The Winter Trophy, an absolute novelty in the ROK Cup race calendar, opens the 2022 season of the single-brand by Vortex. The drivers' attendance was excellent, coming from all over Europe, for a total of 131 participants. The trophy was held at the South Garda Karting of Lonato, with the activities on the track divided in two days and featured by ideal weather conditions, which framed the crowning of the first champions of the season: Martina Rumlenova (Mini ROK), Beszterda Iwo (Junior ROK), David Locatelli (Senior ROK), Tino Donadei (Expert ROK), Riccardo Ianniello (Super ROK), Mattia Vita (Shifter ROK).
Mini ROK
Record attendance in the Mini ROK class, with the ROK Cup Winter Trophy registering full entries. In fact, there are 34 baby drivers ready to compete at the South Garda Karting of Lonato.
The draw of the engines, a news introduced last year, is "split" this weekend: on Saturday morning a first draw takes place, followed by another one at the end of the second heat scheduled in the late afternoon. A solution that makes the competition on the track even more fair.
The level of competition is really high. This is demonstrated by the results in qualifying: Qarrar Firhand, with a time of 54.669, takes the pole position, but the last classified driver is just over a second away. Alex Desario is second at the end of the session, 60 thousandths behind Firhand, while Maksymilian Rafalik and Tomasz Cichoracki occupy third and fourth positions respectively. Maximilian Pilch was fifth, followed by Marek Lagan in sixth and Bonder Kacper in seventh positions. Martina Rumienova hits the eighth place, while Wojciech Woda and Tomasz Kijanowski rounded out the top 10. Next up were, in this order: Jan Blazic Turk, Maxim Becker, Alessandro Pellegrino, Francesco Koci, Stefano Zamponi, Dario Palazzolo, Shae Shield, Marcin Fice, Federico Sbardellati, Fabio Ferlicca, Milosz Smuk, Ksawery Rafalik, Norbert Plaszewski, Gioele Gipsy Girardello, Milokai Gawlikowski, Lorenzo Coletto, Carlo Pongratz, David Nicolaie, Kajetan Koisar, Leonardo Cesare Marogna, Massimo Farro, David Davoli, Remigiusz Samczyk and Luca Muzzolon.
With so many participants at the start, whoever makes the fewest mistakes gets the better. Firhand wins two out of three heats and confirms his leadership. The only one who gets in his way is Rafalik, winner of the second heat of the weekend and second in the overall standings. With three consecutive third places, Maximilian moves up to third. Sunday's pre-final is a little appetizer of the final: in fact, Firhand wins again, but this time it's the very young Rumlenova who surprises everyone with a solid second position, ahead of Maximilian, third, and Rafalik, fourth.
The very young protagonists of the Mini ROK put on a great show in the final. At the start, Firhand holds the lead thanks to his pole position, while Maximilian takes the second place ahead of Rumlenova. The three of them clearly detach themselves from the rest of the group and start a "little train" race, remaining literally glued to each other for the whole time. The last lap becomes the decisive one to award the ROK Cup Winter Trophy: Firhand, always in the lead, is passed at the bend in front of the paddock by Maximilian and Rumlenova, who puts the winning shot on the German at the last corner. Only the photofinish assigns the victory to Rumlenova, who precedes by only 13 thousandths Maximilian, second. Firhand has to be content with the third position and the fastest lap in the final
Junior ROK
A total of 33 Junior ROK drivers are ready to fight for the ROK Cup Winter Trophy.
The flame of the challenge lits from the start. In Saturday's qualifying, the entire group sets a second and a half of each other, but it is the Polish Beszterda Iwo who takes the pole position with a fast lap of 48.924. By just 15 thousandths, Patrik Fraboni is confined to second position while Aleksander Wojcicki and Gabriel Moretto take the 'virtual' second row of the standings. Franciszek Czapla is fifth, ahead of Mateusz Piszczako, sixth. Following, we find: Alessandro Antonelli, Piotr Czaja, Elia Epifanio, Filippo Tornaghi, Damiano Cavalli, Antoni Kosiba, Colin Wurthenberger, Alessandro Cocchi, Giacomo Maman, Pietro Santese, Nicolas Marchesi, Giacomo Pegazzano Ferrando, Luigi Pace, Sergio Koch, Kyle Micallef, Nicolò Coppotelli, Marcel Matyjewicz, Adrian Potepa, Oliwier Kobiela, Paolo Russo, Adrian Matteo Martinz, Massimo Pietro Cannizzo, Thomas Baldassarri, Albero Fulgori Jr., Lukas Horcicka, Riccardo Tarsi and Ettore Sanesi.
