For the first time in the season, the ROK Cup Italia was hosted at the 7 Laghi Kart circuit (Castelletto di Branduzzo), for the sixth championship round, featuring the hottest summer temperatures. At the end of the weekend, the following championship’s leaders emerged: De Ruit Milan (Mini ROK U10), Almekdad Ghazi (Mini ROK), Kostrzewa Blazej (Junior ROK), Salemi Riccardo (Senior ROK), Sorbello Andrea (Expert ROK), Gaglianò Giuseppe (Super ROK) and Chiarello Marco (Shifter ROK).
Mini ROK U10
As always, there were plenty of battles and overtakes in the Mini ROK U10 class.
Milan Romano De Ruit secures his third consecutive pole position, setting a time of 55.648 seconds in the qualifyings. Andrea Baraggi is second, with Zev Godschalk and Leon Giudicelli in third and fourth, respectively. Gabriel Mara Varon is fifth, followed by Mikhail Zanochkin in sixth, Giacomo Pozzoni in seventh, Gaspard Fauchet in eighth, David Domanov in ninth, and Anna Makolm in tenth. The line up continues with Yanchen Yuan, Oleksandr Dubinin, Giovanni Ventorino, Miguel Spina, Nicolò Zagatti, Mathias Riccardo Bartyan, Ludovico Maietti, Nelson Luis Cabrera Mondello, Pietro Zera, Pietro Cimieri and Iurii Danyliak.
In the pre-final, De Ruit holds the lead after the start, while Godschalk takes advantage of the inside line to move into second place. Shortly afterwards, a scramble at the front allows Mara Varon to take the lead, with Godschalk still second, Baraggi third, Zanochkin fourth and De Ruit dropping back to fifth. On the second lap, the order changes again: Godschalk takes the lead, Baraggi is second and De Ruit climbs back up to third, while Mara Varon moves into fourth. The chequered flag confirms Godschalk’s victory, with Baraggi and De Ruit immediately behind him. Giudicelli finishes fourth, followed by Zanochkin in fifth, Ventorino in sixth and Mara Varon in seventh. Rounding out the top ten are Makolm, Spina and Maietti.
In the final, Godschalk makes the most of his pole position and remains in the lead, with Baraggi, De Ruit and Ventorino taking the positions immediately behind him. The four start a tough battle for the lead, with Godschalk consistently in the lead. However, on the fourth lap, while attempting to overtake Baraggi, De Ruit is forced to drop three places and falls back to seventh. The battle then continues with the top three until the final lap: Ventorino attempts to attack Godschalk, but makes a mistake under braking and is overtaken by Baraggi, who, in turn, is unable to get past the leader. The chequered flag confirms Godschalk’s victory, ahead of Baraggi in second place, while Ventorino receives a five-second penalty for an incorrectly positioned front spoiler and is sent to ninth place. Giudicelli is thus promoted to the lowest step of the podium, ahead of Zanochkin, De Ruit, Spina, Maietti and Makolm.
Mini ROK
It has been an exciting weekend for the Mini ROK drivers too.
Filippo Frigerio is the fastest in Saturday morning’s qualifying session. The Italian driver, with a time of 55.840 seconds, finishes ahead of Mateo Gomez Castro in second place. Ghjulian Letailleur is third, ahead of Mattia Pellin in fourth, Edoardo Galimberti in fifth and Sebastian Schirripa in sixth. The standings continue with Mathias Drexler in seventh, Giorgio Sapignoli in eighth, Ghazi Almekdad in ninth and Patricio Fernandez Decevallos in tenth; followed by Lola Mukhammadiyev, Mattia Accarino, Matteo Meni, Samuel Dal Pozzo, Dorian Bazzoli, Michal Krzysztof Lepczynski, Antonio Martin, Emma Gatto, Massimo Barlocco and Andrea Chardonnet.
In the pre-final, Frigerio immediately takes the lead, followed by Gomez Castro, while Letailleur and Galimberti run the next positions. On the second lap, Galimberti manages to take third place from Letailleur. At the front, Gomez Castro runs on Frigerio’s tail but is unable to find the right opportunity to attack him. The positions remain unchanged until the finish line, where Frigerio claims victory ahead of Gomez Castro in second and Galimberti in third. Letailleur finishes fourth, followed by Drexler in fifth, Schirripa in sixth, Pellin in seventh and Sapignoli in eighth. Almekdad and Meni are ninth and tenth, respectively.
In the final, Frigerio performs another good start from pole position, but at the first corner Galimberti attacks him and forces him wide, allowing Drexler to take the lead. On the third lap, Galimberti moves into the lead and shortly afterwards Frigerio moves up to second place. Midway through the race, Frigerio overtakes and takes the lead. On the penultimate lap, however, Galimberti manages to briefly reclaim first place, but Frigerio successfully counter-attacks immediately afterwards. The final ends with Frigerio’s victory, with Galimberti in second and Drexler in third. Schirripa takes fourth place, ahead of Almekdad in fifth and Gomez Castro in sixth. Pellin, Mukhammadiyev, Letailleur and Fernandez Decevallos also finishes in the top 10.
