Vasile and Bertuca take the win in KZ2, Bondarev in OK, Schaufler in OKJ, Bogdan Cosma Cristofor in OKNJ, Miron Lorente and Legenkyi in MINI Gr.3, Nellegard and Perico in MINI Gr.3 U10. The final heats will take place on Saturday, while the final stages will follow on Sunday, January 28th.
After the morning qualifying sessions of the opening round of the WSK Super Master Series at the South Garda Karting track in Lonato, the first heats on Friday afternoon marked the beginning of the extensive selection process leading to the final phase on Sunday, January 28th. This applies to the MINI, OKNJ, OKJ, OK, and KZ2 categories, where the first winners will be determined from the 318 confirmed drivers representing 50 nations.
The protagonists of qualifying practice.
In the morning qualifying sessions, the pole positions were secured by the following drivers: the Frenchman Emilien Denner (#11 Sodikart/Sodi-TM Kart-Vega) in KZ2; the Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev (#201 Prema Racing/KR-Iame-LeCont) in OK; the Spaniard Christian Costoya (#337 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega) in OKJ; the Romanian Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#711 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega) in OKNJ; the Spaniard Daniel Miron Lorente (#501 Team Driver/KR-Iame) in MINI Gr.3; and the Swede Carl Nellegard (#553 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart) in MINI Gr.3 Under 10.
The initial qualifying heats on Friday.
KZ2 - Vasile and Bertuca to the fore.
Two BirelART Racing drivers took the spotlight in the KZ2 heats, with Daniel Vasile winning in heats A-B and Cristian Bertuca dominating in heats C-D. The Romanian Daniel Vasile (#4 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart-Vega) managed to outperform pole-sitter Emilien Denner (#11 Sodikart/Sodi-TM Kart-Vega) and another French driver, Tom Leuillet (#33 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex), while the winner of the previous WSK Champions Cup, the Estonian Markus Kajak (#14 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart), finished fourth. The Italian Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) secured a victory with a comfortable margin over the Frenchman Matteo Spirgel (#10 CPB Sport/Sodikart-TM Kart) and another Italian, Andrea Dalè (#24 Dalè/CRG-TM Kart).
OK – Winning streak for Bondarev.
The Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev (#201 Prema Racing/KR-Iame-LeCont) continued his winning streak in the first heat A-B of the OK category, following his pole position in the qualifiers and the victory in the recent WSK Champions Cup. Bondarev finished the heat with a comfortable lead over the Belgian Ean Eyckmans (#209 BirelART Racing/TM Kart) and Englishman Freddie Lloyd (#227 Ricky Flynn/LN-TM Kart). In the heat C-D, the victory went to another standout in the category, the Italian Sebastiano Pavan (#218 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex), who finished ahead of Anatoly Khavalkin (#223 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) and Gerasim Skulanov (#233 DPK Racing/KR-Iame).
OKJ - Schaufler under the spotlight.
Several protagonists emerged from the four heats of OKJ. The Austrian Niklas Schaufler (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame-Vega) prominently claimed two victories. The first win came against the Dutch Rocco Coronel (#343 VictoryLane/KR-Iame), and the second against the Finn Sebastian Lehtimaki (#368 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex). Another victory went to the German Arjen Kraeling (#308 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) over the Japanese Endo Arata (#350 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex). The remaining victory was secured by the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (#328 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart), who finished ahead of the Spaniard Christian Costoya (#337 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) and the Italian Filippo Sala (#327 Ricky Flynn/LN-TM Kart).
OKNJ - Bogdan Cosma Cristofor, wins the heat after the pole.
In OKN Junior, the Romanian Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#711 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega), after securing pole position, also claimed victory in the first heat, with the Japanese Sara Matsui (#708 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) confirming her second position. Pietro Bagutti (#701 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Kart) climbed to third place, preceding Gamoto teammate, Swiss Kais Aziza. The fifth place went to the Polish driver Kacper Rajpold (#722 MG Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart), followed by the Slovakian Alex Molota (#717 Firefly/Gillard-TM Kart).
MINI GR.3 - Miron Lorente and Legenkyi win the two heats.
The Spanish driver Daniel Miron Lorente (#501 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) secured victory in the first heat after setting the pole position in qualifying. The Belgian Antoine Venant (#571 Kidix/KR-Iame) and another Belgian, Priam Bruno (#576 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), who staged a comeback, ended their effort behind the Spanish driver in the A-B heat. The winner of the recent WSK Champions Cup, the Italian Cristian Blandino (#550 Kalì-Kart/TGroup-TM Kart), was forced to the back of the pack. The Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (#503 Team Driver/KR-Iame) took the spotlight in the C-D heat, claiming victory ahead of the three BabyRace drivers: the Australian William Calleja, the American Alessandro Trucho and the Swiss Albert Tamm.
MINI GR.3 U10 - Nellegard and Perico are the first winners.
In the Under 10 category, the momentum of the Swedish driver Carl Nellegard (#553 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart) continued as he secured both the pole position and a victory in the A-B heat. The American Lucas Palacio (#575 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) and the Italian David Moscardi (#560 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) followed in second and third, respectively. In the C-D heat, the winner of the WSK Champions Cup, the Italian Niccolò Perico (#526 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart), claimed victory ahead of the Greek driver Jason Kosmopoulos (#558 CRG Racing Team/TGroup-TM Kart) and Polish driver Blazej Kostrzewa (#521 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame)
The program of the WSK Super Master Series, Rd1 Lonato:
Saturday, January 27th: warm-up at 8:30; qualifying heats from 10:20.
Sunday, January 28th: warm-up at 8:00; Live on TV and Live Streaming from 9:30 Prefinals and Finals from 12:45 (12:45 MINI U10, 13:15 MINI GR3, 14:00 OKJ, 14:30 KZ2; 15:00 OK; 15:30 OKNJ).