Great start for the new OK-N and OK-N Junior with a lot of protagonists coming to the fore in the opener of the Italian Championship in the KZ2, MINI Gr.3, MINI Gr.3 Under 10, KZN Under and KZN Over categories.

A great spectacle took place in the first round of the Italian ACI Karting Championship at the Cremona Circuit, with over 280 drivers and an excellent participation of 60 drivers for the inaugural event of the two new federal categories, OK-N and OK-N Junior, in addition to significant numbers in the classic categories of MINI, KZ2, KZN Under and KZN Over.

A total of 14 finals were held, two for each category, at the conclusion of this intense weekend of the first round of the Italian season. The weather showed strong variability during the practices and heats but improved significantly on the final day, with a splendid sunny day that put everyone in the best conditions to perform at their best.

A great challenge in the two new OK-N and OK-N Junior categories.
In the new federal OK-N category, promoted by FIA Karting and immediately embraced by ACI Sport and manufacturers in the engine sector to boost and generate more interest in national karting activities, the technical competition quickly became intriguing, both in the Senior and Junior categories. In the two OK-N finals, the victory in Race 1 went to the Polish driver Karol Pasiewicz with the Novalux team on a Lenzo Kart powered by an LKE engine, while in Race 2, young Giacomo Maman with the TB Kart Racing Team secured the win on a TB Kart with a TM engine. In the OK-N Junior category, Gino Rocchio emerged victorious in Race 1 with the DR team on a DR chassis powered by a Modena engine, while the Polish driver Bruno Gryc with the MLG Racing team claimed the win in Race 2 on a Parolin kart with a TM engine. This interesting technical competition promises to bring even more excitement in the upcoming events.

KZ2 – Bertuca dominates Race 1, Carrara wins Race 2.
Cristian Bertuca (#105 LG Motorsport/BirelART-TM-MG) had little difficulty in winning the first final after dominating qualifying practice and heats. He crossed the finish line with a lead of over 8 seconds ahead of Romanian driver Daniel Vasile (#145 KCS Racing/BirelART-TM) and over 10 seconds ahead of Alessio Piccini (#107 TribeOne/BirelART-TM). Matteo Segre (#143 OK1/IPK-Iame), finishing in fourth place, claimed second position among the Under 18 drivers. He was followed by Maksim Orlov (#149 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM) in third place in the Under 18 category. Enrico Martinese (#120 King Racing Team/KR-Iame) secured the fourth position in the Under 18 classification and finished seventh overall.

In Race 2, the Argentine driver Giorgio Carrara (#108 Novalux/Lenzo Kart-LKE) emerged victorious, with Alessio Piccini and Cristian Bertuca behind him, both making their way up the field due to the inverted starting grid. Making his debut with his new team, Alex Irlando (#114 Drago Corse/Drago-TM) finished in fourth place, followed by William Lanzeni (#116 Lanzeni/EKS-TM) in fifth, also making progress during the race. Among the Under 18 drivers, Bertuca claimed the win ahead of Martinese, with Andrea Bosetto (#133 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM) securing the third position.

OK-N – Victories to Pasiewicz in Race 1 and Maman in Race 2.
Exciting races characterized the OK-N category. The Polish driver Karol Pasiewicz (#417 Novalux/Lenzo Kart-LKE-Vega) prevailed in Race 1 and was followed by Francesco Marenghi (#414 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM) in second place and fellow Polish driver Bartosz Grzywacz (#402 KGT Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex) in third. Stefano Pedani (#428 Italcorse Racing Team/Italcorse-TM) finished fourth, while Antonio Apicella (#416 Team Driver/Tony Kart-Iame) took fifth place.

In Race 2, Giacomo Maman (#430 TB Kart Racing Team/TB Kart-TM) took control of the race, capitalizing on the top 8 grid inversion. Maman secured the victory, with Pasiewicz making an impressive comeback to finish second, followed by fellow countryman Grzywacz. Andrea Carraro (#404 M2 Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) finished fourth, and Lamberto Ferrari (#407 FK Motorsport/IPK-Modena) in fifth place.

OK-N Junior – Rocchio wins Race 1, Gryc Race 2.
In the OK-N Junior category, the battle for victory was incredibly tight, especially towards the end, where there were some contacts. In the end, after a series of penalties, the victory went to the young driver Gino Rocchio (#339 DR/DR-Modena-Vega), with his teammate from Monaco, Oscar Repetto, taking second place. Giovanni Toso (NGM Motorsport/Kalì Kart-TM) finished in third position. The Swiss driver Tiziano Kuzhnini (#337 Team Driver/Tony Kart-Iame) and Nikita Nikishow (#323 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM) ended fourth and fifth, both penalized by 5 seconds after crossing the finish line in first and second position respectively.

In Race 2, the Polish driver Bruno Gryc (#315 MLG Racing/Parolin-TM) emerged victorious, with Nikita Nikishow and Tiziano Kuzhnini following in second and third place respectively. Giovanni Toso secured fourth place, while Filippo Pancotti (#324 Team Driver/Tony Kart-TM) was relegated to fifth place due to a 5s time penalty.

