The hilly area of Franciacorta, a land of vineyards between Lake Iseo and Brescia in Italy, will be the center of International Karting next weekend, from 5th to 8th October, hosting the FIA Karting World Championship of the OK and OK-Junior categories. In the key event of their racing season on the new Franciacorta track, the two direct drive classes will see 115 drivers competing in the top OK class and 126 drivers in the OK-Junior one. Alongside the two main categories, the Italian Federation, in collaboration with the FIA, will also organize a race called the World Cup reserved for 36 drivers for each of the two new OK-N and OK-N Junior categories, thus bringing the overall number of drivers on the track over the weekend to a record of 313 appearances.
The future motor racing champions will compete in a single-round event, in which whoever wins the Final of their category on Sunday afternoon will be the 2023 World Champion, a title that has opened the doors of professionalism to many drivers in the past. Obviously, in addition to the importance of the drivers' title, this weekend will also represent a fundamental showcase for the season of the individual chassis and engine manufacturers, as well as for all the teams involved. The stakes will be high, as well as the show, which will animate the new Franciacorta circuit for three days.
The program includes Free Practice on Thursday, while the first track verdicts are expected on Friday when Qualifying Practices and the first Eliminatory Heats will take place. Saturday will be entirely dedicated to the Heats, while on the final day of Sunday, the Super Heats are scheduled in the morning for the best 72 drivers per category and in the afternoon the Finals which will award the titles (access to the Finals for the top 36 of each class). The entire event, starting from Friday, will be live-streamed on the FIA Karting website and on the Motorsport.tv platform.
The CRG Racing Team will take part in this important event with 19 drivers and great ambitions. The largest team will be in the top class in which Gabriel Gomez, Maxens Verbrugge, Simone Bianco, Simon Rechenmacher, Mattia Colnaghi, Louis Iglesias, Francisco Macedo, Michael Ider, Jakub Rajski, Mark Dubnitski, Olin Galli and Tomas Mota will be lined up. In the Junior category, however, there will be 5 official CRG drivers: Enzo Nienkotter, Alois Girardet, Oliver Rasmussen, Augusto Toniolo, and Klara Kowalczyc. Finally, François Kerdal will race in the OK-N World Cup, while Asher Ochstein will be on track in the OK-N Junior one.
The event itself will be an opportunity not to be missed for all Karting enthusiasts and, more generally, racing enthusiasts, to watch the races live.
CRG drivers’ expectations
Gabriel Gomez (OK): “The title of European Vice-Champion and the very positive season we have had up to this point certainly places us among the favorites of this event. We had the opportunity to get ready with two races on the same track last month, in September and from a technical point of view we face this event very prepared and with a lot of confidence. We will have very competitive and strong opponents, even if in the preparation races I believe that many did not express their real potential. I believe that we will only have the first real feedback from the track at the end of Free Practice on Thursday and then from Friday it will be forbidden to make mistakes”.
Maxens Verbrugge (OK): “The podium in the Italian Championship race 15 days ago on this track gave me a great boost of confidence, both in my potential from a driving point of view and in the value of the technical material we have at our disposal. Obviously this weekend we start with all the big names on track among the 115 registered drivers and a completely different race dimension, but the work we have done in preparation for this World Championship has been positive and will allow us to have an excellent weekend”.
Mattia Colnaghi (OK): “I am very happy with my season so far and the call to the Ferrari Driver Academy internship confirmed how much I have grown and improved within the CRG team. Now we have the most important weekend of the year ahead of us, the race that could give an even stronger boost to the work done to date. It's natural that there is pressure, but also a lot of awareness of our potential and for my part I will try to have maximum concentration to give my best in every phase of the race and make no mistakes”.
Enzo Nienkotter (OK-Junior): “I have been in Italy for many weeks to prepare for this event and every test and preparation race we have done has taught us a lot. The team is very strong, as is the chassis-engine technical package and the conditions for having a good race are all there. For my part, I worked a lot to best interpret this circuit and I have to say that I like it and, above all, I immediately found a good feeling with all the more technical parts”.