The ROK Cup Italia opens the second half of the championship at the Pista Azzurra in Jesolo (VE) with the fifth out of eight rounds, this season.

Once again, there are numerous drivers on the starting grid running in the seven competing categories. At the end of the weekend, the following championship leaders emerge: Milan Romano De Ruit (Mini ROK U10), Ghazi Almkedad (Mini ROK), Blazej Kostrzewa (Junior ROK), Riccardo Salemi (Senior ROK), Andrea Sorbello (Expert ROK), Giuseppe Gaglianò (Super ROK) and Marco Chiarello (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK U10
One name in particular stands out during the Mini ROK U10 weekend.

Milan Romano De Ruit secures his second consecutive pole position, following the one gained on the previous round at Lonato del Garda. The Dutch driver is at the top with a time of 52.877 seconds, followed in the standings by Leon Giudicelli in second, Gabriel Mara Varon in third, and Elias Kaya in fourth. Enrico Ticianelli and Anna Makolm are fifth and sixth respectively, with Andrea Baraggi seventh, Nicolò Zagatti eighth, Stanislaw Antczak ninth and Ianis Shabani tenth. Mikhail Zanochkin, Konstantin Kaczmarczyk, Zev Godschalk, Nelson Luis Cabrera Mondello, Gaspard Fauchet, Pietro Cimieri, Alessio Angotta and Antonio Salerno follow in the standings.

In the pre-final, Giudicelli leads the field into the first corner, even ahead the polesitter De Ruit. The Dutch rider reacts immediately and, as early as the second lap, starts a duel with the French driver and reclaims the lead. On the third lap, however, Giudicelli overtakes De Ruit once more, while also having to defend against Makolm. De Ruit runs on the attack again on the sixth lap, but Giudicelli manages to keep the lead. The race ends with Giudicelli crossing the finish line first, but a three-second penalty for a jump start sends him to third place, behind De Ruit, the winner, and Kaya, who finishes second. Makolm, in fourth, finishes ahead of Godschalk, fifth, and Mara Varon, sixth. Completing the top 10 are Zanochkin, Ticianelli, Zagatti and Baraggi.

In the final, De Ruit performs good start, while Giudicelli and Godschalk battle for the second place right from the opening corners. The tussle behind him allows the Dutch driver to pull away over the following laps and to cross the finish line alone under the chequered flag. It is only on the final lap that Godschalk gets the better of Giudicelli, with the American driver taking the second place and the French one finishing third. Zanochkin finishes fourth, with Mara Varon fifth and Kaya sixth. Makolm, Zagatti, Fauchet and Antczak complete the top ten.

Mini ROK
The Mini ROK class offers races that are only decided in the final metres.

Sunday morning’s qualifying session sees Mateo Gomez at the top; with a time of 52.131 seconds, he finishes just 0.043 seconds ahead of Ghazi Almekdad in second place. Matteo Gei, in third, finishes ahead of Edoardo Traina in fourth, Filippo Frigerio in fifth and Johannes Buchhammer in sixth. In seventh place is Francesco Petta, in eighth Michal Krzysztof Lepczynski, in ninth Samuel Dal Pozzo and in tenth Lola Mukhammadiyev. Outside the top 10 are Ruben Sagoo, Leo Kralev, Mathias Drexler, Timothee Moulin, Giorgio Sapignoli, Matteo Meni, Mattia Pellin, Iker Castro, Sebastian Schirripa, Fernandez Campos De Cevallos, Aleksander Pelikanski, Antoni Brokos, Piotr Mikolajczyk, Nicolas Yerly, Antonio Martin, William Morta, Raoul Capuozzo, Thomas Ometto, Nico Fardin, Leon Lewczuk, Dorian Bazzoli, Tymon Parszewski and Nicholas Bertolani.

In the pre-final, Gomez and Gei occupy the top two positions, with Almekdad as first chaser, while Frigerio, Traina and Buchhammer are involved in a collision that put the latter two off the race. After a few laps, Almekdad takes the lead, with Gomez and Gei behind him, followed by Pelikanski in fourth place after gaining 17 positions. Leaving his rivals no room to manoeuvre, Almekdad secures the victory, with Gomez second, Gei third, Pelikanski fourth and Pellin fifth. Drexler, Sapignoli, Sagoo, Schirripa and Mukhammadiyev complete the top ten.

In the final, Almekdad performs a perfect start and holds the lead, while Pellin immediately gains two places and, in the early stages, also overtakes Gei and gains the second place. In the middle stages, Pellin runs on the leader’s tail, while Gei loses ground and is caught by Gomez and Frigerio. At the end of the 11 laps, Almekdad takes the win, with Pellin second. Frigerio is third, ahead of Gomez, fourth and Gei, fifth. Behind them we find Sapignoli, Schirripa, Drexler, Mikolajczyk and Lepczynski. Pelikanski, however, is forced to retire due to a collision at the starting grid.

Junior ROK
The Junior ROK awards a new season winner at the end of the weekend.

