The first qualifying heats have been run at the Franciacorta Karting Track. Heats will continue on Saturday to define the finalists for Sunday, February 18th.
With the qualifying practice completed, the third round of the WSK Super Master Series at Franciacorta Karting Track has entered the heart of the action with the first qualifying heats for the 389 drivers entered in the MINI, OKNJ, OKJ, OK, and KZ2 categories. The event showcases high-level international competition, with representatives from 51 nations.
The first qualifying heats.
KZ2 - Leuillet and Gustavsson have the upper hand.
The Frenchman Tom Leuillet (#33 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex) currently prevailed in the 4 heats contested so far, winning the first and last heats of the day, along with the Swede Viktor Gustavsson (#90 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart-Vega), who secured the pole position in qualifying and won heat A-E. Among the top performers in the still very provisional heat standings were also the Romanian Daniel Vasile (#4 BirelART/BirelART-TM Kart), winner of heat B-D, the Italian Danilo Albanese (#82 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame), and the Estonian Markus Kajak (#14 Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Kart). The current points leader, Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart), secured a second and a third-place finish in the two heats he participated in. The Frenchman Emilien Denner (#11 Sodikart/Sodi-TM Kart), winner of the previous round in Cremona, also achieved two placements.
OKJ - Krutogolov leads after the first 6 heats.
Six heats have already been contested in OK-Junior. The Ukrainian Lev Krutogolov (#380 Borsch Racing/Tony Kart-Iame-Vega) is provisionally leading thanks to the win in heat A-C and the second place in heat A-B behind the Spanish driver Bosco Arias (#303 DPK Racing/KR-Iame). Other heat winners include the Spanish driver Christian Costoya (#337 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (#319 AKM Motorsport/KR-Iame), current championship leader from Austria Niklas Schaufler (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame) and the American Jack Dennis Iliffe (#330 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart).
OK - Pavan and Ramaekers take the first wins.
In the first of the two heats in the OK category, the Italian driver Sebastiano Pavan (#218 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex-LeCont) claimed victory over his teammate, the Danish driver David Walther, and championship leader from Belgium Ean Eyckmans (#209 BirelART Racing/TM Kart). However, while the Italian Davide Bottaro (#278 CRG Racing Team/CRG-Iame), who started from pole position, had to retire a third into the race due to a chain issue. In the C-D heat, the Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers (#275 VDK Racing/KR-Iame) secured the win ahead of the English driver Lewis Wherrell (#229 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) and the Estonian Roland Kuklane (#215 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart).
OKNJ – The first high of Cosma Cristofor.
In the only heat contested for the OK-N Junior category, the B-C, the victory went to the championship leader from Romania Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#711 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega). He took the lead in the second part of the race from the young Italian Giacomo Giusto (#729 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart), who had initially led. Two more drivers from the Forza Racing team, the Monegasque Andrea Manni and the Englishman Archie Lovatt, who won the previous race in Cremona, ended in the third and fourth position.
MINI GR.3 U10 - Robertson and Rea are the first two winners.
The first heat A-B saw the victory of the pole position holder from Scotland Mason Robertson (#513 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega). However, it also witnessed the retirement of the championship leader, the Swedish driver Carl Nellegard (#553 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart), who had set the fastest time in Session-2 of qualifying. In heat C-D, the win narrowly went to the Italian Achille Rea (#515 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex).
MINI GR.3 - Truchot wins the first heat.
The MINI Gr.3 completed only one heat, the B-C, with the American driver Alessandro Truchot (#510 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) emerging victorious ahead of his teammates, the Italian Julian Frasnelli, and the championship leader from Australia William Calleja. Another contender in the category, the Italian Cristian Blandino (#550 Kalì-Kart Racing/TGroup-TM Kart), who won the first race in Lonato, finished fourth after a strong comeback.
The program of the WSK Super Master Series, Rd3 Franciacorta Karting Track:
Saturday, February 17th: warm-up from 8:00; qualifying heats from 9:30.
Sunday, February 18th: warm-up from 8:00; Live on TV and Live Streaming from 9:20 for Prefinals and from 13:00 for the Finals (13:00 MINI GR.3, 13:30 MINI U10, 14:05 OKJ, 14:35 KZ2, 15:05 OK, 15:35 OKNJ).