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The 2022 season of the ROK Cup Italy is on file, with the last round of the season staged at the Franciacorta Karting Track in Castrezzato (BS). Sunny weather and autumn temperatures welcomed the protagonists of the championship on Sunday.

At the end of the day, the following category champions were awarded: Shen Zeyu (Mini ROK), Mattia Jentile (Junior ROK), Bartosz Grzywacz (Senior ROK), Marco Chiari (Expert ROK), Riccardo Ianniello (Super ROK) and Nicola Rossini (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK

Very heated duel between Shen Zeyu and Vivek Kanthan for the title in the Mini ROK, the category of the smallest with the same Vortex engines for all and assigned with the formula of random draw.

In qualifying, Zeyu beats teammate Kanthan by 125 thousandths, with the Chinese in pole position with a time of 56.267 seconds and with the American second. Riccardo Repetto chases in third position, in turn chased by Ksawery Rafalik, fourth, Ilias Mitaki, fifth, and Valerio Viapiana, sixth. Shae Shield and Nicolò Carrara are respectively seventh and eighth, while Qarrar Firhand and Ahn Tu Ranghetti are ninth and tenth. The ranking continues with Angel Franceskin, Lorenzo Coletto, Stefano Zamponi, David Davoli Meschiari, Benjamin Westwood, Dario Palazzolo, Fabio Ferlicca, Evan Moussavi, Tommaso d'Ambrosio, Andrea Iacomelli, Luca Muzzolon, Massimo Ferro, Francesco Koci, Carlo Pongratz, Oskar Baron, Andrea Giacomo Rossi Di Montelera, Alberto Masotto, Manuel Ranica, Amelia Wyszomirska and Matteo Pau.

In Race 1, Zeyu keeps his lead on the first lap, ahead of Repetto, Mitaki, Kanthan, Shield and Viapiana. But Kanthan himself recovers his starting position in a few laps, up to overtaking Zeyu on the third lap. Zeyu remains involved in a challenge with Mitaki for second place and, having rejected his rival's attacks, tries to quickly get closer to Kanthan, but that's not enough: the American wins with 131 thousandths of an advantage over the Chinese, while Mitaki closes third ahead of Repetto, Shield and in Palazzolo, the latter good at recovering 11 positions. However, the podium changes post-race as Mitaki is disqualified for recovering his position in the formation lap after the red line. The decision promotes Repetto to third position.

Race 2 was decisive for the fate of the title. Franceskin makes the most of the reversal of the grid and, from pole position, stays ahead of the first corner, but Firhand soon takes the lead. To make his way, however, is Zeyu, who overtakes Firhand on lap 2 and never gives up the lead until the checkered flag, except in the sixth and third last lap of the race. Viapiana hits the place of honor, while Kanthan wins in the sprint for the third position but, with this result, hands the title into the hands of Zeyu. Qarrar, Carrara, Rafalik, Repetto, Shield and Ranghetti follow the American in the standings.

The final championship standings are clear: Zeyu is first with 394 points, with Kanthan second at 377 points and Francesco Koci third with 285 points.

Junior ROK

Confirmations and news among the winners of the weekend in the Junior ROK category.

Championship leader Mattia Jentile signs the pole position in qualifying, stopping the clocks on a time of 50.090 seconds. Filippo Tornaghi, one of the main rivals of the Italian driver, is second by only 27 thousandths, while the other title contender Nicolas Marchesi is fourth. In the middle, in third place, we find Ethan Lennon, protagonist in the round of Castelletto di Branduzzo. Borys Lyzen and Maksymilian Rafalik, in their first seasonal presence, snatch fifth and sixth position respectively. Patrik Fraboni seventh, Niccolò Coppotelli eighth, Luca Perelli ninth and Luigi Pace tenth. The ranking continues with Colin Wurthenberger, Massimo Pietro Cannizzo, Emilio Tedesco, Alfio Antonio Berni, Andrea Fiocco, Thomas Baldassarri, Guido Bruno Bidoli, Ticheng Qu, Aleksander Jelen, Giacomo Pegazzano, Alessandro Cocozza, Andrea Caterisano, Pietro Santese, Giulio Mazzolini, Cristian Tonalini, Davide Prestosi, Alex Lagezza, Adria Matteo Martinz, Simone Donchi, Ettore Sanesi, Riccardo Maglioli, Anna Filotto, Nico Deutsch, Ricard Moreni, Lorenzo Brunetti and Kimi Karakilic.

