The provisional standings of the WSK Open Cup after the 1sr round in Lonato (I)
The WSK Open Cup kicked off last week at the South Garda Circuit in Lonato, near Brescia. With only two rounds, the short but challenging series is going to crown further new promising talents of Motosport. The final rankings for the categories OK, OKJ and 60 Mini will be defined next weekend from 7th to 10th November, at 7 Laghi Kart in Castelletto di Branduzzo, near Pavia. KZ2 instead, has already crowned a winner in the single round of Lonato. Each category scores points in the Prefinal, Final as well as in the intermediate ranking of the heats of every event. In the second round, the scoring for the three racing categories has been fixed to be higher than that of the first one.
Giuseppe Palomba plays his cards and wins in KZ2.
The Neapolitan driver Giuseppe Palomba (above, BirelArt-TM-Bridgestone) waits for the direct challenge against his strongest rival Giacomo Pollini (Formula K-TM) to reach his goal in KZ2. The driver from Brescia indeed launches immediately his attack and scores the best time in the practice. But Palomba starts his counterattack and the Neapolitan drivers successfully wins all the heats scheduled for the weekend and achieves victory in both Sunday’s Prefinal and Final. Palomba therefore gets it all and, with 90 points, he is the KZ2 winner at the WSK Open Cup, while Pollini, always behind him, ranks second with 59 points. A positive comeback to karting for Alessio Lorandi (Parolin-TM). The driver from Salò, coming off F.3 and F.2 singleseater championships and performing consistently in the best positions, is placed third with 32 points. Equally good results for Dutchman Stan Pex that is fourth with 26 points, above his countryman Senna Van Valstijn, in fifth place with 25 points (both on KR-TM).
Taylor Barnard is the leader in OK.
In Lonato, a change in the leadership takes place in OK category as well when, Briton Taylor Barnard (above, KR-Iame) launches his attack and achieves victory in the Prefinal A over the former leader in the heats, Russian driver Kirill Smal (Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone). Followed by the Russian guy in second place, Barnard gains the Final and jumps to the top of the provisional ranking with 88 points, above Smal at 60 points. Good performance for the winner of the Prefinal B, Briton Joseph Turney (Tony Kart-Vortex) that ranks third with 55 points. Swede Norton Andreasson and Spaniard Pedro Hiltbrand (both on Tony Kart-Vortex), respectively 4th with 36 and 5th with 32 points, perform well in the Prefinal but are unlucky in the Final. They too will join the battle for the final victory in Castelletto.
No missteps for OKJ leader Andrea Antonelli.
On completion of a clean weekend ended up with the victory in OKJ Final in Lonato, Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Bologna (above, KR-Iame-Vega) is now the ranking leader with 88 points. That’s not how it goes for his rivals. Being more consistent on Sunday than in Saturday’s heats, Colombian Diego Contecha (Exprit-Vortex), is placed second with 55 points whilst Russian Nikita Bedrin, despite a good third place with 48 points, would have aimed for much more after the victory in the Prefinal B. His countryman Artem Severiukhin (both on Tony Kart-Vortex) ends the weekend with a similar outcome. In the Final indeed, he cannot repeat the success of Prefinal A and is the fourth in the provisional ranking with 43 points. Thanks to a third place in the Final, Norwegian Martinius Stenshorne (KR-Iame) follows right below him in fifth position, with 37 points.
Nikola Tsolov takes the lead in 60Mini against many challengers.
All 60 Mini drivers present in Lonato prove to be very good and competitive. Nikola Tsolov (above, Parolin-TM-Vega) finally emerges from this large group. Being successful in the intermediate ranking first and then winner of the Final, the Bulgarian guy is at the top of the ranking with 87 points. His pursuers stay close below, starting with the Russian driver Kirill Kutskov (Energy-TM) that wins the Prefinal A and is placed second with 49 points. By a narrow gap, Rashid Al Dhaheri (Parolin-TM) from Emirates is in third place with 46, thanks to a brilliant second place snatched at the end of a very tight Final. Austrian Kiano Blum (Parolin-TM) instead, after being the best in the heats, is unlucky in the Final which prevents him from achieving nothing but a fourth place with 39 points. Good performance for Russian Anatoly Khavalkin (Parolin-TM) that recovering well in Sunday’s races, ranks fifth with 33 points.
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