If perfection has a name, Iwo is the one who fits better. In fact, the Pole scores three wins out of three races in the qualifying heats and scores zero penalty points in the overall standings. Fraboni grabs two second places and a third to confirm his second position and Wojcicki confirms his third place. However, Iwo does not have an easy time in the pre-final as a group of formidable opponents formed behind him. The "leader" is Wurthenberger, able to pass Iwo several times, but always able to quickly regain the lead. In a thrilling sprint finish, Iwo beats Wurthenberger by just 45 thousandths, while Tornaghi takes the third place.
Along with these premises, the final is going to be a hard-fought competition right to the last metre. From pole position, Iwo takes the lead for just a couple of corners before Tornaghi hits him at the first bend. Soon after, Maman takes the lead but Iwo regains his position after a few laps. The battle for the win is narrowed to five drivers, then to just Iwo, Wurthenberger and Maman on the last available laps. On the penultimate lap, Wurthenberger launches an attack on Iwo and overtakes him, but the Polish driver disagrees and responds on the last lap with the decisive move that gives him the ROK Cup Winter Trophy win. Maman takes advantage of the moment and gains the second place, leaving the third position to Wurthenberger.
Senior ROK
The Senior ROK also boasts a large number of starters in the ROK Cup Winter Trophy. 28 are the protagonists of the weekend in Lonato, accompanied by their respective ROK GP single-gear chassis.
The fight for the victory is open since Saturday's qualifying, with 16 drivers within a second of each other. Lorenzo Benedetti signs the pole position, thanks to the best time of 47.474. In second place, just 49 thousandths away, is David Locatelli, while Bartosz Grzywacz and Luca Bettoni take the third and fourth positions, respectively. Davide Larini is fifth, with Adam Piszczako sixth, Samuele Di Filippo seventh and Luca Liberati eighth. The ranking goes on with: Michael Bartoszuk, Victor Odin, Alfredo Chiozzone, Rebecca Guarguaglini, Gabriele Fiume, Matteo Zaffarano, Tobias Rocca, Franciszek Halatnik, Edoardo Montoro, Federico Potena, Flavio Massimo Piccolo, Nicole Ameglio, Gabrielli Enrico and Edoardo Sabatino.
With a win and two second places in three races, Locatelli moves into first position at the end of the qualifying heats. Grzywacz and Larini take one win each in the heats, but are second and third respectively in the overall standings. In Sunday's pre-final, Locatelli scores another success, again ahead of Grzywacz and Larini, while Bettoni scores the fastest lap and finishes fourth.
Locatelli is uncatchable in the final. The driver of Zanchi Motorsport jumps perfectly from the pole position and scores a sequence of fast laps, up to a time of 47.932 on the sixth lap. After losing second place at the start in favor of Larini, Grzywacz recovers his position and tries to catch up with Locatelli, but the Italian holds the lead until the chequered flag and wins the ROK Cup Winter Trophy. Grzywacz finishes second, with Larini taking the lowest step of the podium.
ROK Expert
At the ROK Cup Winter Trophy there is no shortage of Expert ROK drivers either. As per tradition, the "grown-ups" share the same starting grid of the Senior ROK, doubling the adrenaline on the track of Lonato.
On the occasion of Saturday's qualifying, Marco Chiari opens the dances with a time of 48.647, 152 thousandths better than Martin Hudec, second. Tino Donadei gains the third place, followed by Fabio Cretti, fourth, Gianluca Todeschini, fifth, and Michele Zampieri, sixth. Davide Gherardi is seventh, while Piergiuseppe Di Landro is eighth.
Thanks to solid results obtained in the three heats of the weekend, Donadei jumps to the first position in the overall standings, however Chiari goes back only to second place. Well instead Zampieri, able to climb up to third position. A disqualification in the first heat penalizes Hudec, sixth in the ranking and behind Todeschini, fourth, and Cretti, fifth. Di Landro gains the seventh position and Gherardi closes in eighth place. Few changes in the pre-final: Donadei, Chiari and Zampieri occupy the first three positions, but is Hudec who takes the fourth place. Follow, in this order, Cretti, Todeschini, Di Landro and Gherardi.