No mistake at the start of Race 1 for Jentile, firmly in the lead after the first corner. Tornaghi, on the other hand, watches his back from the attacks of Rafalik, who in the meantime jumped to third position. Jentile, Tornaghi and Rafalik compacted quickly, until Tornaghi successfully launched the attack on Jentile for the lead on lap eight. Jentile does not break down and, four steps later, returns to the front and gains a good advantage, also taking advantage of the duel between Tornaghi and Rafalik. Jentile wins with 2.525 seconds ahead of Rafalik, who finished ahead of Tornaghi by 155 thousandths. Fraboni, Lennon and Coppotelli instead occupy the positions from fourth to sixth, with Perelli seventh after receiving a 5 second penalty for the front spoiler in the incorrect position.

In Race 2, Lyzen touches and starts from pole position and the Pole is good at keeping his position at the start. But from the seventh position Rafalik emerges who, in a short time, climbs to second place and on the fourth lap passes Lyzen. Tornaghi and Jentile also quickly reach the two Poles, but on the finish line they finish in the first two positions just in front of Lyzen, with Tornaghi third and Jentile fifth, mocked by Lennon in the sprint at the finish.

The championship ends with the title assigned to Jentile, first with 389 points, while Tornaghi grabs second place with 309 points, against Marchesi who finishes third with 274 points.

Senior ROK

Large number of participants in the Senior ROK, with 40 young riders ready to battle on the track.

The drivers of the category are divided into two sessions in the morning qualifying, and then they are distributed in three groups in the qualifying heats according to the combined classification. At the end of the qualifying heats, the best 36 enter the final race of the day. Paolo Dung Pastori is the fastest in group 2 with a time of 49.049, with Bartosz Grzywacz second for 61 thousandths of a difference and Christian Canonica, the best in group 1, third for 63 thousandths. Simone Taccola settles in fourth place, with Samuele Di Filippo fifth, Daniele Galbiati sixth, Federico Desiderio seventh and Matteo Adami eighth. Top 10 also for Lorenzo Rubes, ninth, and Luca Bettoni, tenth. Followed by Matteo Bellandi, Matteo Puppo, Omar Matteo Mosca, Lorenzo Bedetti, Riccardo Monti, Edoardo Sabatino, Marco Dianda, Tobias Miroslav Robe Rocca, Leonardo Megna, Matteo Zaffarano, Francesco Perfetti, Gianmarco Cortopassi, Jakub Jarosz, Michal Bartoszuk, Federico Colombo , Rebecca Guarguaglini, Gioele Pollini, Edoardo Mortoro, Valentina Nessi, Michele Zampieri, Michael Di Piazza, Tommaso Arlati, Nicole Ameglio, Ludovica Miceli, Federico Potena, Gabriele Cucinotta, Davide Torrentelli, Arun Kumar Zanobio, Matilde Seregni and Riccardo Tocu.

After the three qualifying heats, the ranking sees a new leader: in fact, Desiderio leaps ahead with a victory and a second place, while Pastori drops to second position with a success and a third place. Grzywacz is third with two results on the podium, with Canonica fourth and Taccola fifth. Di Filippo wins two heats, but in the first he receives a penalty of 5 seconds for the front spoiler in the incorrect position and makes up a sixth place in the intermediate ranking. Galbiati, Adami, Bettoni and Rubes completed the top ten.

