The 5th and final round of the Italian Karting Championship, which took place this weekend in Lonato del Garda, crowned Kalì Kart Racing and Cristian Blandino as Italian Karting Champions in the OK-N Junior class. This is an important success, in one of the most competitive categories of the Italian series and achieved with a driver, the Sicilian Cristian Blandino, making his debut in this class. The success was achieved with placings in each of the 5 Championship events, which began on the Sicilian track of Trascina in April and then continued on the circuits of Muro Leccese, Val Vibrata, Sarno and Lonato with the final race. Overall, Blandino closed the Championship with 233 points, 17 more than Sebastian Eskandari, who was the most competitive opponent in this long season in which the double success in Sarno certainly shines for Kalì Kart colours, while it is worth saying that the final round in Lonato was not particularly positive, finishing with a 5th place in Race 1, mainly thinking about the standings and with P10 in Race 2 due to a chassis problem which appeared immediately in the first laps of the race.
Despite an unlucky last weekend, Blandino deservedly won a Championship in which he demonstrated consistently high performance on different tracks. The name of Cristian Blandino in the Kalì Kart palmares in the Junior categories joins the one of Giorgio Pantano, Italian Junior Champion with Kalì Kart colors in 1993 and 1994, as well as that of Ennio Gandolfi, Italian Junior Champion with Kalì Kart in 1992.
The last weekend of the Italian Championship also saw the debut of two new Kalì Kart drivers in OK-N Junior: Mark Zvarich and Andrea Saccà. The former was very unlucky as he had to retire after the first Heat, due to a bruised wrist, while Andrea had an excellent weekend with excellent placings in the Heats, which earned him a place among the 36 finalists. The weekend in Sarno also saw the debut of Marat Zvarich and Max Zvarich, in MINI U10 and MINI Gr.3 respectively: the former did not qualify due to a technical problem in the 2nd Heat, while Max ended two excellent races, doing a lot experience in this first important commitment in Italy. Again in the MINI category, a race contact forced Ben Piscopo to retire in the 1st Final when he was fighting for the top 10 with an excellent race pace, while in Race 2, starting from the back of the grid, the driver from Malta finished P19, recovering 15 positions. Simone Bianco also had a positive weekend in the KZ2 class, finishing Race 1 in the points (P4 in the Under 18), while in Race 2 a contact deprived him of the top ten, while he was doing an excellent race. Finally, Charles Troxler did not qualify for the OK-N Final, but he has certainly made a lot of progress, considering that he has only been practising karting at this level for a year.
Now a few days of rest for the OK and KZ drivers, while the Mini ones will be competing at the WSK in Sarno next weekend.
The drivers' feedback:
Cristian Blandino (OK-N Junior): “I am very happy for this title and I have to thank the whole team, the team manager Mariano De Faveri and Machac Motors. Today in Race 1 I only thought about the points that were missing for mathematics and I didn't get involved in unnecessary risks by finishing P5, but in Race 2 when I could race with more peace of mind, unfortunately, we had a problem with the seat which came loose from lateral support already in the first laps and driving became very difficult for me. I stayed with the leaders for over half the race, but towards the end, I dropped to P10. I would have liked to celebrate this title on the podium, but the most important thing is to have won it, against very competitive opponents and teams and in my first experience in OK-N Junior".
Simone Bianco (KZ2): “I am very disappointed by the accident that took me out of the running in Race 2, because it came from a maneuver that made little sense by another driver, which ruined both our races. At that moment I was very fast and I was catching up with the leaders. This weekend we struggled more than in the last two races to find a good balance, but finally, in Race 2 everything worked better. Now after the parenthesis in OK for the World Championship in England, I will focus exclusively on the KZ category and we will prepare the Trofeo delle Industrie and the two WSK Final races in the best way possible”.
Ben Piscopo (Mini U10): "If I look at the result, I am a little disappointed, but if I look at the performances, I am quite happy. Our chassis proved to work very well this weekend and in Race 1 I was very fast after a good start, but unfortunately with 4 laps to go, a three-way collision forced me to retire and also caused me a bruise. In Race 2 I started far behind, but I recovered 15 positions with a pace equal to the leaders. I think it's only a matter of time to consistently fight for the top of the rankings and I hope to have a good race this week in Sarno”.