Junior ROK
The Junior ROK class has proved to be extremely competitive right from the very first sessions on track.
David Moscardi secures his third pole position of the season, thanks to a fastest lap of 49.450 seconds. Simone Seveso also makes his mark in the qualifyings, taking second place. Mikolaj Gawlikowski gains the third place, ahead of Adrian Potepa – winner of the previous round of the championship – in fourth. Iven Ammann is fifth, followed by Leonardo De Grandi in sixth, Elias Boullier in seventh, Patrick Bissa in eighth, and the overall championship leader Blazej Kostrzewa in ninth. Marco Pozzoni rounds off the top 10, while further down the order we find Nino Moulin, Stanislaw Grabowski, Vasco De Vito, Platon Kovtunenko, Timothee Moulin, Liam Andres Tegtmeier, Gianmaria Ferretti, Ilias Mitaki, Nicolò Poli, Leonard Wcislo, Dante Rodriguez, Alessandro Gorini, Aleardo Lambo, Simone Mercati, Daniel Ivanov, Rudy Koka, Gabriele Castelmani and Tommaso D’Ambrosio.
In the pre-final, Moscardi runs in first place after the start, with Potepa skilfully moving into second place ahead of Seveso and Ammann. The battle for victory soon narrows down to Moscardi and Potepa, with the Italian managing to hold off his Polish rival, while Ammann overtakes Seveso for the third place. At the end of the 12 scheduled laps, Moscardi crosses the finish line first, ahead of Potepa, Ammann and Seveso. Blazej Kostrzewa finishes fifth, followed by De Grandi, Bissa, Moulin, Gawlikowski and Pozzoni.
In the final, Moscardi gains the lead at the start, with Ammann in second place and Potepa third, while Bissa and Kostrzewa follow in the next positions. Already during the first lap, however, Potepa moves back into second place. On the next lap, Bissa briefly moves up to third place, only to be forced back behind Ammann and Kostrzewa. On the fourth lap, Moscardi loses the lead, overtaken by Potepa, and shortly afterwards also gives up to Ammann’s attacks. It is only on the final lap that Moscardi attempts to reclaim second place from Ammann, but unsuccessfully. The race ends with Potepa taking the win, joins on the podium by Ammann in second and Moscardi in third. Bissa and Kostrzewa complete the top five, ahead of De Grandi, Seveso, Grabowski, Gawlikowski and D’Ambrosio.
Senior ROK
One name in particular stands out during the Senior ROK weekend.
Riccardo Salemi secures his fourth pole position of the season in the qualifyings. The championship’s leader, with a time of 48.675 seconds, beast his teammates Andrea Barbieri, in second, and Mattia D’Erme, in third. Fresh from his victory in the previous round at Jesolo, Riccardo Brangero gains fourth place, ahead of Christian Romeo in fifth and Alessandro Cocchi in sixth. Next come Alessio Costantini in seventh, Samuele Di Filippo in eighth, Leonardo Monzani in ninth and Simone Taccola in tenth. The standings continue with Nik Sculac, Luca Perelli, Christos Chatzis, Andrea Thej, Plamen Teliyski, Zhivko Bostandzhiev, Enrico Pietro Villa, Enzo Vidmontiene, Giovanni Polato, Rikardo Bakaj, Omar Locarini, Ludovica Miceli, Denis Todorov, Sebastiano Cecchini, Noemi Pradier and Andrea Ladina.
In the pre-final, Salemi holds a firm lead from the start, with Barbieri and D’Erme busy resisting Brangero and Romeo, who running fast. However, with a decisive overtaking manoeuvre at the end of the opening lap, Brangero manages to overtake D’Erme and moves into third place. In the stages that followed, Salemi gradually extends his lead over his pursuers and crosses the line in first place. Barbieri and Brangero finishes second and third respectively, whilst D’Erme and Romeo are fourth and fifth. Sculac, Taccola, Monzani, Di Filippo and Costantini round out the top ten.
In the final, it is once again Salemi who takes the lead and runs to the first corner, followed by Brangero and Romeo. In the opening laps, the leader sets a pace that only Brangero can match, while Romeo has to defend from Zanchi, Barbieri and D’Erme. Taccola also joins the group, throwing himself into the battle for the top positions. As the laps goes by, the situation remains unchanged, with Salemi managing his lead over Brangero right to the finish line. The race thus ends with Salemi taking victory, ahead of Brangero in second and Romeo in third. Taccola finishes fourth, followed by Barbieri in fifth and D’Erme in sixth. Completing the top ten are Sculac, Di Filippo, Cocchi and Polato.
Expert ROK
The Expert ROK series proves to be another closely fought contest in the sixth round of the season.
