Published on Monday, June 26, 2023

The WSK Open Series titles have been awarded in Sarno

The titles, at the end of the fourth and closing round, have been awarded to Pex (KZ2), Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (MINI Gr.3), Legenkyi (sub judice MINI Gr.3 U10), Yildirim (OK-N) and David Cosma Cristofor (OK-NJ).

The WSK Open Series concluded with a fantastic finale at the International Circuit Napoli in Sarno, marking the fourth round of the championship featuring drivers from 34 different nationalities competing for category titles in MINI, KZ2, OK-N and OK-N Junior. The on-track action was exceptional, with the presence of Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc, who visited Sarno to support the team bearing his name, in partnership with Lennox, for their personal line of chassis produced by BirelART.

Following the first three events in Lonato, Cremona and Castelletto, this fourth weekend in Sarno was fiercely contested and demanding, influenced by exceptionally high temperatures. In the end, the category titles were claimed by Stan Pex in KZ2, Bogdan Cosma Cristofor in MINI Gr.3, Oleksandr Legenkyi (under review) in MINI Gr.3 Under 10, Bati Ege Yildirim in OK-N and David Cosma Cristofor in OK-N Junior, both in a single round format.

The winners of the Prefinals.

The winners of the Prefinals held on Saturday morning are the following:

MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – Prefinal: Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR) (#536 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega);

MINI Gr.3 – Prefinal: Noah Baglin (GBR) (#521 iKart/KR-Iame-Vega);

KZ2 – Prefinal-A: Jeremy Iglesias (FRA) (#81 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart-LeCont);
Prefinal-B: Paolo Ippolito (ITA) (#21 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont).

OK-N OKNJ – Prefinal OK-N: Bati Ege Yildirim (TUR) (#202 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega),
Prefinal OK-N Junior: David Cosma Cristofor (ROM) (#307 Kidix/KR-Iame-Vega).

The Finals, the winners and the champions.

KZ2 – Ippolito wins the closing Final, Pex the championship.

A series of notable retirements unfolded during the course of the final race, but the focus is primarily on those competing for the title: the Italian driver Paolo Ippolito (#21 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont) and the championship leader, the Dutch Stan Pex (#13 SP Motorsport/KR-TM Kart). The Italian driver dominated the final race from the start, positioning himself as the virtual champion until halfway through the race. However, Pex, starting from seventh place, mounted a comeback to secure second position and, mathematically, the championship title. Completing the podium behind Paolo Ippolito and Stan Pex was the French driver Jeremy Iglesias (#81 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart), another impressive performer of the weekend. Among the disappointments were the two Sodikart drivers, the Dutchman Senna Van Walstjin and Frenchman Emilien Denner, who were forced to retire. Notable comebacks were achieved by the two Italians Danilo Albanese (#20 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) and Cristian Bertuca (#51 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart), finishing in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Sixth place went to French driver Adrien Renaudin (#94 DR/DR-Modena Engines), followed by the two BirelART drivers, Daniel Vasile and Giuseppe Palomba. Other contenders of the weekend faced disappointment as they failed to finish in top positions: Alex Powell, despite setting the fastest lap, finished in 25th place, Francesco Celenta in 30th, and Kean Nakamura Berta in 31st. In the championship standings, Pex secured first place with 235 points, followed by Ippolito in second with 219 points and Iglesias in third with 123 points.

Final KZ2
Paolo Ippolito (ITA)
Stan Pex (NLD)
Jeremy Iglesias (FRA)

KZ2 Championship
Stan Pex (NLD) points 235
Paolo Ippolito (ITA) points 219
Jeremy Iglesias (FRA) points 123

MINI GR.3 – Baglin dominates also the Final, but the title goes to Bogdan Cosma Cristofor.

In MINI Gr.3, the English driver Noah Baglin (#521 iKart/KR-Iame-Vega) continues his pursuit of the championship lead by finishing first in the final race after demonstrating his skills throughout the practice sessions. However, the Romanian driver Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#539 Team Driver/KR-Iame) maintained his position at the top of the standings with a third-place finish in the final, behind Baglin and American driver Devin Walz (#514 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). Another BabyRace driver, Australian William Calleja, who crossed the finish line in second place, was classified 17th due to a 10s penalty for an irregular start. Vladimir Ivannikov (#522 Gamoto/EKS-TM Kart) took fourth place ahead of the American driver Keelan Harvick (#513 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), Canadian Ilie Crisan Tristan (#526 Tony Kart R.T./Tony Kart-Vortex), and Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (Kidix/KR-Iame).

Final MINI GR.3
Noah Baglin (GBR)
Devin Walz (USA)
Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU)

MINI GR.3 Classification
Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU) points 289
Noah Baglin (GBR) points 266
Dean Hoogendoorn points 246

MINI GR.3 Under 10 – Tamm wins the Final, Legenkyi the championship, but sub judice.

As usual, the final race of the youngest category, MINI Gr.3 Under 10, was thrilling, aided by a penalty imposed on the championship leader, the Polish driver Leonardo Gorski (#511 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega), for an irregular start. In the fiercely contested Final, the victory went to the Swiss driver Albert Tamm (#510 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), followed by the Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (#536 Team Driver/KR-Iame) and Swiss driver Maximus Unt (#569 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart), with Leonardo Gorski finishing fourth. However, due to the 10s time penalty imposed on him, the Polish driver dropped from fourth to 22nd place, but an appeal has been filed. The Australian Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (#524 Tony Kart R.T./Tony Kart-Vortex) climbed to fourth place, followed by the Italian Niccolò Perico (#566 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart) in fifth, and the Belgian Henri Kumpen (#549 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), who made a great comeback to finish sixth. Another notable participant in the category, the Belgian driver Antoine Venant (#572 Kidix/KR-Iame), secured seventh place, with Daniil Kutskov (#649 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) taking eighth. In terms of the championship, Legenkyi surpassed Gorski at the top, but everything is pending due to the ongoing appeal.

Final MINI GR.3 U10 (sub judice)
Albert Tamm (CHE)
Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR)
Maximus Unt (SWE)

MINI GR.3 U10 Classification (sub judice)
Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR) points 255
Leonardo Gorski (POL) points 253
Albert Tamm (CHE) points 199.

OK-N victory to Yildirim, OK-N Junior’s to David Cosma Cristofor.

The debut for the two new categories, OK-N and OK-N Junior, envisaged an interesting growth. Meanwhile, in their first appearance at a WSK event, the overall victory went to Turkish driver Bati Ege Yildirim (#202 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega) in the OK-N class, while in the final of OK-N Junior, the podium was occupied by Romanian David Cosma Cristofor (#307 Kidix/KR-Iame) in first place, followed by the Polish driver Bruno Gryc (#309 MLG Racing/Parolin-TM Kart) in second, and the Italian Gino Rocchio (#308 DR/DR-Modena Engines) in third. The fourth place went to another Italian driver, Giacomo Giusto (#303 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart), while the Spanish driver Nikita Nikishov (#305 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Racing) finished sixth due to a penalty. Giuseppe Piccolo (#310 Team Driver/KR-Iame) secured seventh place, while the Turkish driver Ayse Cebi (#302 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) finished eighth.