WSK Champions Cup, Lonato: qualifying – Pole position for Denner (KZ2), Pesl (OK), Lyzen (OKJ), Viapiana (OKN-J), Blandino (MINI Gr.3) and Bissa (MINI Gr.3 U10)

[Translated with Google]

Seven weeks after the last event of 2023, WSK Promotion officially opens the 2024 season in Lonato del Garda with the WSK Champions Cup, now in its eleventh edition. The weekend starts with a good turnout of drivers in all six main categories: 58 in MINI Gr.3 U10, 33 in MINI Gr.3, 21 in OKN-J, 63 in OKJ, 41 in OK and 48 in KZ2, for a total of 280 entries.

The usual qualifications took place on Friday, before continuing with the first qualifying heats, which will continue throughout Saturday.

KZ2: Emilien Denner puts all his opponents behind

Tires: Vega

The new season of the fierce KZ2 opens in the name of Emilien Denner (Sodikart – Sodikart – TM), the fastest of the timed trials with a time of 45.636 seconds. The Frenchman, first in group 2, then beats the outsider Ethan Frigomosca (Gerbert Team Corse – Maranello – TM), leading group 1 with a reference of 45.857 seconds.
Slavik Putiatin (Maranello SRP Factory Team – Maranello – TM) took third place, while Jean Nomblot (CPB Sport – Sodikart – TM) placed fourth. Fifth place for Markus Kajak (Maranello SRP Factory Team – Maranello – TM), followed in the standings by Luis Laurin Speck (Tbkart Racing Team – Tbkart – TM), sixth.
Giuseppe Palomba (Sodikart – Sodikart – TM) leaves the colors of Birel Art Racing to move to Sodikart; the Italian therefore begins the new adventure with seventh place in qualifying. Andrea Dale (Andrea Dale – CRG – TM) plays with experience and obtains eighth place, preceding Cristian Bertuca (Birel Art Racing – Birel Art – TM), ninth and reigning champion of the WSK Champions Cup, and Daniel Stell (Dorr Motorsport – KR – IAME), tenth.
Simon Rechenmacher (TB Racing Team – KR – IAME) is 11th, ahead of Elie Goldstein (Tbkart Racing Team – Tbkart – TM), 12th, and Artem Severiukhin (Birel Art Racing – Birel Art – TM), 13th. Further back Alex Maragliano (Renda Motorsport – Sodikart – TM), 19th.
Protagonists of the OK category at the end of last season, Kirill Kutskov (Birel Art Racing – Birel Art – TM) and Dmitry Matveev (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME) make their debut with geared karts. The Senior world champion is 30th, while the winner of the WSK Final Cup is last in the standings.

Results

OK: dream debut for Jindrich Pesl

Tires: LeCont

At his first appearance in OK and after two years spent in OKJ, Jindrich Pesl (Monster K Factory Team – Intrepid – TM) surprised everyone and took pole position in qualifying. The Czech driver achieved a time of 46.568 seconds in group 2, enough to beat Zac Drummond (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin – TM) who, however, recorded a reference of 46.719 seconds in group 1.
Oleksandr Bondarev (Prema Racing – KR – IAME) was also in excellent form, third at 0.095 thousandths of a second from Pesl. Fourth place for a fast David Cosma Cristofor (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME), while Ean Eyckmans (Birel Art Racing – Birel Art – TM) occupies fifth position.
Good performance also by Mess Houben (Birel Art Racing – Birel Art – TM), sixth, followed by Salim Hanna (Prema Racing – KR – IAME), seventh, and Guy Albag (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME), eighth . Leo Nilsson (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME) placed ninth, finally Malo Bolliet (VL Karting – KR – IAME) took tenth place.
Ludovico Busso (Birel Art Racing – Birel Art – TM) is 11th, with Markas Silkunas (CRG Racing Team – CRG – IAME), 12th, and Anatoly Khavalkin (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin – TM), 12th behind him. Debut in the Senior category for Lewis Wherrell (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM) with 17th place.

