The ROK Cup Italia begins the 2026 season at Cremona Karting in San Martino del Lago (Cremona), over a weekend blessed with sunny weather and spring-like temperatures. At the end of Sunday’s action, the following championship leaders emerge in the seven respective categories: De Ruit Milan (Mini ROK U10), Almekdad Ghazi (Mini ROK), Kostrzewa Blazej (Junior ROK), Salemi Riccardo (Senior ROK), Viganò Alessandro (Expert ROK), Melis Matteo (Super ROK) and Chiarello Marco (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK U10: The Mini ROK U10 final is decided by a matter of tenths of a second.

Gabriel Mara Varon takes pole position in qualifying with a time of 56.430 seconds. Leon Giudicelli is second, just 0.035 seconds behind, whilst Milan Romano De Ruit is third, 0.044 seconds off the pace. Mikhail Zanochkin and Radoslav Czernicki are fourth and fifth, respectively, ahead of Miguel Spina in sixth, Iurii Danyliak in seventh and Giovanni Ventorino in eighth. Anna Makolm, ninth, and Ludovico Maietti, tenth, complete the top 10, ahead of Nicolò Zagatti, Andrea Baraggi, Maksym Oleshchuk, Leonardo Missiato, Antonio Mastroianni, Nelson Luis Cabrera Mondello and Jakub Mizera.

In the pre-final, Mara Varon keeps the lead at the start, but by the end of the opening lap, is forced to concede it to De Ruit, before dropping back to eighth place. Initially, Spina is De Ruit’s closest pursuer, but Ventorino emerges as the main challenger in the following laps. However, the Italian driver is soon overtaken by Czernicki on the sixth lap, an incident that allows De Ruit to pull away just enough to secure victory. Ventorino finishes second, followed by Mara Varon, who had climbed back up to third, then Giudicelli in fourth, Czernicki in fifth, and Spina in sixth.

In the final, De Ruit jumps and holds the lead, ahead of Ventorino, with Zanochkin, Giudicelli and Czernicki occupying the positions immediately behind him at the end of the first lap. Ventorino immediately attempts an attack on De Ruit, but the result is a run-off the track that sees him drop back to fourth place, behind both Giudicelli and Czernicki. De Ruit holds his position firmly throughout the race, despite pressure from Giudicelli: the Dutch driver wins by a margin of just 0.101 seconds over the Frenchman. Behind them, Mara Varon runs away from the rest of the field to finish on the lowest step of the podium. Czernicki is fourth, ahead of Baraggi in fifth, Zanochkin in sixth, Spina in seventh, and Makolm in eighth. Due to a five-second penalty for an incorrectly positioned front spoiler, Ventorino ranks ninth.

Mini ROK: It's a hard final for the Mini ROK class in Cremona.

Ghazi Almekdad kicks off Sunday’s action with the fastest qualifying time of 55.152 seconds. Mateo Gomez Castro is second, ahead of Mathias Drexler in third and Aleksander Pelikanski in fourth. Samuel Dal Pozzo gains the fifth place, followed in the standings by Guido Ebergenyi in sixth and Michal Krzysztof Lepczynski in seventh. Giorgio Sapignoli, Mattia Pellin and Filippo Frigerio round off the top 10, whilst the subsequent positions are occupied by Leo Kralev, Filip Stec, Daniel Ferguson, Edoardo Traina, Francesco Petta, Nicolas Yerly, Pawel Markowski, Nicholas Bertolani, Riccardo Gileppa, Edoardo Galimberti, Nico Fardin, Daniel Votino, Lola Mukhammadiyev, Matteo Gei, Iker Castro, Tymon Parszewski, Nathan Lotrionte, Aleksander Nowakowski, Thomas Ometto, Antonio Martin, Timothee Moulin, Paul Plattner-Geramb, Lina Salamanca and Sebastian Schirripa.

