After countless victories in gearless categories since the start of the season, from Mini to OK, the Kart Republic factory demonstrated the competitiveness of the KR chassis in KZ at Franciacorta. Respectively FIA Karting World Champion and European Champion in KZ in 2023, Paolo Ippolito and Danilo Albanese impressed with their ability to string together fast laps at the wheel of their KR-IAME. Albanese finished the Final on an extremely positive note, climbing from 11th to 3rd place.

Three KR chassis in the top 10 in KZ

Danilo Albanese started the first official day on Friday by setting the fastest time in his group in Free Practice. The Italian maintained this solid pace for three days. He finished 2nd in a heat on Saturday. The next day, he followed up with the fastest time overall in the warm-up, under 45 seconds, and the fastest lap in his Super Heat. Unfortunately, he dropped from 5th to 9th place in this race due to a penalty (front fairing position).

Forced to start 11th in the Final, he put in a superb performance with a supercharged KR-IAME to climb onto the third step of the podium. His teammate Paolo Ippolito had a more eventful race and was only 17th on the grid for the Final. On a circuit where it is difficult to overtake, Paolo climbed back up to 9th position. Kart Republic congratulates Stan Pex (SP Motorsport) on his brilliant 4th place in the final after jumping up six places.

Lehouck and Rechenmacher keep pace with the best at the KZ2 World Cup

Kart Republic supported its satellite teams, such as Dörr Motorsport. The German team achieved excellent results in a strong field of 124 drivers. Frenchman Arthur Lehouck, who was only competing in his second international event of the season, finished five out of six heats in the top four and the Super Heat in 2nd place, before reaching 10th place in the Final. Very satisfied with his equipment, he regretted being boxed in at the start, as he was aiming for a better position. Another strong performance came from Simon Rechenmacher, who won a Qualifying Heat on Saturday and finished 3rd in the Super Heat. Unfortunately, he lost his place in the top ten due to a penalty (front fairing position).

Finally, let's salute the 7th and 8th places achieved by Rasmus Haugard (Dörr Motorsport) and Alessio La Martina (KR Motorsport) in the KZ2 Masters International Super Cup.

Comment from Dino Chiesa, head of KR Global Motorsport Company

"We are satisfied with the performances of our drivers, and Danilo Albanese confirmed his speed by finishing on the podium in this extremely difficult KZ World Championship. Last week at the Champions of the Future Shifter, Danilo set the fastest time of the event when he took pole position, before finishing 4th in the Final following a crash in one of the heats. The gaps are particularly small on this circuit, which takes around 45 seconds to complete, and the slightest mishap proved difficult to recover from due to the limited overtaking opportunities. I also noticed that some drivers behaved in a truly unsportsmanlike manner by systematically blocking the drivers behind them. This is not correct, and it also leads to spectacular accidents, as we saw at Franciacorta."

"Due to the complicated situation in FIA Karting with Dunlop tyres in 2024 and during the first part of this season, the KR Motorsport team was not able to get as involved as several teams we competed against at Franciacorta. Despite this, we finished on the podium. For 2026, I can already announce that we will be pushing harder in these international gearbox categories. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Dörr Motorsport team for their investment and Cetilar Racing for their valuable partnership."

“After our two World Championship titles in OK and OK-Junior, I would also like to point out that the KR chassis added another title to its list of achievements by winning the OK-N World Cup at the end of September in Cremona. Congratulations to Manuel Scognamiglio and his Tellone Motorsport team for this victory, with Danny Carenini (Zanchi Motorsport) securing a one-two finish for KR!”

 Press Release © Kart Republic