Marco Massironi secures the pole position in the qualifyings, clocking a time of 49.598 seconds. Daniel Zajac, winner of the previous round of the championship, takes second place, whilst Andrea Sorbello and Alessandro Viganò are third and fourth respectively. Gianluca Todeschini is fifth, followed by Cristiano Gautier in sixth, Gianluca Rubiolini in seventh, Marco Beretta in eighth, and Michele Zampieri in ninth.
In the pre-final, Massironi jumps perfectly at the start from the front row, with Zajac and Sorbello running fast behind. Viganò, however, loses the fourth place to Gautier but reclaims it just before the end of the opening lap. Thanks to an excellent pace, Massironi quickly conquers a solid lead over the rest of the field running ahead to victory. Zajac finishes second, ahead of Sorbello in third and Zampieri, who had fought his way back up to fourth. Gautier is therefore fifth, followed, in order, by Todeschini, Viganò (penalised by 5 seconds), Beretta and Rubiolini.
In the final, after the first few metres, Sorbello emerges at the head of the group, with Massironi in hot pursuit and Zampieri settling into third place. On the second lap, however, Viganò overtakes Todeschini and takes the fourth place. The top four remain in close contact for a long time, though their positions do not change throughout the race. Having managed the situation well, Sorbello is able to celebrate victory at the finish line, with Massironi finishing second. Zampieri, in third, finished just ahead of Viganò in fourth and Zajac, who has meanwhile moved up to fifth place. Todeschini, Beretta, Gautier and Rubiolini round off the rankings.
Super ROK
The Super ROK has a clear frontrunner throughout the weekend.
Giuseppe Gaglianò secures his first pole position of the season. The overall championship leader is the fastest with a time of 48.092 seconds, managing to finish ahead of Riccardo Ferrari in second, Daniele Galbiati in third and Alessandro Zini in fourth. Matteo Melis is fifth, ahead of Rayan Carré in sixth, Matteo Infantino in seventh, Nicholas Giuseppe Reino in eighth, Francesco Koci in ninth and Alex Desario in tenth. Zachary Taylor, Nicolò Coppotelli, Mattia D’Abramo, Manuel Giovanni Gritti, Matteo Peruccio, Mirko Graziani, Shai Derungs, Luca Luongo, Tommaso Scarato, Lorenzo Poletti and Giulio Mazzolini (penalised for failing to complete at least three laps in qualifying) complete the grid.
In the pre-final, Gaglianò remains ahead of Ferrari after the first corner, while Galbiati and Reino get into collision, bringing their race to a premature end. Melis, meanwhile, moves up to third place, with Zini behind him. In the following stages, Gaglianò manages to pull clear of Ferrari, who loses second place to Melis. Meanwhile, Taylor moves up to fourth place, ahead of Zini and D’Abramo. On the seventh lap, there is a dramatic turn of events: Melis is forced to stop due to a technical problem, thereby handing second place to Ferrari. The race ends with Gaglianò taking the win, followed by Ferrari in second place. Zini overtakes Taylor to take third place, with the Canadian finishing fourth, D’Abramo fifth and Koci sixth. Desario, Mazzolini, Gritti and Luongo also finish in the top 10.
In the final, having started at the front once again, Gaglianò immediately takes the lead, with Zini skilfully positioning himself ahead of Ferrari as they run through the first corner. As in the pre-final, Gaglianò gradually improves his lead over the chasing pack and thus celebrates his second win of the season. Zini is forced to resist Ferrari in the final laps, but still manages to secure second place ahead of his teammate, who finishes third. D’Abramo finishes just off the podium in fourth, ahead of Taylor in fifth and Desario in sixth. Having started from the back of the grid, Melis fights his way back up to seventh place, with Mazzolini, Gritti and Koci behind him.
Shifter ROK
The Shifter ROK series celebrates a new winner of the season at Castelletto di Branduzzo.
For the first time this season, Gabriele Bensi secures the pole position in the qualifyings. The Italian driver, with a time of 48.101 seconds, finishes ahead of his French rival Mateo Moni, who comes second. Pietro Camerlengo takes the third place, while Alessandro Merigo and Antonio Lagrotteria are fourth and fifth respectively.
In the pre-final, Moni performs a better start when the lights go out, but Bensi closes the gap at the first corner, allowing Camerlengo to move up to second place. After a less-than-perfect start, Lagrotteria moves up to third place by the end of the opening lap but is subsequently overtaken by both Moni and Merigo. Thanks to the lead he has built up in the very early stages, Bensi manages the race with ease and crosses the finish line in first place. Moni regains the second place, finishing ahead of Camerlengo in third. Despite a three-second penalty for failing to follow the start procedure, Merigo finishes fourth, with Lagrotteria fifth.
In the final, Moni catches Bensi off guard at the start and takes the lead, but the French driver remains in front for just one lap before being overtaken by the Italian. Initially, Camerlengo also stays close to the leading pair but later loses contact with them. Bensi is unable to pull away from Moni during the race, but still secures victory, with the French driver in second place and Camerlengo on the bottom step of the podium. Lagrotteria finishes fourth, while Merigo is forced to retire.