In the final, when the lights go off, Donadei is perfect and holds the first position after the first bend, with Chiari and Zampieri as main opponents. In the middle of the race, Chari comes dangerously close to Donadei, but the Flowers Racing’s driver keeps his blood cool and doesn't leave any gap to his opponent. Donadei wins the ROK Cup Winter Trophy with half a second of advantage on Chiari, excellent second, while Zampieri signs the third position. Cretti and Gherardi fight for the fourth place, but it is Cretti finishing close to the podium. Todeschini reaches the finishing line in sixth position, while Di Landro in seventh. Unfortunately, a stop forces Hudec to abandon the race.
Super Rok
Lots of emotions and several battles also in the Super ROK weekend, the most performing category of single speed karts, thanks to the powerful DVS engines.
Riccardo Ianniello, at his first presence in this class, immediately plays his cards and takes the pole position in the Saturday's qualifying session. The Kgt Motorsport’s driver stops the chrono timings at 47.228, 29 thousandths faster than Mattia D'Abramo. Lyon Mathur sets the third best time, followed by Manuel Gritti in fourth. Leonardo Cesaretti is fifth, while Gaia Cardinali is sixth in the standings. Neuhaus Lynn finishes the session in seventh place, ahead of Sachel Rotge Manuello, Chiara Bolognini and Tommaso Nonini.
D'Abramo fights over Ianniello in the heats. The Zanchi Motorsport’s driver takes two wins on Saturday, plus a second place in the third heat on Sunday. On the contrary, Ianniello is twice second and wins a race, losing the first position to D'Abramo. In the meantime, Cardinali gets the third position in the general standings, expelling Mathur who falls back to the fourth place. From the bottom, Nonini climbs up to fifth place, with Gritti sixth and Cesaretti seventh. Lynn, Bolognini and Manuello Rotge close in the Top 10. Ianniello takes his revenge on D'Abramo in the pre-final, with the Kgt Motorsport’s driver first and the opponent of Zanchi Motorsport not starting. Mathur is second, while Cardinali confirms his third place, ahead of Nonini and Gritti.
The final speaks with only one voice, that of Ianniello, who from pole position remains at the head of the race and imposes his own pace on the rest of the participants. No one is able to catch the Italian driver, who wins the ROK Cup Winter Trophy, as well as setting the fastest lap in the race. Mathur crosses the finish line in second position, 2.383 behind Ianniello, while D'Abramo recovers from the last position on the grid and gets the third final place. Cardinali finishes close to the podium, a few tenths ahead of Gritti, fifth. Nonini is sixth, with Cesaretti seventh, Lynn eighth and Bolognini ninth. Manuello Rotge retires.
Shifter ROK
Great show on track also for the Shifter ROK on the occasion of the ROK Cup Winter Trophy of Lonato. A total of 24 drivers enliven the category reserved to Vortex-powered shifter karts.
The gaps are minimal in the Saturday's qualifying session, with 20 drivers within the space of just one second. Mattia Vita emerges from the group with a time lap of 46.347, half a tenth lower than that of Gabrio Bizzozzero, ranked second. Andrea Bosetto gets the third position, with Domenico Cicognini behind him in fourth. Fifth place for Filippo Calligaris, sixth, instead, for Nicola Rossini. Federico Mascialino takes the seventh position and Andrea Zemin records the eighth best time. The ranking goes on with Mattia Limena, Alessandro Lizio, Massimiliano Pezzucchi, Mattia Rossetti, Lorenzo Ripamonti, Gabriele Bensi, Denis Tuia, Dennis Menegatti, Marco Chiarello, Mauro D'Agostino, Daniele Demartis, Alessio Foresto, Costin Tudor Ion, Alex Zucco, Kappa Alex and Davide Cugini.
No mistakes for Vita in the qualifying heats. The Italian driver wins all three heats schedules and confirms his position at the top of the overall standings. From the eighth place, Zemin climbs up to the second position with two podiums, while Bosetto confirms the third place thanks to two second places. The script is repeated in the pre-final of Sunday: despite some uncertainty in the early laps, Vita dominates the scene going to win and holding off an unrestrained Limena, second after the start from eighth place on the grid.
The start is fundamental in the Shifter ROK and Vita knows it well and, at the start of the final, the undisputed leader of the weekend remains in the lead after the first bend, despite the excellent sprint of Bensi from the third position. Vita, Bensi and Zemin, the latter moved up to third place after overtaking Limena, remain firmly close throughout the race. Vita just keeps the lead, even when, behind him, Zemin overtakes Bensi on lap 12. The final ends with Vita triumphing in the ROK Cup Winter Trophy, ahead of second-placed Zemin and third-placed Bensi. Bizzozzero and Limena, fourth and fifth respectively, complete the Top 5.