Results

OKJ: first pole position for Borys Łyżeń

Tires: Vega

Surprise blow from Borys Łyżeń (Sodikart – Sodikart – TM) in the first qualifying of the year. The Pole recorded a time of 47.708 seconds in group 2 and took his first pole position in the Junior category. Filippo Sala (Ricky Flynn Motorsport – LN – TM), first in group 1, was beaten by 0.048 seconds and placed second in the combined classification.
Among the protagonists of the qualifying there is also Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin – TM), third, and the reigning world champion Dries Van Langendonck (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM), fourth. Iacopo Martinese (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME) was also fast, fifth, as was the debutant Dean Hoogendoorn (AKM Motorsport – KR – IAME), sixth.
Solid performance for Rocco Coronel (VL Karting – KR – IAME) in seventh position, ahead of teammate Thomas Pradier (VL Karting – KR – IAME), eighth. Argen Kraling (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME), ninth, and Kosei Oguma (AKM Motorsport – KR – IAME), tenth, occupy the last available places in the Top 10.
A little further back we find Niklas Schaufler (DPK Racing – KR – IAME), 11th, followed by Endo Arata (Ward Racing – Tony Kart – Vortex), 12th, and Roman Kamyab (Ricky Flynn Motorsport – LN – TM), 13 °. Debut in OKJ for Devin Walz (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM) with 15th place in qualifying.
Iskender Zulfikari (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME) is 18th in the combined classification. Far behind were Vladimir Ivannikov (Energy Corse – Energy Corse – TM), 30th, Noah Baglin (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME), 34th, and Bosco Arias Chavarri (DPK Racing – KR – IAME), 50th.

Results

OKN-J: Valerio Viapiana beats Alex Molota

Tires: Vega

There are 59 thousandths of a second that separate Valerio Viapiana (Team Driver Racing Kart – KR – IAME) and Alex Molota (Firefly Racing Team – Tony Kart – TM), first and second respectively in OKN-J qualifying. The Italian scores the best time of 48.308 seconds, while the Slovakian stops at 48.367 seconds.
Pietro Bagutti (Gamoto – Tony Kart – TM) moves from MINI Gr.3 to OKN-J and does so with a good third place. Lyuboslav Ruykov (Zanchi Motorsport – Tony Kart – TM) is fourth, followed by Sara Matsui (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME), fifth and recently joined the Williams Driver Academy.
Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM), winner of the WSK Final Cup, opens the weekend with sixth place. Behind him are Dan Allemann (Spirit-Karting.ch – Parolin – TM), seventh, Christian Romeo (GP Racing – GP Racing – TM), eighth, Kacper Rajpold (MG Racing Team – Tony Kart – TM), ninth, and Drew Walz (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM), tenth.

Results

MINI Gr.3: Cristian Blandino in pole position with Kalì Kart

Tires: Vega

Cristian Blandino's (Kalì Racing Team – Kalì Kart – TM) season begins with a pole position. The WSK Final Cup runner-up achieved the best time of 52.884 seconds in the single qualifying session, with a full 0.242 second advantage over Mark Pilipenko (Babyrace Driver Academy – Parolin – IAME), second.
Pilipenko, in turn, precedes Nicola Stanley (Gamoto – EKS – TM), third in the standings, by just 0.045 seconds. Fourth place for Oleksandr Legenkyi (Team Driver Racing Kart – KR – IAME), 2023 champion of the WSK Champions Cup in the MINI Gr.3 U10, followed by Matteis Stigsen (CRG Racing Team – CRG – TM), fifth, by Albert Tamm (Babyrace Driver Academy – Parolin – IAME), sixth, and Nikita Ljubimov (Kalì Racing Team – Kalì Kart – TM), seventh.
Space in the top ten also for Santiago Diaz de la Vega (Babyrace Driver Academy – Parolin – IAME), eighth, William Calleja (Babyrace Driver Academy – Parolin – IAME), ninth, and Gioele Girardello (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin -TM), tenth.
On the fringes of the Top 10 we find Julian Frasnelli (AVRacing – Parolin – TM), 11th, and Alessandro Truchot (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin -TM). Debut in the higher category for Daniel Miron Lorente (Team Driver Racing Kart – KR – IAME), 15th. Antoine Venant (Kidix – KR – IAME), vice-champion of the WSK Champions Cup last year in the Under 10, is 17th.

Results

MINI Gr.3 U10: Patrick Bissa is lightning

Tires: Vega

Sprint start for Patrick Bissa (Michael Bissa – EKS – TM) in Lonato del Garda, immediately in pole position in the smaller category with a time of 53.111 seconds recorded in group 1. Lorenzo Leopardi (LGK Racing Kart – Birel Art – TM) , the fastest of group 2, did not beat him by a matter of 397 thousandths of a second and was "satisfied" with second place.
The combined ranking therefore sees Niccolò Perico (Energy Corse – Energy Corse – TM) in third place, followed in fourth by Antonio Ianni (Gamoto – EKS – TM), in fifth by Stepan Mazepin (SM Racing – Gillard – TM) and in sixth by Mattis Brageot (Spirit-Karting.ch – Parolin – TM).
Seventh position for Leon Chelidze (Team Driver Racing Kart – KR – IAME), followed by Jason Kosmopoulos (CRG Racing Team – CRG – TM) in eighth, by Pedro Campos (Kalì Racing Team – Kalì Kart – TM) in ninth and by Xavier Lazaro (DR – DR – TM) in tenth.
David Moscardi (Birel Art Racing – Birel Art – TM) is 12th, while Mark Loomets (Energy Corse – Energy Corse – TM), vice-champion of the 2023 WSK Final Cup, is 14th.

Results