The ROK Cup Italia continues its season with the third round, host at the Franciacorta Karting Track in Castrezzato (BS). In an event that saw over 200 drivers competing across the seven racing categories, the following championship leaders emerged at the end of the weekend: De Ruit Milan (Mini ROK U10), Almekdad Ghazi (Mini ROK), Kostrzewa Blazej (Junior ROK), Salemi Riccardo (Senior ROK), Viganò Alessandro (Expert ROK), Gaglianò Giuseppe (Super ROK) e Chiarello Marco (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK U10
In Franciacorta, as always, the Mini ROK U10 offers a final full of surprises.

In a qualifying session where the top eight finishers are separated by just 0.074 seconds, Leon Giudicelli gains the pole position. The French driver, with a time of 57.367 seconds, comes ahead Lukas Stasionis by just six thousandths of a second. Alessandro Puppo, in third, finishes ahead of Gabriel Mara Varon in fourth, Milan De Ruit in fifth, and Oliver Weytjens in sixth. Zev Godschalk is seventh, ahead of Aiden Moreira in eighth, Anna Makolm in ninth, and Broderick Brown in tenth position. Giovanni Ventorino, Enrico Ticianelli, Elias Kaya, Iurii Danyliak, Miguel Spina, Oleksandr Dubinin, Antonio Mastroianni, Nicolò Zagatti, Diego Schiaffino, Leonardo Missiato, Konstantin Kaczmarczyk, Radoslaw Czernicki, Jakub Mizera, Pietro Zera, Nelson Luis Cabrera Mondello, Alexander Ressler, Pietro Cimieri, Petr Pekny, and Mikhail Zanochkin follow in this order.

In the pre-final, Giudicelli and Puppo cross the finish line first at the end of the first lap, but in the following laps they are forced to give up to the attacks of De Ruit and Weytjens. The four drivers battle for the lead until the final corner, where Puppo makes a braking error, colliding with Weytjens, and is forced to retire, leaving the way clear for De Ruit, who takes the win ahead of Giudicelli, with Weytjens third. Godschalk is fourth, followed by Stasionis, Makolm, Brown, Spina, Mara Varon, and Ventorino.

In the final, De Ruit leads the group after the start, with Brown and Giudicelli following. The Dutch driver maintains the lead until the sixth lap, when a collision with Brown forces him to drop back to third place, behind Giudicelli and Weytjens. The situation changes again on the final lap, with Weytjens taking the lead ahead of De Ruit, Godschalk, and Giudicelli. At the last corner, a collision between Godschalk and De Ruit causes the latter to retire, clearing the way for Weytjens to take the win. Godschalk and Mara Varon complete the podium. Puppo recovers 21 positions and finishes fourth, while Giudicelli ranks fifth following a three-second penalty for the collision. Makolm, Spina, Stasionis, Zagatti, and Dubinin finish in the top 10.

Mini ROK
The Mini ROK category is no stranger to surprises either.

Ghazi Almekdad secures his second pole position of the season. The Austrian driver signs a time of 56.040 seconds, beating Mateo Gomez in second, Pawel Markowski in third, and Mathias Drexler in fourth position. Edoardo Traina, fifth, finishes ahead of Aleksander Pelikanski, sixth, Leo Kralev, seventh, Filippo Frigerio, eighth, Timothee Moulin, ninth, and Lola Mukhammadiyev, tenth. Following them are Matteo Meni, Mattia Accarino, Michal Lepczynski, Thomas Ometto, Samuel Dal Pozzo, Ghjulian Letailleur, Francesco Petta, Matteo Gei, Johannes Buchhammer, Nico Fardin, Mattia Pellin, Tymon Parszewski, William Morta, Nicholas Bertolani, Sebastian Schirripa, Nicolas Yerly, Diego Borsari, Antonio Martin, Iker Castro, Giorgio Sapignoli, Emma Gatto, Dorian Bazzoli, Stefano Sapuppo, Antoni Brokos, and Francesco Sarzina.

In the pre-final, Almekdad takes the lead right from the start and manages well the pressure of a large group of pursuers consisting of Gomez, Pelikanski, Kralev, Drexler, Markowski, and Traina. On the final lap, however, Almekdad is overtaken by Drexler, who wins the sprint to the finish line by a mere 0.037 seconds. Gomez finishes third, ahead of Pelikanski, Kralev, Traina, and Moulin. Due to a five-second penalty for an incorrectly positioned front spoiler, Markowski drops to 16th place.

In the final, Drexler makes the most of his pole position and maintains the lead but soon finds himself under pressure from Almekdad. The two engage in a long battle for the lead until Drexler is forced to retire due to a technical issue with three laps to go. With no rivals in sight, Almekdad runs to victory, his second one of the season. Behind him, second place is contested by several drivers: Pelikanski claims it, with Frigerio taking the lowest step of the podium after passing Pellin, who finishes fourth, on the final corner. Gomez, Meni, Traina, Gei, and Buchhammer complete the top 10.

Junior ROK
The Junior ROK victory is defined on a matter of thousandths of a second.

