The initial heats at the Franciacorta Karting Track have started to define the protagonists after qualifying heats. Further heats will follow on Saturday while the final stages will be on Sunday, November 26th.
After the qualifying sessions that enlivened the start of the Franciacorta weekend, the first heats on Friday afternoon provided excitement in this final event of the season, with 342 drivers in attendance and a global representation of 50 countries competing for titles in the WSK Final Cup.
OK – Matveev and Pavan share the success in the first two heats.
The victories in the two heats of the OK category went to the current leader Dmitry Matveev (#204 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont), who had already secured pole position in the morning sessions, and Sebastiano Pavan (#218 Tony Kart Racing Team/OTK-Vortex). In heat A-B, Matveev finished ahead of the American Vivek Kanthan (#240 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) and the Belgian Ean Eyckmans (#223 Leclerc by Lennox/BirelART-TM Kart). In heat C-D, Pavan won with a comfortable margin over Anatoly Khavalkin (#237 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) and Gerasim Skulanov (#202 DPK Racing/KR-Iame).
KZ2 – The first heat to Nosov.
In KZ2, Egor Nosov (#22 Sumako IPK Racing/IPK-TM Kart) continued to impress. After securing the second-best time in qualifying, he managed to take the lead in the first heat of the category and finished with a victory ahead of his teammate, the Czech driver Marek Skrivan. Cristian Bertuca (#1 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) secured third place after a strong comeback. Among the top performers were also the Estonian Markus Kajak (#25 KH Racing Team/BirelART-Modena Engines) in fourth place, followed by the Swiss driver Ethan Frigomosca (#62 Gerber Team/Maranello-TM Kart), Swedish racer Viktor Gustavsson (#54 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart), and his teammate from Brazil Gabriel Gomez.
OK-N Junior – Hoogendoorn comes to the fore.
In OK-N Junior, the Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (#726 AKM Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) took the spotlight, winning in the final moments of the first heat ahead of the pole sitter from Poland Bruno Gryc (#706 MLG Racing/Parolin-TM Kart). The third place went to the Romanian driver Bogdan Cosma-Cristofor (#712 Team Driver/KR-Iame), winning the duel against Slovakian driver Alex Molota (#702 Firefly Racing Team/Exprit-TM Kart). The Dutch driver Billy Van Staveren (#714 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) finished fifth.
OK-N – Volpato takes a last lap lead on Sarg.
The duel between the pole position holder, the Estonian driver Robin Sarg (#810 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE-Vega) and Andrea Volpato (#M2 Racing/Gillard-TM Kart), concluded on the last lap, with the Italian driver managing to secure the victory in the first heat. Confirming their positions from the qualifiers, the Italian driver Federico Rossi (#811 PRK/Tony Kart-TM Kart) took third, along with the Swede Leon Hedfors (#813 DR/DR-Modena Engines) in fourth. The Ecuadorian driver Altamirano Paredes (#809 MLG Racing/Parolin-TM Kart) secured fifth place. Unfortunately, the Italian driver Lamberto Ferrari (#804 Sumako IPK Racing/IPK-Modena Engines), who had obtained the fifth position in qualifying, had to retire.
OKJ – Werrell recovers the lost ground.
Four heats were run in the OK-Junior category, and the English driver Lewis Wherrell (#328 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega) emerged victorious with two wins. Both victories were comeback performances after a challenging qualification, considering he secured the eighth position in his session and the 23rd overall. The other heat victories went to the pole position holder, the Belgian driver Dries Van Langendonck (#329 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart), and to the Italian driver Filippo Sala (#324 Ricky Flynn Motorsport/LN Kart-TM Kart). Iacopo Martinese (#301 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) finished second in the first heat following a penalty, while the other top performers in the qualifiers were the category leader, the Finnish driver Sebastian Lehtimaki (#311 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), the Chinese Xiao Yu Sun (#341 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex), the Czech driver Jindrich Pesl (#353 Monster K/Intrepid-TM Kart) and the Italians Davide Bottaro (#310 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) and Gino Rocchio (#400 DR/DR-TM kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – Two wins for Loomets after the pole position.
In the MINI Gr.3 under 10 category, the Estonian driver Mark Loomets (#558 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart-Vega), following his pole position in qualifying, kept his momentum with victories in his two heats. In the third heat, the Spanish driver Lorente Daniel Miron (#501 Team Driver/KR-Iame) secured the win. The Italian driver Alessandro Nanni (#532 Gamoto/EKS-TM Kart) delivered an excellent performance, finishing second in both of his heats. The French driver Stan Fagot (#Beaumont Kevin/FA-Iame-Vega) secured second place in his heat, ahead of Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio (#526 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), who showcased an impressive comeback of 11 positions. The current leader in the standings, Niccolò Perico (#557 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart), finished fourth in his heat instead.
MINI Gr.3 – Crisan, Calleja and Walz are the winners of the heats.
The Canadian driver Ilie Crisan Tristan (#539 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) secured a victory in the first heat, but in his second heat he settled for third place behind the winner, the American driver Devin Walz (#514 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), and the Peruvian Mariano Lopez (#517 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). Lopez also showed his speed in the first heat with a second-place finish. The winner of the third heat was the Australian driver William Calleja (#508 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), who finished ahead of Devin Walz and the Ukrainian driver Oleksandr Legenkyi (Team Driver/KR-Iame), who made a solid comeback. The current standings leader, the Italian driver Cristian Blandino (#622 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart), claimed competitive placements.
The program of the WSK Final Cup in Franciacorta will continue on Saturday with the remaining qualifying heats.
Saturday, November 25th: warm up at 8:00; Heats at 09:40; Prefinals OKNJ, OKN at 16:00.
Sunday, November 26th: warm up at 8:00; Prefinals at 09:40, Finals with Live TV and Live
Streaming from 12:40: 12:40 OKNJ, 13:10 OKN, 13:40 OKJ; 14:10 OK, 14:40 MINI U10; 15:10 MINI GR.3; 15:40 KZ2.