In the pre-final, Almekdad takes the lead right from the start, followed by Drexler, Dal Pozzo and Gomez, the latter having started from the front row. The leading quartet remains together for the entire race until the final lap: Almekdad secured victory, whilst Dal Pozzo overtakes Drexler and beats him in the sprint by a mere 0.080 seconds, with Gomez in fourth place. Ferguson takes the fifth place, followed by Petta in sixth, Kralev in seventh, Galimberti in eighth, Frigerio in ninth, and Pelikanski in tenth.

In the final, Almekdad maintains the lead through the opening corners, with Drexler right behind him. However, Frigerio soon emerges as the clear frontrunner, taking control of the race on the fifth lap. Almekdad stayed on his rival’s tail until the final lap, when he decided to attack: Frigerio closed the gap and crossed the line ahead of him. However, the Italian’s manoeuvre after the final corner is penalised by the race stewards with a five-second penalty, allowing Almekdad to climb onto the top step of the podium. Galimberti gains the second place, ahead of Frigerio, who is relegated to third. Ferguson finishes fourth, followed by Drexler, Pelikanski, Gomez, Lepczynski, Yerly, Pellin, Kralev and Schirripa, all within less than two seconds of each other.

Junior ROK: The Junior ROK weekend ends with a dramatic twist following the final.

Qualifying sees Nino Moulin at the top of the timesheets. The French driver, who set the fastest time of 49.469 in Group 2, leads the way ahead of Italy’s Patrick Bissa, who tops in Group 1 with a time of 49.856 seconds. David Moscardi and Ilias Mitaki are third and fourth, respectively, ahead of the two Poles, Blazej Kostrzewa and Adrian Potepa, in fifth and sixth. Marco Pozzoni is seventh, followed by Matteo Peruccio in eighth, Borys Blaszczyk in ninth and Mia Zanki in tenth. The standings continue with Giada Vanigioli, Giuseppe Noviello, Iven Ammann, Simone Seveso, Michal Zajac, Tommaso Mottarelli, Leonardo De Grandi, Kacper Kluk, Tommaso Corsi, Gianmaria Ferretti, Mikolaj Gawlikowski, Nicolò Poli, Vasco De Vito, Emma Boschetto, Platon Kovtunenko, Lena Pichler, Jessica Calleja, Leonard Wcislo, Kaio Issa Cera, Alessandro Gorini, Daniel Ivanov, Stanislav Grabowski, Carlo Pongratz, Karol Kostur, Rudy Koka, Tommaso Pomoni and Simone Mercati.

At the end of the qualifying heats, with two wins to his name, it is Kostrzewa who takes the lead in the provisional standings. Moulin wins the first heat but finishes second in the second and consequently sits behind the Pole. With two second-place finishes, Moscardi is third, followed by Pozzoni in fourth, Blaszczyk in fifth, and Peruccio in sixth. Noviello and Ammann both move up five places and are seventh and eighth, respectively. Bissa drops to ninth place, with Zajac tenth and Potepa eleventh.

Bissa drops to ninth place, with Zajac in tenth and Potepa in eleventh. Mitaki is 23rd.

At the start of the final, Kostrzewa leads the race with Moscardi, Bissa, Potepa, Blaszczyk and Ammann behind him. However, the Pole first has to contend with Moscardi, who briefly takes the lead on the fourth lap, and then with Potepa, who remains hot on his heels for the rest of the race. In the final corner of the last lap, Potepa overtook Kostrzewa and beat him in the sprint by a mere four thousandths of a second; however, due to his front spoiler being in the incorrect position, he received a five-second penalty, which dropped him back to tenth place. Kostrzewa can therefore celebrate the victory, joined on the podium by Moulin in second and Moscardi in third. Ammann and Peruccio finishes fourth and fifth respectively, followed by Bissa, Ferretti and Noviello.

Senior ROK: The Senior ROK class has a clear standout performer this weekend in Cremona.