Just back from a victory in Round 2 at Viterbo, Blazej Kostrzewa opens the Franciacorta round with a pole position. The Polish driver, who sets the fastest time of 50.067 seconds in Group 2, beats Daniel Ferguson, the fastest in qualifying in Group 1. Adrian Potepa and Mikolaj Gawlikowski are third and fourth overall, respectively, ahead of David Moscardi in fifth, Kacper Kluk in sixth, and Michal Zajac in seventh. Iven Ammann, Tommaso Pomoni, and Nino Moulin complete the top 10. Following them in the standings, in order, are Gianmaria Ferretti, Platon Kovtunenko, Marco Pozzoni, Lena Pichler, Patrick Bissa, Nicolò Poli, Borys Blaszczyk, Mia Zanki, Ilias Mitaki, Leonardo De Grandi, Adriano Scarano, Leonard Wcislo, Alex Volkmer, Giada Vanigioli, Simone Seveso, Stanislaw Grabowski, Karol Kostur, Izko Alonso Ahumada, Axel Gore, Robert Junior Tronchi, Vasco De Vito, Jessica Calleja, Daniel Ivanov, Elias Boullier, Franciszek Jeszke, Lorenzo Matteuzzi, Simone Mercati, Alessandro Gorini, Filipp Zhurbenko, Louis Pachleitner, and Carlo Pongratz.

With two wins in the qualifying heats, Ammann jumps to the top of the intermediate standings. Kostrzewa scores a win, but a fifth-place finish in the second qualifying heat forces him down to second place. Potepa remains steady in third place, with Ferguson, Kluk, Moscardi, and Zajac following. Pozzoni climbs from 13th to eighth position, while Gawlikowski drops from fourth to ninth. Bissa enters the top 10, moving up from 15th to tenth place. Pomoni, starting ninth, drops to 25th.

In the final, Ammann makes no mistakes at the start and maintains the lead, but Kostrzewa and Potepa challenge him right from the start. However, partly due to contact between Potepa and Kluk on the fifth lap, the race becomes a duel between Kostrzewa, firmly in the lead, and Ammann, until the final lap: in the sprint to the finish line, it is Ammann who beats the Polish driver by 0.007 seconds, thus claiming victory. Moscardi gets the best of the battle and takes the lowest step on the podium. They are followed by Potepa, who has performed a comeback up to fourth place, Bissa, Mitaki, Moulin, and Kovtunenko. Kluk and Zajac are forced to retire after holding top positions in the early laps.

Senior ROK
One name stands out above the rest during the Senior ROK weekend.

Riccardo Salemi secures his second pole position of the season in the qualifyings, setting the fastest time of 48.286 seconds in Group 2. Ryan Carrè takes the second place after posting the fastest time in Group 1 with a lap of 48.361 seconds. Mattia D’Erme takes third place, ahead of Andrea Barbieri in fourth, Riccardo Brangero in fifth, Iwo Beszterda in sixth, and Simone Taccola in seventh. The top 10 list is completed by Samuele Di Filippo in eighth, Aleksander Rogowski in ninth, and Giulio Mazzolini in tenth. The standings continue with Leonard Monzani, Oskar Hildebranski, Nik Sculac, Martin Saa, Andrea Thej, Valerio De Gaetano, Ludovica Miceli, Francesca Pietrini, Andrea Ladina, Elia Galvanin, Noemi Pradier, Christian Romeo, Luca Baggioli, Giovanni Polato, Rikardo Bakaj, Piotr Protasiewicz, Zhivko Bostandzhiev, Davide Lombardo, Selina Baum, Plamen Teliyski, Sebastiano Cecchini, Michal Czyzewicz, Edoardo Merlini, Stefano Zamponi, Matteo Marchioni, Omar Locarini, Jakub Kazana, Luca Perelli, and Denis Todorov.

Salemi also leads the standings at the end of the qualifying heats, thanks to a total of two wins in two heats. Barbieri finishes second in both heats and moves up to second place, followed by Brangero in third and Beszterda in fourth despite a win in the second heat. D’Erme is fifth, with Taccola, Di Filippo, Sculac, Rogowski, and Hildebranski rounding out the top 10. Carrè, on the other hand, drops from second to 15th position.

In the final, Salemi performs a perfect start and takes the lead. The Italian driver steadily increases his lead over his pursuers lap after lap and, with an error-free race management, takes the win under the checkered flag. Brangero keeps the second place for a long time, but with four laps to go, he is forced to yield to D’Erme, who wins the top place. Brangero, despite everything, manages to keep away Beszterda and Rogowski to gain the third position. Barbieri finishes sixth, ahead of Di Filippo, Sculac, Polato, and Carré.

Expert ROK
There is a third different winner in the Expert ROK class this season.

Marco Massironi obtains the pole position in the qualifyings with a time of 49.259 seconds. Alessandro Viganò and Andrea Sorbello follow in second and third place, respectively. Daniel Zajac is fourth, followed by Paolo Baselli in fifth, Luca Molinari in sixth, and Michele Zampieri in seventh. The top 10 also includes Valerio Prandi in eighth, Marco Nannavecchia in ninth, and Adrian Marcinkiewicz in tenth. Cristian Gautier, Marco Beretta, Tino Donadei, Gianluca Todeschini, Gianluca Rubiolini, Nicole Pelizzari, Olympios Mavromichelakis, and Ivo Cicognini complete the overall standings.