MINI Gr.3 – Ivannikov wins Race 1, Zulfikari Race 2 at the photo-finish.
Intense battles characterized the MINI Gr.3 category. Vladimir Ivannikov (#3 Gamoto/EKS-TM-MG) dominated Race 1 and took the victory, with Andrea Manni (#25 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM) from Monaco finishing second and Noah Baglin (#21 IKart/KR-Iame) from England in third. Nicola Stanley, Ivannikov's teammate, secured fourth place, while the American driver Keelan Harvick (#19 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) finished fifth.

Race 2 ended with a thrilling photo finish, as the Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari (#49 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) emerged victorious in the final meters to cross the finish line in first place. Bosco Arias Chavarri (#55 Team Driver/KR-Iame) from Spain finished only 0.01s behind in second place, while the Dutch contender Dean Hoogendoorn (#20 Kidix/KR-Iame) took third place, trailing by 0.113 seconds. Pietro Bagutti (#58 AV Racing/Parolin-Iame) secured fourth place, with Noah Baglin finishing fifth.

MINI Gr.3 Under 10 – Legenkyi dominates Race 1, Truchot Race 2.
The Ukrainian driver Oleksandr Legenkyi (#230 Team Driver/KR-Iame-MG) also secured the victory in the first final after dominating in qualifying practice and heats. Behind him, David Moscardi (#260 Dal Academy/Alonso Kart-Iame) and the American driver Alessandro Truchot (#254 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM) finished in second and third place, respectively. The Polish driver Leonardo Gorski (#218 Baby Race/Parolin-Iame) took fourth place, followed by Niccolò Perico (#237 Energy Corse/Energy-TM) in fifth.

In Race 2, Alessandro Truchot took the lead with a significant advantage, finishing ahead of Leonardo Gorski and Niccolò Perico. David Moscardi made a three-position comeback but had to settle for fourth place, while Alessandro Nanni (#236 AV racing/Parolin-Iame) finished fifth. Legenkyi ended his effort in seventh place.

KZN Under – Piccioni is a protagonist again in Race 1, while Minguzzi wins Race 2.
Antonio Piccioni (#527 TK Driver/TK-TM-Vega), the champion of the category in 2021 and 2022, seized the opportunity to claim victory in the first final of the season. Massimiliano Casagranda (#503 Casagranda/BirelART-TM) followed closely behind in second place after a great comeback, while Emanuele Simonetti (#525 Simonetti/Parolin-TM) settled for third place. Filippo Calligaris (#522 Erre Esse/Parolin-TM-Vega), the pole sitter, finished fourth and Giuseppe Rendina (#524 Laudato Racing/BirelART-TM) took fifth place.

In Race 2, Simone Minguzzi (#519 Minguzzi/TB Kart-TM), who finished eighth in Race 1, started well from pole position due to the grid inversion and became unreachable. Massimiliano Casagranda made a strong comeback to secure second place, finishing ahead of Luciano Medeghini (#517 Medeghini/VRK-TM). Antonio Piccioni also staged a comeback to claim fourth place, just like Denis Tuia (#Vzeta Racing/BirelART-TM), who finished fifth.

KZN Over – Nalon confirms his speed in Race 1, Polidoro wins Race 2.
Riccardo Nalon (#601 Erre Esse/Parolin-TM-Vega), the 2022 champion, once again proved his value in KZN Over with a splendid victory, ahead of Marco Pagani (#619 Pagani/Parolin-TM) and Paolo Gagliardini (#612 Gagliardini/BirelART-TM), who took the Over 50 win. Sebastiano De Matteo (#607 De Matteo/Maranello-TM) finished fourth, while Alfio Messina (#615 Messina/Maranello-TM) was fifth.

In Race 2, Tommaso Polidoro (#TK Driver Academy/TK-TM) emerged victorious after finishing eighth in Race 1, while Riccardo Nalon completed a good recovery to secure second place. Sebastiano De Matteo, this time, claimed a podium finish with third place. Alfio Messina finished fourth and first among the Over 50 competitors, while Marco Pagani crossed the line in fifth place.

Results: https://www.acisport.it/it/CIK/home

The next rounds of the ACI Karting Italian Championship:
2nd round – June 18 – La Conca, Muro Leccese (Lecce)
MINI Gr.3, OK-N, OK-N Junior, KZ2, KZN

3rd round – July 16 – Kartodromo Val Vibrata, Sant’Egidio alla Vibrata (Teramo)
MINI Gr.3, OK-N, OK-N Junior, KZ2, Legend

4th round – August 27 – Circuito Internazionale Napoli, Sarno (Salerno)
MINI Gr.3, OK-N, OK-N Junior, KZ2, KZN

5th round – September 24 – Franciacorta Karting Track, Castrezzato (Brescia).
MINI Gr.3, OK-N, OK-N Junior, KZ2, OK, OKJ

Gazzetta dello Sport. A special report on the Italian Karting Championship ACI Sport at the Cremona Circuit will be published on Wednesday, May 24, in the sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

Press Release © ACI Sport