Riccardo Salemi is the fastest in qualifying. The Italian sets the fastest time – 48.156 seconds – in Group 2, beating his compatriot Davide Lombardo, who is at the top in Group 1 with a time of 48.334 seconds. Leonardo Monzani takes third place, ahead of Riccardo Brangero in fourth and Giulio Mazzolini in fifth. France’s Rayan Carré finishes sixth, ahead of Simone Taccola in seventh, Oskar Hildebranski in eighth, Mattia D’Erme in ninth, and Aleksander Rogowski in tenth. The standings continue with Alan Jakobiak, Michal Czyzewicz, Iwo Beszterda, Christian Romeo, Enrico Pietro Villa, Luca Perelli, Colin Wazny, Giovanni Polato, Andrea Ladina, Ludovica Miceli, Valerio De Gaetano, Christos Chatzis, Elia Galvanin, Plamen Teliyski, Piotr Protasiewicz, Francesca Pietrini, Nik Sculac, Omar Locarini, Stefano Zamponi, Alessandro Cocchi, Andrea Thej, Noemi Pradier, Kian Gauci, Rikardo Bakaj, Luca Baggioli, Zeynep Cukurova, Ewa Banach, Sebastiano Cecchini and Selina Baum.

Even after the qualifying heats, thanks to a win and a second-place finish, Salemi leads the provisional standings. Brangero achieves the same results as his compatriot but sits in second place. Lombardo wins the first heat, but finishes fifth in the second and, as a result, is in third place. Monzani is fourth, followed by Taccola in fifth and Hildebranski in sixth. Beszterda moves up to seventh place, overtaking D’Erme in eighth, Carré in ninth and Rogowski in tenth. Mazzolini drops to sixteenth position.

In the final, Salemi defends his position at the start, holding off Brangero’s attack from the outside line. However, Lombardo takes second place in the following laps, maintaining the gap to Salemi until halfway through the race, before the Italian pulls away decisively to take the win. Monzani manages to overtake Brangero with just a few laps to go, but a five-second penalty – for the front spoiler being in the wrong position – drops him back to eighth place. Brangero thus takes the lowest step on the podium, ahead of D’Erme in fourth, Beszterda in fifth, Hildebranski in sixth, and Carré in seventh.

Expert ROK: The first round of the Expert ROK championship is now in the books, with a result that is anything but a predictable conclusion.

Having been crowned champion of the ROK Cup Winter Trophy, Andrea Sorbello gets off to the best possible start in the ROK Cup Italia by securing pole position in qualifying. The Italian, with a time of 49.460 seconds, beats Alessandro Viganò, in second place, by just 0.011 seconds. Poland’s Adrian Marcinkievicz is third, ahead of Tino Donadei in fourth, Michele Zampieri in fifth and Gianni Zani in sixth. Daniel Zajac and Stefano Turchetto are seventh and eighth, respectively, whilst Paolo Baselli and Cristiano Gautier are ninth and tenth. Just outside the top 10 are, in order, Marco Beretta, Marco Nannavecchia, Gianluca Todeschini and Gianluca Pietro Rubiolini.

In the pre-final, Sorbello holds his first place ahead of Viganò, but the latter goes on the attack as early as the second lap. The two rivals remain neck and neck for the rest of the race, with victory going to Viganò, whilst Sorbello is forced to ‘settle’ for second place. Zani moves up to third place midway through the race and crosses the line ahead of Marcinkievicz in fourth, Zampieri in fifth, Donadei in sixth, and Zajac in seventh. Turchetto, Nannavecchia and Gautier complete the top ten.

In the final, Viganò makes the most of his pole position to take the lead straight away, whilst Zani and Zampieri overtakes Sorbello in the opening corners. Sorbello tries everything to regain second place, only managing to do so from the seventh lap onwards. Sorbello tries to close the gap on Viganò, but the race leader manages his lead perfectly until the red flag, caused by an incident – without consequences – further back in the field. Zani finishes third, ahead of Zampieri in fourth, Marcinkievicz in fifth, Nannavecchia in sixth, and Zajac in seventh.