David Moscardi secures his second pole position of the championship with a time of 47.535 seconds. The leader of the overall championship Blazej Kostrzewa is second, 0.113 seconds behind, and just five thousandths of a second ahead of Adrian Potepa in third. Mikolaj Gawlikowski is fourth, followed by Tommaso Pomoni, fifth, Ilias Mitaki, sixth, Michal Zajac, seventh, Borys Blaszczyk, eighth, Patrick Bissa, ninth, and Iven Ammann, tenth. Behind them are Simone Seveso, Mia Zanki, Leonard Wcislo, Carlo Pongratz, Kacper Kluk, Stanislaw Grabowski, Alex Volkmer, Alessandro Gorini, Leonardo De Grandi, Kayo Cera, Elias Boullier, Jessica Calleja, Nicolò Poli, Tommaso D’Ambrosio, Axel Gore, Louis Pachleitner, Daniel Plamon Ivanov, Simone Mercati, Zoey Junger, Daniel Ferguson and Fabio Angotta.

In the pre-final, Moscardi remains firmly in the lead after the first few corners, while Potepa overtakes Kostrzewa to gain the second place. On the third lap, Potepa obtains the lead for a short while by overtaking Moscardi, who is also under attack from Kostrzewa. On the next lap, it is Kostrzewa who takes the lead, while Moscardi drops another place.  With a clear lead over his rivals, Kostrzewa runs straight to victory, while Potepa – who has sent to second again – finishes just behind him. Moscardi is third, Mitaki fourth and Gawlikowski fifth. They are followed by Blaszczyk, Bissa, Pomoni, Ammann and Zajac.

In the final, Kostrzewa makes the most of his pole position to stay in the lead, while Moscardi takes advantage of the inside line to get the second place, overtaking Potepa. The three drivers remain at the forefront of the battle for the lead: Moscardi briefly overtakes Kostrzewa, before giving the position back to the Polish driver. But Potepa reclaims second place and, on lap 10, takes the lead to go on to claim victory, joined on the podium by Kostrzewa in second and Moscardi in third after defending from Mitaki, who finished fourth. Zajac completes the top five, ahead of Blaszczyk, Seveso, Gawlikowski, Ammann and De Grandi.

Senior ROK
The Senior ROK class is featured by a number of twists and turns over the weekend.

For the first time this season, Christian Romeo secures the pole position, thanks to a qualifying time of 46.636 seconds. Championship leader Riccardo Salemi is second, 0.091 seconds from the leader, with Riccardo Brangero third and Andrea Barbieri fourth. Nik Sculac is fifth, ahead of Mattia D’Erme in sixth, Aleksander Rogowski in seventh, Leonardo Monzani in eighth, Andrea Ladina in ninth, and Stefano Zamponi in tenth. The standings continue with Samuele Di Filippo, Piotr Protasiewicz, Oskar Hildebranski, Rayan Carré, Iwo Beszterda, Enrico Pietro Villa, Plamen Teliyski, Alan Jakobiak, Giovanni Polato, Elia Galvanin, Andrea Thej, Selina Baum, Luca Baggioli, Francesca Pietrini, Michal Czyzewicz, Zhivko Bostandzhiev, Alessandro Cocchi, Ewa Banach, Omar Locarini, Jakub Kazana and Colin Wazny.

In the pre-final, an excellent start allows Romeo to stay in the lead. Brangero moves up to second place at the expense of Salemi, who was third ahead of Barbieri, D’Erme and Monzani. On the fourth lap, the first changes in the standings take place: Barbieri overtakes Salemi to move into third place, whilst Romeo gives up the lead to Brangero. On the fifth lap, Romeo drops another two places, overtaken by both Barbieri and Salemi, but subsequently manages to reclaim third place. Thanks to a perfect race management, Brangero wins, crossing the finish line ahead of Barbieri in second and Romeo in third. Salemi is fourth, followed by D’Erme in fifth and Beszterda in sixth. In the back of the group, Rogowski, Sculac, Protasiewicz and Ladina finish the race. Monzani, however, retires.

In the final, Brangero and Romeo keep the top two positions after the start, with D’Erme and Barbieri behind them, followed by Salemi. However, the race is stopped halfway through by a red flag following an incident at the back of the field. On the restart, Brangero and Romeo pull away from their pursuers, crossing the finish line first and second respectively. In the closing stages, a contact between Barbieri and Salemi goes in Rogowski’s favour, allowing him to claim the lowest step of the podium, ahead of Protasiewicz in fourth and Sculac in fifth. Barbieri and Salemi finish sixth and seventh respectively, followed by Ladina, Monzani and Di Filippo.

Expert ROK
There have been further changes at the top of the Expert ROK standings in Jesolo.

For the first time this season, Daniel Zajac has secured the pole position in the qualifyings. The Polish driver, with a time of 47.623 seconds, beats Andrea Sorbello, in second place, by just 0.013 seconds, and Michele Zampieri, in third, by 0.035 seconds. Adrian Marcinkiewicz takes the fourth place, followed in the standings by Alessandro Viganò in fifth, Gianni Zani in sixth, Tino Donadei in seventh, Fabio Costanzo Cretti in eighth, Cristiano Gautier in ninth, and Marco Nannavecchia in tenth. Just outside the top 10 are Gianluca Pietro Rubiolini, Gianluca Todeschini and Nicole Pelizzari.

