Published on Sunday, September 8, 2024

The WSK Super Cup Champions, those of the Italian Championship and National Trophy have been named

The titles of the Italian Championship went to Spagni (KZN Over), Gagliardini (KZN Over 50), Antonello (KZN Rookie) and Piccioni (KZN Under). The victory of the National Trophy to Miron (MINI Gr.3), Poujol (MINI Gr.3 U10), Marchesi (OKN) and Berezkin (OKNJ).

The third edition of the WSK Super Cup crowned its champions in the event held at the Franciacorta Karting Track, organized by WSK Promotion. This event was also valid for the Italian Championship titles in the KZN category, with key participants from the Italian Zone Cups, and for the ACI Sport National Trophy in the MINI, OKN, and OKNJ categories.

The weekend was intense and featured a good number of drivers, primarily from national racing, with 231 verified participants out of approximately 240 entries. However, the event also had a strong international presence, especially in the MINI category, with competitors from 31 nations, all vying for the WSK Super Cup and Italian titles. The weekend also faced challenges due to rain, which arrived right after the halfway point of Sunday’s finals, testing the drivers’ skills during the last three finals: KZN Over 50, Rookie, and Under. Despite this, the final races were successfully completed.

WSK Super Cup / National Trophy ACI Sport

MINI Gr.3 - Miron wins also the Final.

The Spaniard Daniel Miron Lorente (#508 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) achieved an impressive overall result in the MINI Gr.3, securing the victory in the final after winning the qualifying heats and the Prefinal. Right behind the Spanish driver was the Italian Gioele Girardello (#570 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), while third place went to the Indonesian Oliveri Sini from the Tony Kart team, driving a Tony Kart-Vortex, after recovering two positions. Other notable finishes included Italian Julian Frasnelli (#527 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) in fourth and the Danish driver Matteis Stigsen (#542 CRG Racing Team/TGroup-TM Kart), who finished fifth after standing out with a heat victory. Another top performer was Achille Rea (#510 Team Driver/KR-Iame), who finished seventh.

Final result MINI Gr.3
1st Daniel Miron Lorente (NLD) 10 laps
2nd Gioele Girardello (ITA) +0.054
3rd Oliveri Sini (IDN) +0.122

MINI Gr.3 U10 - Poujol wins the duel with Perico.

In the duel in MINI Gr.3 Under 10 between the Frenchman Jean Poujol (#537 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) and Niccolò Perico (#501 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart), Poujol came out on top with a decisive pass in the final meters after a lively back-and-forth for the lead. In the last laps, Perico had managed to gain some ground, but Poujol’s comeback was relentless. Third place went to Perico’s teammate, the Australian Jay Kostecki, who inherited the podium after Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio (#516 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) received a 3-second penalty for the mispositioning of the front spoiler. The Romanian Victor Thomas Gorun (#566 Real Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) secured a solid fourth place, ahead of the Georgian Leon Chelidze (#505 Team Driver/KR-Iame).

Final result MINI Gr.3 Under 10
1st Jean Poujol (FRA) 10 laps
2nd Niccolò Perico (ITA) +0.026
3rd Jay Kostecki (AUS) +3.981

OK-N – The victory goes to Marchesi.

Starting from the front row, Nicolas Marchesi of Team Driver emerged victorious in the OK-N category, winning ahead of seasoned driver Antonio Apicella from the Greek GSR team, who had to stage a comeback after being disqualified in the Prefinal due to being underweight by just 200 grams. Behind Marchesi and Apicella, the Turkish driver Bati Ege Yildirim from Modena Kart took third place. One of the most notable comebacks was by Filippo Donanzan from NGM Motorsport, who climbed 16 positions to finish fourth, ahead of pole-sitter Christian Canonica from KGT Motorsport and fellow GSR team driver Matteo Bagnardi.

Final result OK-N
1st Nicolas Marchesi (ITA) 20 laps
2nd Antonio Apicella (ITA) +3.065
3rd Bati Ege Yildirim (TUR) +3.602

OK-N Junior - Berezkin wins a good duel.