Super ROK: The Super ROK weekend is full of surprises.

Friday’s qualifying session sees Serbia at the top of the standings, thanks to Nikola Nikolic’s fastest lap of 47.894 seconds. Giuseppe Gaglianò follows in second place, just 0.017 seconds behind, whilst Matteo Melis was third, 0.054 seconds adrift of the leader. Federico Zanetti and Riccardo Ferrari occupy fourth and fifth places respectively, ahead of Nicholas Giuseppe Reino in sixth, Alex Desario in seventh, and Francesco Koci in eighth. Alessandro Zini and Nicholas Tomasella round off the top 10 in ninth and tenth places. The standings are completed by Fabio Silvestri, Manuel Gritti, Matteo Infantino, Mirko Graziani, Lorenzo Poletti, Matteo Lazzarotto, Chiara Bolognini, Pietro Mondin, Nicola Marini and Giuseppe Palladino.

In the pre-final, Nikolic holds onto first place for just one lap before yielding to a determined Melis. The Italian immediately pulls away from Gaglianò, who has meanwhile moved up to second place, and crosses the finish line unchallenged. A problem on lap 11 forces Gaglianò to drop several places in the standings, leaving Zini in second place. Desario finishes third, ahead of Poletti in fourth, Infantino in fifth, Bolognini in sixth, Silvestri in seventh, and Gaglianò in eighth. Nikolic is forced to retire on the ninth lap, whilst Ferrari also fails to finish the race in fourth place.

In the final, Melis gets off to the best possible start from pole position and holds the lead, with Desario, Zini, Gaglianò and Poletti behind him. Melis immediately builds up a decent lead over his pursuers, with Desario forces to secure attacks from Gaglianò. Zini, however, retires during the sixth lap, whilst Poletti is involved in an accident at the start of the seventh lap. At the end of the scheduled sixteen laps, the chequered flag confirms Melis’s victory, with Desario and Gaglianò finishing second and third respectively. Lazzarotto finishes fourth, ahead of Nikolic in fifth, Tomasella in sixth and Zanetti in seventh. Ferrari retired from the race on the final lap, once again holding fourth place.

Shifter ROK: One name in particular stands out from the rest at the Shifter ROK weekend.

Having clinched the ROK Cup Winter Trophy title, Marco Chiarello arrives in Cremona as one of the favourites and does not disappoint in qualifying, setting the fastest time of 47.450 seconds. Simone Donchi is second, just 0.027 seconds off pole position, whilst Marco D’Elia and Nicola Rossini are third and fourth respectively. Gabriele Bensi takes fifth place, ahead of France’s Mateo Moni in sixth and Switzerland’s Charles Alexander Troxler in seventh. Mexico’s Victor Jimenez is eighth, ahead of Iacopo Ficini in ninth, Mattia Cocchi in tenth and Alessandro Risi in eleventh.

In the pre-final, Chiarello jumps with a perfect start when the lights go out and remains at the head of the pack, whilst Rossini moves into second place. Over the following laps, Chiarello steadily increases his lead over his rival Rossini and crosses the finish line unchallenged. D’Elia holds his third place until the finish line, finishing ahead of Moni in fourth and Bensi in fifth. Donchi finishes sixth, partly due to an eight-second penalty for an incorrectly positioned front spoiler and for failing to comply with the start procedure. Jimenez, Ficini, Cocchi and Risi complete the ranking.

In the final, Rossini gets the better of Chiarello at the start and gains the lead, but the 2022 ROK Cup Italia champion gives up the lead to the pole-sitter after just one lap. Chiarello steadily increases his lead over Rossini throughout the race, securing victory with a 2.361-second advantage over his rival. D’Elia gains the third place, ahead of Bensi in fourth, Moni in fifth and Donchi in sixth. Ficini, Troxler, Jimenez and Cocchi complete the top 10, whilst Risi is forced to retire.