Good start for Desiderio in the final, with Grzywacz, Taccola, Pastori, Canonica, Galbiati and Di Filippo in the role of first pursuers. Taccola and Grzywacz take care of the first laps: the Italian moves into second position on the first lap, but the Pole responds to the next step. The two come into contact, allowing Canonica to enter third position and Desiderio to increase his advantage. The leader, however, quickly finds Canonica behind him who, on the fifth lap, passes in front. Desiderio tries to make up for it, however, after a few corners, he makes a mistake in braking and climbs to fifth place. Canonica controls the race until the end and wins, while Desiderio recovers up to the place of honor. Grzywacz takes home the lowest step of the podium, with Di Filippo fourth, Taccola fifth and Galbiati sixth.

With the absence of Andrea Ladina stuck at 319 points, Grzywacz graduated as Senior ROK champion with 378 points. Bedetti instead ranks third with 263 points.

Expert ROK

The two races of the Expert ROK, the ROK Cup Italia category reserved for the most experienced drivers, were fought up to the last meter.

Fabio Cretti opens the weekend with the fastest lap ever in morning qualifying: 50.017 the time recorded, 166 thousandths better than Tommaso Castellani, second. Alessandro Viganò takes third place in front of the championship leader Marco Chiari, fourth, while Tino Donadei and Davide Gherardi are respectively fifth and sixth. Paolo Baselli closes the session in seventh place, followed by Gianluca Todeschini, eighth, Riccardo Pedrola, ninth, Gianluca Rubiolini, tenth, Carmelo Aloisi, eleventh, and Roberto Pelanconi, twelfth.

In Race 1, Cretti did not have the best starting point of the group because, instead, a good Castellani, who started from second position on the starting grid, took the lead. However, Cretti put his rival straight away by recovering the first position on the second lap. Gherardi and Chiari also find space to pass Castellani, also taking advantage of the 10-second penalty inflicted on the latter for not respecting the starting procedure. Thus, virtually Gherardi and Chiari are second and third in the standings, however they are unable to sustain Cretti's pace and defend their positions from a fast Viganò. The race sees Cretti the winner ahead of Viganò, second, and Gherardi, third, with Baselli fourth and Chiari fifth.

In Race 2, Castellani makes good use of his pole position due to the reversed grid and leads ahead of Donadei, Baselli, Chiari and Todeschini. Unfortunately on the second lap the race was interrupted by a red flag due to an accident in Chiari. Fortunately, all is well for the driver, who will still be subjected to checks. After the interruption, the race resumes with Castellani always in the lead and, containing a wild Cretti on the last lap, wins his first race of the season. Viganò climbs the podium again, this time on the lowest step, ahead of Todeschini and Pedrola. A contact in the final instead between Donadei and Baselli denies the two the possibility of seizing high-ranking positions.

The title is assigned to Chiari, first with 424 points, while Cretti closes the debut season in second place and with a haul of 402 points. Donadei, on the other hand, is third with 299 points.

Super ROK

Despite the games for the title practically already closed, the Super ROK offers fun and excitement in the last round of the season.

Perfect debut by Arnaud Malizia in the ROK Cup Italy, with the Frenchman immediately in pole position in timed practice with a time of 48.152. Riccardo Ianniello, leader of the championship, finishes second, with Riccardo Cocozza third and Alberto Bernardi fourth. Lynn Neuhaus and Manuel Gritti occupy the third row, while the fourth goes to Sergio Koch and Maximilian Tarillion. Sachel Rotge and Tommaso Nonini close the Top 10, with Gaia Cardinali, Antonio Lagrotteria and Chiara Bolognini completing the starting grid.

In Race 1, Malizia and Ianniello start perfectly from the front row and immediately compete for the first position, while Cocozza defends third place from Bernardi, Gritti and Neuhaus. Already on the second lap there are two twists: Militia parks on the side of the track and withdraws from the race, while Bernardi overthrows Cocozza and gains the second position behind the new leader Ianniello. Despite the reassuring advantage, Ianniello scores the fastest lap and finishes in front of everyone under the checkered flag, with Bernardi second 4.065 seconds late. Cocozza conquers the lowest step of the podium, preceding Gritti and Neuhaus.