Ilia Berezkin (#308 Monster K Factory/CRG-TM Kart-Vega) capped off a steadily improving weekend with a thrilling final victory in OKN Junior, winning a tight battle against the Italian Valerio Viapiana (#309 Team Driver/KR-Iame) and the Swede Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (#313 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex). The three drivers put on a great show, swapping the lead several times before Berezkin ultimately came out on top. The Frenchman Lucas Bonhomme (#317 Moni/Tony Kart-Vortex) finished fourth, with Italians Bruno Blanco (#336 LA Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) and Riccardo Brangero (#334 Zanchi Motorsport/Tony Kart-TM Kart) securing fifth and sixth place after strong comebacks.

Final result OK-NJ
1st Ilia Berezkin (/) 16 laps
2nd Valerio Viapiana (ITA) +0.373
3rd Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (AUS) +0.825

WSK Super Cup / Italian Championship ACI Sport

KZN Over - Spagni has the upper hand.

In KZN Over, after an early dominance by Andrea Tonoli (#115 TecTav/Drago-TM Kart-Vega), who set pole position in qualifying and won the Prefinal, the experience and skill of champion Andrea Spagni (#110 KCS/BirelART-TM Kart) emerged in the second half of the race. Spagni took the lead and crossed the finish line in first place, winning the national title. Fabio Ferretti (#107 TK-TM Kart) claimed second place, while Tonoli had to settle for third on the podium. Roger Ricco (#113 BirelART-TM Kart) finished fourth, ahead of Sirio Costantini (#111 Costantini/BirelART-TM Kart).

Final result KZN Over
1st Andrea Spagni (ITA) 16 laps
2nd Fabio Ferretti (ITA) +0.834
3rd Andrea Tonoli (ITA) +1.487

KZN Over 50 - Gagliardini flies on the rain in the Final.

The KZN Over 50 race saw increasingly heavy rain, which posed challenges for all the drivers. In a difficult race marked by numerous retirements, Paolo Gagliardini (#165 Kalì Kart-TM Kart-Vega) emerged victorious with a significant lead, despite a damaged rear bumper in the final stages, which did not affect his result. The Sicilian driver Alfio Messina (#164 Maranello-TM Kart) finished second, while Luca Levorato (#172 Parolin-TM Kart) narrowly secured the final podium spot in third, ahead of Massimiliano Mariotti (#174 Parolin-Vortex) and Marcello Lamberti (BirelART-TM Kart).

Final result KZN Over 50
1st Paolo Gagliardini (ITA) 16 laps
2nd Alfio Messina (ITA) +4.821
3rd Luca Levorato (ITA) +28.289

KZN Rookie - Antonello claims his maiden win.

Andrea Antonello (#62 Erre Esse/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega) concluded a great weekend by securing his first victory in an Italian Championship in the KZN Rookie class, after a race where he prevailed over Alessandro Zallocco (#60 BirelART-TM Kart-Vega), who had won the Prefinal. Denny Raineri (#66 Exprit-TM Kart), who set the pole position in qualifying, claimed a solid third place in a race made challenging by the rain. Cristian Creati (#67 Intrepid Driver/Intrepid-TM Kart) finished fourth, and Luca Manzone (#69 BirelART-TM Kart) took fifth.

Final result KZN Rookie
1st Andrea Antonello (ITA) 16 laps
2nd Alessandro Zallocco (ITA) +5.479
3rd Denny Raineri (ITA) +15.779

KZN Under - Piccioni secures his fourth Italian title.

The rain also affected the KZN Under race, the final event of the Franciacorta weekend. In fact, the intensity of the rain during the final forced race officials to implement a slow regime for several laps to ensure safety. Ultimately, Antonio Piccioni, racing for the TK Racing Kart team on a TK-TM Kart-Vega, won the race and secured his fourth consecutive Italian title. Piccioni outperformed Luca Gianassi (#26 Vemme/Vemmekart-TM kart) and Massimiliano Casagranda (#29 Tec Tav/Drago-TM Kart). Gabriele Leggio (#14 Red Fury/BirelART-TM Kart) finished fourth, and Filippo Calligaris (#11 Erre Esse/Parolin-TM Kart) took fifth after receiving a 3-second penalty for an incorrectly positioned front spoiler, which cost him the victory after crossing the finish line in first.