In the ACI Karting Italian Championship, the Modena Kart Racing Team once again fought hard at the front of the field at Sarno in the OK-N Junior class. Radu Basescu Pricop and Ioannis Kolovos put in strong performances, confirming their places in the top five of the overall standings with two rounds remaining. At the “Circuito Internazionale Napoli”, Danila Verba secured the team’s best result at the wheel of his Parolin-TM Kart. He, too, has moved into the top 10 of the Championship.
Fast immediately in free practice
In the final Free Practice sessions before Qualifying, Danila Verba in Group 2 and Radu Basescu Pricop in Group 3 demonstrated their ambitions by climbing to 2nd place. In an OK-N Junior category that remained very competitive (75 drivers entered), both drivers featured in the top 15 of Qualifying, as did their team-mates Ruzgar Evci and Daniel Ferguson.
Intense battles in the heat of Vesuvius
At the foot of the famous Italian volcano, the OK-N Junior category proved once again to be fiercely contested. However, the Parolin-TM Karts of the Modena Kart Racing Team held their own. Nine drivers from the Italian team managed to qualify for the Final - a remarkable achievement! Several of them achieved impressive results in the top three of the Qualifying Heats: Danila Verba (who set the fastest lap), Radu Basescu Pricop, Ruzgar Evci and Ioannis Kolovos (who moved up 11 places in one heat). Daniel Fergusson and Nikita Dzhalilov battled it out in the top six, whilst Davide Di Filippo proved to be as consistent as he was effective. Thanks to comebacks of 12 and nine places respectively in the Super Heats, Luigi D’Ascoli and Raffaele Mini secured their places in the Final, whilst Tommaso Corsi continued to make his way up the field.
In the Final, success did not always favour the Modena Kart Racing Team drivers. Verba put in a solid performance to finish 7th, whilst D’Ascoli (+14), Mini (+4) and Ferguson (+10) staged impressive comebacks with brilliant lap times.
Well done also to the drivers in the other categories competing under the Modena Kart Racing Team banner: Sarp Kayol in OK-N and Alessio Piccini in KZ2. The latter made a name for himself by climbing from P24 to P13 in the Final.
Analysis by Gabriele Finocchi, Team Principal of Modena Kart
“Following our success at La Conca, we didn’t win this time, but our performance level was still excellent at Sarno. Keeping track of so many of our karts – nine in total – during the Final was a real source of satisfaction. We have several drivers very well placed in the Italian Championship standings and a lot can still happen in the next two rounds at Val Vibrata and Viterbo. We’ll do everything we can to ensure we’re in the best possible form for those events. In the meantime, we have other challenges to tackle, notably at the WSK Euro Series in Cremona.”
A comment from Alessandro Palloni, Team Manager at Modena Kart
“It was very hot in Sarno, and I’d like to congratulate all our drivers, as well as our technical staff, for their efforts during this demanding round of the Italian Championship. Our team was once again very competitive, but I’ve noticed that the competition has stepped up its game. This will motivate us to improve even further at the upcoming rounds. Victory remains, of course, our top priority.”