivers from the most qualified international teams.
On the 1,550-meter-long track in Sarno, with 255 verified drivers from 45 countries, the competition between the main protagonists in the MINI, OKJ, OK, and KZ2 categories started right from Friday's qualifying sessions, where there were several surprises in this third round, which is particularly important for the heavier scoring compared to the previous rounds in Lonato and Franciacorta. After the qualifying sessions, the first qualifying heats have also been run, which will continue on Saturday, March 4. The final phase with the Prefinals and Finals of all categories will take place on Sunday, March 5. These will be live-streamed from 10:10 am.
The pole positions in qualifying practice.
KZ2 – Denner strikes back.
After retiring at Franciacorta, the French champion Emilien Denner (Sodikart/Sodi-TM-Vega) returned to the forefront in KZ2, setting the overall pole position with a time of 53.467s posted in Session-1. He completed his effort ahead of the young Englishman Freddie Slater (Birel Art Racing/BirelArt-TM), who stopped the clock at 53.525s, which was the best time of Session-2. A great time was also set by the current championship leader, the Italian Cristian Bertuca, Slater's teammate, who was just one thousandth of a second behind with a time of 53.524s in Session-1. The winner of the last round in Franciacorta, the Frenchman Tom Leuillet (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) was third in Session-1 with a time of 53.581s, while the home hero Giuseppe Palomba, Slater and Bertuca's teammate, was the second-best of Session-2 in 53.641s. The German Maxim Rehm with Leclerc by Lennox team was the third fastest in the second Session in 53.772s, while the Frenchman Jeremy Iglesias of CRG Racing Team was the fourth fastests of Session-1 in 53.682s.
OK – Classification leader Egozi takes the pole position.
The current leader of OK, the American Luis James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont) put in an impressive performance in qualifying setting the benchmark to 53.680s in Session-1. He was followed by the Dutchman René Lammers (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM), son of former driver Jan Lammers, who was the fastest of Session-2 with a time of 53.769s. The Latvian driver Tomass Stolcermanis (Energy Corse/Energy-TM) confirmed his speed with the second-best time of Session-1 (53.782s), while the Belgian Thomas Strauven (Ricky Flynn/LN Kart-Vortex) emerged among the top positions with the second-best time of Session-2 (53.852s). The Polish driver Jan Przyrowski (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) was also very fast and put in the third-best time in Session-1 (53.848s), his teammate from Italy Luigi Coluccio was the third-best in Session-2 (53.853s). On the other hand, the Danish winner of Franciacorta, David Walther (Koski Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex), was a bit further back in 14th position overall with a time of 54.148s.
OKJ – Bondarev on top, while the leader Antonov is lagging behind.
The Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) was among the main protagonists of OKJ. He claimed the pole position with the absolute best time of 55.865s in Session-2, followed by the Scottish driver Zac Drummond (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM), who was the quickest of Session-1 in 56.302s. Two drivers from the MINI category are showing signs of improvement: the Italian Filippo Sala (Sodikart/Sodi-TM) and the Czech Jindrich Pesl (IPK Official Racing/IPK-TM) placed themselves among the fastest, with Pesl posting the second best time in Session-2 (55.989s) and Sala the second in Session-1 (56.354s). The championship leader Stepan Antonov (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) finished quite far back ending 36th in 57.220s.
MINI Gr.3 – Zulfikari ready to bounce back.
The Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) was ready for redemption after retiring in the last race in Franciacorta, which made him lose the lead. He claimed pole position with a time of 1:02.445s in Session-1. The current leader, the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (Kidix/KR-Iame), was ninth-fastest in 1:02.948s. The American driver Keelan Harvick followed with the best time of Session-1 (1:02.741s), and the Canadian driver Ilie Tristan Crisan (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) with the second time in Session-2 (1:02.664s). The Australian driver William Calleja's lap was singularly completed in the same exact time as his teammate Harvick (1:02.74s). The winner of Franciacorta, the Spanish driver Bosco Arias Chavarri (Team Driver/KR-Iame), was slightly slower and ended Session-2 in third place (1:02.867s).
MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – The pole position goes to Tamm.
In MINI Gr.3, the category reserved for the youngest drivers aged from 8 to 10, the fastest was the Swiss driver Albert Tamm (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega), who is currently sixth in the championship. He completed his best lap after 1:02.715s in Session-2. His teammate Danil Kutskov was instead the fastest in Session-1 with a time of 1:03.222s. The second fastest time of Session-1 was obtained by Niccolò Perico (Energy Corse/Energy-TM) in 1:02.764s, while the Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (Team Driver/KR-Iame) did the same in Session-2 in 1:03.249s. The Italian driver Giacomo Giusto (Modena Kart/Parolin-TM) also had a great performance with the third fastest time in Session-2 (1:02.771s). The championship leader from Belgium Antoine Venant (Kidix/KR-Iame) was only 22nd with a 1:04.275s posted in Session-1.
The winners of the first heats run on Friday afternoon follow:
KZ2: Cristian Bertuca (C-E), Giuseppe Palomba (B-D).
OK: Jan Przyrowski (A-B), Martin Molnar (C-D).
OKJ: Salim Hanna Hernandez (C-E), Hasan Aksoy Alp (B-D), Oleksandr Bondarev (A-E), Christian Costoya (C-D).
MINI Gr.3: Dean Hoogendoorn (A-B), Noah Baglin (C-D).
MINI Gr.3 U10: Albert Tamm (A-B), Leonardo Gorski (C-D).
The program of the WSK Super Master Series, Round 3, Sarno:
Saturday, March 4th: qualifying heats from 9:30.
Sunday, March 5th: Prefinals from 10:10; Final OKJ at 13:50, Final MINI U10 at 14:20, Final MINI Gr.3 at 14:50, Final KZ2 at 15:20 and Final OK at 15:50.
Results: www.wskarting.it/index.asp