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Iacopo Martinese wins the prize of the 5th ACI Sport Karting Evaluation Internship of 10,000 Euros up for grabs among the 6 drivers selected for this event.

The second and final day of the 5th Karting Evaluation Internship elected the winner among the 6 Under 14 drivers selected by the ACI Sport “Michele Alboreto” Federal School directed by Raffaele Giammaria. At the end of two exciting days of tests and trials on the track on the Franciacorta Karting Track, the winner with the awarding of the prize of 10,000 Euros was the young native of Lecce Iacopo Martinese. 

The drivers of the 5th Karting Evaluation Internship.
The victory in the 5th Karting Evaluation Internship will help the young and promising Iacopo Martinese in his sporting activity and at the same time represented a new sporting experience for all those who worked hard during the two days of the 5th Internship of Franciacorta of ACI Sport, of which Cetilar is a partner. Together with Iacopo Martinese (February 2010 - Lecce), Ludovico Busso (April 2009 - Ragusa), Giacomo Giusto (February 2012 - Milan), Gino Rocchio (December 2009 - Cesenatico), Filippo Sala (July 2011 - Trento), Giovanni Toso (January 2010 - Pordenone) participated. 

The two days of the Internship.
After the opening day on Monday characterised by physical exercises and tests with the specialised staff of Formula Medicine, with the athletic trainer Davide Faustini and the psychologist Claudia Meneghetti, and the specialists of the Research and Training Sector, the Pedagogist Glenda Cappello and the Professor in Neuroscience Lucio Tonello, the drivers concluded the 5th Internship on the second day of Tuesday on the track for the practical tests, with the coordination of the staff of the Federal School, the Federal Instructors Gabriele Lancieri, Stefano Tredicine and Antonio Dettori, and the karts made available by OTK Kart Group with Tony Kart chassis, equipped with Vortex engines from the new OK-N Junior federal category and with Vega Tyres tyres.

Greetings from Giancarlo Minardi.
The final day on Tuesday was opened by a speech by Giancarlo Minardi, Supervisor of the ACI Sport “Michele Alboreto” Federal School, President of the ACI Speed Commission on racetracks and President of the FIA Single-Seater Commission. This is the greeting that Giancarlo Minardi addressed to the 6 drivers present in Franciacorta: “This is an important first step regarding your career, which as a Federation we are following. For this reason, I must also thank those who support us in this operation, namely Cetilar, OTK Kart Group, Vortex, Vega, Formula Medicine with whom you have already had the first contacts, and obviously all the staff of the Federal School. As a Federation, we are doing a fairly important activity and I believe that the first results are starting to arrive, thanks to the work carried out by the Federal School that allows us to obtain greater credibility in the world of motorsport. We have two Italian boys slightly older than you who are doing well in motor racing and we are counting on them to reach high levels, just as we are counting on the new talents that could be you. First of all, I wish you a good job, stay focused, and good luck for what your future career will be. We'll see you soon on the racing fields."

​The final practical tests.
In Franciacorta, the practical tests on the track with the karts of the new OK-N Junior category took place in the morning, with two free practice sessions on a wet track due to the rain that fell during the night and data analysis and possible set-up changes. Those were followed by a pre-qualifying session with the possibility of working on the set-up again and a 6-minute qualifying simulation session with final comments and data analysis. In the afternoon, on a now dry track, after the warm up, two race simulations were held following the format of the Italian Championship: 18 laps for Race 1 and 16 laps for Race 2, followed at the end of each race session with considerations on the performance and analyses of telemetry data.

The final evaluation.
The subjects for evaluating the students included learning ability, driving sensitivity, execution of trajectories, use of the brake, respect for the kart, technical competence, consistency of performance in the two race simulations, performance, psycho-physical preparation, and finally also the results of a questionnaire. In the end, the winner was Iacopo Martinese, but everyone concluded with excellent results.

Who is Iacopo Martinese
22/02/2010 - Taurisano (LE)
Results in 2023:
Italian OK-N Junior Championship in Sarno: Race 1 P4, Race 2 P2.
WSK Super Master Series OKJ: P11 with victory in the Prefinal in Cremona.
WSK Euro Series OKJ: P1 with victory in the Prefinal and in the Final in Sarno.
WSK Final Cup OKJ: P8.
FIA Karting OKJ European Championship: P3.
FIA Karting OKJ World Championship: P16.

The satisfaction of the director of the Federal School Raffaele Giammaria.
The final comment of the director Raffaele Giammaria, together with the staff of the instructors, and the delivery of the certificates to all the students concluded the 5th Karting Evaluation Internship of the ACI Sport "Michele Alboreto" Federal School at the Franciacorta Karting Track with the full satisfaction of all the participants. 

This is Raffaele Giammaria's comment: “We were lucky with the weather conditions which were quite lenient compared to the forecast. In the end we managed to drive both in the wet and in the dry and this was positive because we collected a lot of information which allowed us to objectively judge these guys. The balance is certainly positive. What we liked is the great level of Italian karting, which despite the difficulties of the economy manages to express many talents, as in this case, where it presented drivers coming from different experiences, from an international context and from Italian Championship races. The balance was very high, they set similar lap times and it was difficult for us to decide the winner. We evaluated all the criteria which ultimately led to a ranking that saw Iacopo Martinese emerge, deservedly so. However, the others, who we consider second on equal merit, have also demonstrated their great talents. On behalf of the Federal School, we wish everyone good luck because they have a future ahead of them in the world of karting and single-seaters." 

 Press Release © ACI Sport