In the pre-final, Massironi takes the lead right from the start, with Sorbello and Baselli in second and third, while Viganò drops to fourth. And Viganò wastes no time: he attacks Baselli at the end of the opening lap, moving up to third place and forcing his rival to give up further positions. Massironi keeps the leading position at every stage of the race and crosses the finish line first. Sorbello and Viganò battle for second place, finishing in that order. Zajac is fourth, ahead of Zampieri, Prandi, Marcinkiewicz, Donadei, Beretta, and Gautier. Baselli finishes 14th.

In the final, Massironi once again jumps to a perfect start and takes the lead, while Viganò immediately positions himself right behind him after starting third. Viganò tries to keep the same pace as the leader, but Massironi proves to be unbeatable and, at the end of the scheduled 15 laps, crosses the finish line first. After initially holding the fourth place, Sorbello finishes third, followed by Zampieri in fourth and Zajac in fifth. Marcinkiewicz, Donadei, Prandi, Nannavecchia, and Beretta complete the following positions.

Super ROK
The Super ROK class also sees a new championship winner.

A female driver takes the lead in the qualifyings: Mariachiara Nardelli runs at the top thanks to her best time of 47.852 seconds, 0.016 seconds faster than the time set by Giuseppe Gaglianò, who is right behind her in the standings. Nikola Nikolic is third, ahead of Alex Desario in fourth, Federico Zanetti in fifth, and Alessandro Zini in sixth. Seventh place goes to Riccardo Chiodo, eighth to Matteo Peruccio, ninth to Alberto Masotto, and tenth to Shai Derungs. The standings continue with Daniele Galbiati, Nicholas Tomasella, Manuel Gritti, Mattia D’Abramo, Mirko Graziani, Fabio Silvestri, Tommaso Scarato, Matteo Lazzarotto, Matteo Melis (winner of Round 1 in Cremona), Samuele Rizza, Chiara Bolognini, Antonio Parlappiano, Pietro Mondin, Nicholas Reino, Davide Cerri, Cosimo Matteuzzi, Nicola Marini, Matteo Bellandi, and Andrea Saporiti.

In the pre-final, Nardelli maintains her position at the start, entering the first corner ahead of Nikolic, Gaglianò, and Masotto, soon proving to have a better pace than her rivals; however, starting in the second half of the race, she is forced to watch her back as Gaglianò, who has moved in the meantime up to second place, closes in. Nardelli manages to cross the finish line first, with a 0.186-second lead over Gaglianò, while Nikolic finishes in third place. Zini is fourth, followed by Zanetti, Galbiati, Peruccio, Desario, Masotto, and Melis.

In the final, Nardelli jumps with a perfect start, but Gaglianò surprises her after just a few laps and takes the lead. With a faster pace than the rest of the group, Gaglianò gradually increases the gap and runs to a sole victory. Nardelli finishes second, while Nikolic manages Desario’s attacks in the final laps, obtaining the lowest step of the podium. Melis finishes fifth after an intense battle with Zanetti, who is sixth, and Galbiati, who is seventh. Peruccio, Tomasella, and Chiodo complete the top 10.

Shifter ROK
The Shifter ROK confirms what emerged at the beginning of the year.

Marco Chiarello is once again unbeatable in the qualifyings. The championship leader is in pole position with a time of 47.153 seconds, ahead of Nicola Rossini in second position and Gabriele Bensi in third. Marco D’Elia follows in fourth place, with Mattia Rossetti fifth, Qarrar Firhand sixth, Pietro Camerlengo seventh, and Charles Alexander Troxler eighth. Tymoteusz Ksiadz, Lucio Masini, and Mattia Cocchi complete the overall standings.

In the pre-final, Rossini overcomes Chiarello at the start and takes the lead, while Bensi keeps his third place ahead of D’Elia and Firhand. In the following laps, Chiarello performs several attempts to challenge Rossini, but the latter remains firmly in the lead. At the start of the fourth lap, however, Chiarello manages to pass Rossini, running the remaining laps perfectly, thus allowing him to gain the win. Behind Rossini, second place, is Bensi, third one, D’Elia fourth, and Firhand fifth. Rossetti, Ksiadz, Camerlengo, Troxler, Masini, and Cocchi take the remaining positions.

In the final, Chiarello takes advantage of his pole position and maintains the lead ahead of Rossini, while D’Elia overtakes Bensi for running in third place. In the early stages, Rossini tries to stay on the leader’s tail, but as the laps go by, Chiarello sets a faster pace and gradually increases the gap over his pursuers. The Italian driver manages the race flawlessly until the checkered flag, crossing the finish line first, unchallenged. Rossini finishes second again, while D’Elia, in third, finishes ahead of Bensi, fourth, and Firhand, fifth. The standings complete with Ksiadz, Rossetti, Camerlengo, Troxler, Masini, and Cocchi.

 Press Release © OTK Kart Group