In the pre-final, Zajac takes the lead from the start, with Zampieri skilfully moving up to second place ahead of Sorbello. The situation remains virtually unchanged throughout the race until the 13th lap, when Zampieri reaches Zajac: with a textbook overtaking manoeuvre, he slips past him to take the lead but is forced to defend from Sorbello in the closing laps. The chequered flag confirms Zampieri’s victory, followed in the standings by Sorbello in second, Marcinkiewicz in third, Zajac, dropped to fourth, Viganò in fifth, and Zani in sixth. Nannavecchia, Todeschini, Gautier and Pelizzari complete the top ten. In the final, an excellent start allows Zampieri to keep the lead ahead of Sorbello and Marcinkiewicz. In the following laps, however, Zajac shows off, overtaking first Marcinkiewicz and then Sorbello to move into second place. On the eighth lap, Zajac also overtakes Zampieri to take the lead. The Polish driver manages the rest of the race and crosses the finish line first, ahead of Zampieri in second and Marcinkiewicz in third. Viganò finishes fourth, ahead of Zani in fifth and Sorbello in sixth. They are followed by Todeschini, Gautier, Donadei and Nannavecchia.

Super ROK
Once again, Super ROK has crowned a new season winner at the end of the final.

With a best time of 46.522 seconds, Riccardo Ferrari secures the pole position in the qualifyings. Alessandro Zini finishes 0.084 seconds behind in second place, while Zachary Taylor takes the third. Giulio Mazzolini secures fourth place, ahead of Matteo Peruccio in fifth, Giacomo Maman in sixth, Nikola Nikolic in seventh, Vittorio Maria Russo in eighth, Mariachiara Nardelli in ninth, and Federico Zanetti in tenth. The line-up continues with Nicholas Giuseppe Reino, Antonio Parlapiano, Pablo Fernandez De Cevallo, Matteo Melis, Nicola Marini, Matteo Lazzarotto, Manuel Giovanni Gritti, Alberto Masotto, Shai Derungs, Pietro Mondin and Giuseppe Palladino.

In the pre-final, the Ferrari-Zini duo leads the field from the start, with Mazzolini in third place ahead of Maman, Peruccio and Taylor. Over the following laps, Ferrari gradually extend his lead over Zini, who in turn is forced to watch his back against Mazzolini. The race ends with Ferrari taking the win, ahead of Zini in second and Mazzolini in third. Maman, Peruccio and Taylor finish fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Nikolic, Zanetti, Russo (penalized by five seconds for cutting the track) and Reino complete the top ten. In the final, Ferrari performs a good start, while Zini is overtaken by Mazzolini and Peruccio. However, the race is immediately brought under ‘slow’ conditions due to an accident at the first corner involving several drivers. After the restart, Ferrari keeps the lead, with Mazzolini in second and Zini able to overtake Peruccio for third place. With a solid performance, Ferrari secures his first win of the season, while Mazzolini is able to keep Zini behind to not lose the second place. Nikolic finishes fourth, followed by Melis in fifth, Taylor in sixth and Peruccio in seventh. Maman, Nardelli and Parlapiano complete the top ten.

Shifter ROK
Marco Chiarello’s lead in the Shifter ROK continues.

Once again, the championship leader runs at the top in the qualifyings, setting the fastest time of 45.926 seconds. Nicola Rossini is unable to beat the championship leader and finishes behind him in second place. Pietro Camerlengo moves into third place, ahead of Andrea Zemin in fourth, Philippe Ehrensberger in fifth, Alessandro Merigo in sixth, Antonio Lagrotteria in seventh, and Enzo Pirovano in eighth.

In the pre-final, Chiarello and Rossini are immediately engaged in a tough battle as soon as the lights go out, but the pole-sitter defends his lead superbly. Zemin moves up to third place and attempts to join the battle at the front. In the stages that followed, Chiarello steadily runs away from the rest of the field and goes unchallenged to victory. Rossini is forced to keep Zemin behind, managing to finish ahead of him at the finishing line. Ehrensberger finishes fourth, ahead of Lagrotteria in fifth, Merigo in sixth and Pirovano in seventh. Camerlengo stops because of a collision with Ehrensberger.

In the final, with a perfect start, it is once again Chiarello who leads the field into the first corner, with Rossini, Zemin and Lagrotteria in the positions immediately behind him. The race is alike what happened before, with Chiarello running far from the chasing group and Rossini busy in managing Zemin. Lagrotteria, meanwhile, loses ground and slips behind Ehrensberger. Chiarello triumphs under the chequered flag, with Rossini in second place and Zemin on the lowest step of the podium. Ehrensberger finishes fourth, ahead of Lagrotteria in fifth, Merigo in sixth, Camerlengo in seventh, and Pirovano in eighth.

 Press Release © OTK Kart Group