With the reversal of the first eight of Race 1 on the starting grid, Race 2 promises to be really exciting. Lagrotteria starts from pole position and initially keeps Koch, Bernardi, Gritti, Tarillion and Ianniello at bay. But the most dangerous of all is Malizia who, despite starting from the back of the grid, rises strongly to sixth place after just three laps. Two passes later, Malizia successfully attacks Ianniello for third place, then shoves Gritti and the race leader Lagrotteria. The Frenchman thus remedies his retirement from Race 1 with a great success, with 2.185 seconds ahead of Ianniello, who finished second, and with the fastest lap as the icing on the cake. Cardinali recovers six positions in the standings with an excellent last part of the race and grabs the third position, ahead of Neuhaus by 49 thousandths. Nonini and Lagrotteria are fifth and sixth respectively. Unlucky final for Gritti, retired in the penultimate lap while occupying third place.

The classification leaves no doubt: Ianniello is the new Super ROK champion with a total of 429 points, while Cardinali is confirmed as vice-champion with 328 points. Despite his absence in the last round, Elliot Shaw is third with 316 points.

Shifter ROK

Star battles in the ROK Shifter, the ROK Cup Italia category dedicated to karts with gearboxes.

Fabrizio Morardo scores the first pole position of the season thanks to a record time of 47.593 seconds, snatching it from the hands of the leader of the classification Nicola Rossini, second. Gabriele Bensi, Rossini's teammate and rival for the title, is third in qualifying, followed by Andrea Zemin, fourth, Andrea Aliberti, fifth, and Daniele Demartis, sixth. Federico Mascialino takes the seventh position in front of Manuel Daziano, eighth, while Davide Cugini and Marco Chiarello complete the Top 10. Continuing with the ranking we find Mattia Rossetti, Alessandro Zucco, Mattia Limena, Massimiliano Pezzucchi, Damiano Sapio, Alessandro Cavina, Marco Acquarella, Karol Czepiel, Victor Martin Odin, Alessio Foresto, Pietro Gobbi, Riccardo Franciosi, Sebastian Janczewski.

As soon as the traffic lights in Race 1 go off, two twists take place: both poleman Morardo and Aliberti, who jumped to second place, anticipate the start and receive a 5-second penalty from the stewards. But the biggest surprise comes on the second lap: Bensi tries to overtake Rossini, but the two make contact and end up wide at the last hairpin. Returning to the lead, Morardo tries to outpace Zemin, who in the meantime has risen to second position, but fails to do so. At the end of the 16 laps scheduled, the order of arrival sees Morardo, Zemin, Aliberti, Chiarello and Cavina, but with the penalties the victory goes to Zemin. Chiarello wins second place, ahead of Morardo, who slipped third, Cavina and Aliberti. Rossini ends 12th, while Bensi registers a retirement.

Rich show also in Race 2, with a perfect start for Cugini and Demartis from the front row and a multiple accident involving Cavina, Chiarello and Daziano. The group of the first eight is remarkably compact in the first half of the race, with Cugini always in the lead, Aliberti in the role of first pursuer and Morardo, Zemin, Demartis, Janczewski, Rossini and Czepiel glued to the first two. The classification changes during the eighth lap, with Zemin and Morardo out after a hard contact and Aliberti new leader of the race ahead of Cugini. Aliberti ends first under the checkered flag, with Demartis able to subtract the second position to the detriment of Cugini, third. Czepiel completes a comeback of 16 positions with the fourth place and the fastest lap, preceding Janczewski and Rossini.

The title challenge between Bensi and Rossini rewards the latter, first with 364 points, while his teammate is second by only one point of difference. The third place sees, however, Zemin with 320 points.

Press Release © OTK Kart Group