Good duels in the qualifying heats and in the first Prefinals of the event that kicks off season 2023 by WSK Promotion. The intense opening weekend of the WSK season at the South Garda Karting in Lonato continued with great competition on the second day of races valid for the WSK Champions Cup, in the final qualifying heats to gain access to the final stages, and in the first Prefinals run on Saturday afternoon.
Everything is all set for the grand finale of the WSK Champions Cup in Lonato, the event that reached its tenth edition characterized with the great participation of over 320 protagonists and the high level of competitiveness in this first appointment of the 2023 WSK Promotion karting season.
The best of qualifying heats.
MINI Gr.3. After the 10 heats of MINI Gr.3, the Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) came out on top leading the American Keelan Harvick (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) and the Romanian Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (Team Driver/KR-Iame).
MINI Under 10. In the MINI Gr.3 Under 10, after 6 heats, the Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) led the pack from the Swiss Albert Tamm (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) and his teammate, the Polish Leonardo Gorski. The poleman Belgian Antoine Sylva Venant (Kidix/KR-Iame) lagged a bit behind instead.
OKJ. In the 6 heats of the OK-Junior, the English driver Lewis Wherrel (Forza Racing/Exprit-TM-Vega), who also claimed the pole position in qualifying practice, came out on top, followed by the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (Energy Corse/Energy-TM) and the Italian Iacopo Martinese (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame), who won the last heat.
KZ2. In KZ2, the English Freddie Slater (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM-Vega) got the full haul: he was the poleman and winner of two heats. He was followed by the French Adrien Renaudin (DR/DR-Modena Engines) with one victory and the Italian Cristian Bertuca (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM). Among the best also the French Matteo Spirgel (CPB Sport/Sodi-TM).
OK. In OK a nice battle involved poleman Dmitry Matveev (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont), who won two heats, and the Danish David Walther (Koski Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex), who also claimed two wins. After 6 heats, the Hungarian Martin Molnar (Energy Corse/Energy-TM-LeCont) is currently third.
X30 Senior. In the X30 Senior, the Italian Brando Pozzi (M2 Racing/Tony Kart-Iame-MG) took the lead in the provisional standings thanks to three wins in the heats. He is followed by the Belgian Elie Goldstein (TBKart/Iame) and the French Pacome Weisenburger (Martins/Red Speed/Iame), who claimed the pole position in qualifying practice.
X30 Junior. The Italian Riccardo Ferrari (Zanchi Motorsport/Tony Kart-Iame-MG) got a perfect score with three wins in the three heats. The Swiss Tiziano Kuzhnini (Team Driver/Tony Kart-Iame) and the Dutch Sacha Van’t Pad Bosch (Martins/Red Speed-Iame) follow him in the provisional classification.
The Prefinals on Saturday.
MINI Gr.3 – Victory to the Chinese Shen and the Brit Baglin.
The Chinese driver Zeyu Shen of AV Racing/Parolin-TM-Vega completed a great comeback in the Prefinal-A, recovering 8 positions to win the race. He was followed by the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn of Kidix/Alonso-Iame and the Romanian Bogdan Cosma Cristofor of Team Driver/KR.Iame. The Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari of BabyRace/Parolin-Iame was penalized instead. In the Prefinal-B, the English driver Noah Baglin of IKart/KR-Iame-Vega secured a surprising win, followed by the American driver Keelan Harvick of BabyRace/Parolin-Iame and the Italian driver Pietro Bagutti of AV Racing/Parolin-Iame. Vladimir Ivannikov of Gamoto/EKS-TM, who had led the race early on, finished seventh.
MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – The Ukrainian Legenkyi and the Pole Ociepa share the success.
In the Prefinal-A, the Ukrainian driver Oleksandr Legenkyi of Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega took an early lead and went on to win the race, followed by the Polish driver Leonardo Gorski of BabyRace/Parolin-Iame and his teammate Maxim Bobreshow. In the Prefinal-B, the Polish driver Antoni Ociepa of Gold Kart/Righetti Ridolfi-Iame-Vega came out on top, beating the Swiss driver Albert Tamm of BabyRace/Parolin-Iame and the Belgian driver Antoine Sylva Venant of Kidix/KR-Iame.
OKJ – Wherrel dominates Prefinal-A, while Bondarev wins Prefinal-B.
In the Prefinal-A, the English driver Lewis Wherrel of Forza Racing/Exprit-TM-Vega dominated the race and won with a good margin over Stepan Antonov of KR Motorsport/KR-Iame and the Ukrainian driver Lev Krutogolov of Borsch Racing/Tony Kart-Iame. The Italian driver Iacopo Martinese of KR Motorsport/KR-Iame was forced to retire instead. In the Prefinal-B, the Ukrainian driver Oleksandr Bondarev of KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega took the lead and won the race, followed by the German driver Taym Saleh of Sauber Academy/KR-Iame and the Italian driver Filippo Sala of Sodikart/Sodi-TM.
Sunday, January 29, TV Live Streaming from wsk.it and Motorsport.tv.
The Live Streaming will be available from wsk.it and Motorsport.tv starting from 9:50 with the Prefinals of X30J, X30S, KZ2 and OK. The Finals will follow from 12:10: in the order, X30J (12:10), X30S (12:40), MINI Gr.3 (13:40), MINI U10 (14:10), KZ2 (14:40), OKJ (15:10) and OK (15:40).