The first round of the WSK Final Cup at the Franciacorta Karting Track features the first thrilling challenges among the 300 drivers in this major international karting event organized by WSK Promotion. The championship, which has represented the season finale since 2011 following the WSK Super Master Series and WSK Euro Series, will conclude with two subsequent rounds in Lonato and Viterbo.
Drivers from 56 Nations at the start
The opening of the WSK Final Cup features an exceptional participation in the MINI, OKNJ, OKN, OKJ, and OK categories, with drivers coming from all over the world and from every continent—representing 56 different nations—confirming the event's importance: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominica, United Arab Emirates, Estonia, Ecuador, Philippines, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, India, Italy, Kenya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Moldova, Norway, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, United States, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, and Venezuela.
Qualifying sessions kick off the Franciacorta program
The schedule at the Franciacorta Karting Track began on Friday, August 29th with qualifying sessions and the first qualifying heats, continuing on Saturday with the final heats, and concluding on Sunday, August 30th with the final phase featuring Prefinals and Finals.
OK-N – Peruccio takes a surprising pole position.
The Italian Matteo Peruccio (Zanchi Motorsport – KR/TM Kart/Vega) secured a surprising pole position in OK-N. He had already stood out in free practice and claimed the top spot with a time of 47.765. Last year's WSK Final Cup winner, Nicolas Marchesi (Team Driver – KR/Iame), was just 74 milliseconds behind, while Australian Jenson Eric Burns (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart/Vortex) secured the third-fastest time, 0.104 seconds back. Among the best performers were also Peruccio's teammate, Cristian Blandino, at 0.198 seconds, and the winner of the recent WSK Euro Series, Andrea Giudice with the Tony Kart Racing Team, at 0.218 seconds.
OK-NJ – D’Ascoli claims the pole ahead of Pulbere and Leopardi.
Luigi D’Ascoli (Modena Kart – Parolin/TM Kart/Vega) confirmed himself among the fastest in the category. The young Italian driver claimed pole position in Session-3 with a time of 48.479s, ahead of Belgian Robert Pulbere (Gulstar Racing – KR/Modena Engines), who clocked 48.582s in Session-2, while fellow Italian Lorenzo Leopardi (Monster K Factory – Monster K/TM Kart) achieved the best performance in Session-1 with a 48.648s, placing third overall following a penalty imposed on American Victor Gorun (Tellone Motorsport - Tony Kart/Modena Engines). Among the best performers were also the Ukrainian Platon Kovtunenko (Borsch Racing – KR/Modena Engines) in 48.519s and Danila Verba (Modena Kart – Parolin/TM Kart) in 48.638s.
MINI U10 – Simone leads Berger and Wolff in Session-1. Brody is the fastest in Session-2.
The best overall performance went to the young Canadian Leo Simone (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin/TM Kart/Vega) with a time of 55.124s in Session-1, but the two sons of famous drivers also came to the fore: Johan Berger (BabyRace – Parolin/Iame) at 21 milliseconds and Jack Wolff, now with Parolin Motorsport, at 63 milliseconds behind his teammate Simone. In Session-2, the American Mason Brody (Kidix – KR/Iame) took the top spot, setting the best time in 55.391s. Excellent performances were also delivered by Thai driver Max Zvarich (BabyRace – Parolin/Iame), 0.132s behind pole-sitter Brody, and American Zayne Burgess (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin/TM Kart), who secured the third-fastest time at 0.201s and is already a winner of the WSK Super Master Series.
MINI Gr.3 – Wibowo sets the eighth time.
In Session-1, the British driver Alfie Richard Mair (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart/Vortex/Vega) set the best time in 54.822s, but the Indonesian Fadhl Wibowo (BabyRace – Parolin/Iame) did even better in Session-2 in 54.733s. Mair, recent winner of the WSK Euro Series, finished ahead by 0.115s over American Pedro Cueto (BabyRace – Parolin/Iame) and by 0.155 seconds over Austrian Ghazi Almekdad (Team Driver – KR/Iame). In Session-2, behind the pole-sitter, Romanian Adam Pirvu (Borsch Racing – KR/Iame) slotted in 0.046s back, alongside another BabyRace driver, Turkish racer Selim Kose Osman, at 0.104 seconds. The winner of the recent WSK Super Master Series, Maltese driver Zane Pace (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart/Vortex), incurred a penalty and will start the heats from the back of the grid.
OKJ – Perico confirms to be the fastest.
Niccolò Perico (KR Motorsport – KR/Iame/Vega), who already won last year in MINI Gr.3 and successfully moved up this year first to OK-NJ and then to OKJ, continues to prove himself by securing pole position in Session-1. The Italian driver clocked the best performance in 48.080s, ahead of another standout from the junior categories, Spaniard Daniel Miron Lorente (Fusion Motorsport – KR/Iame) by 87 milliseconds, and American Liam Nachawati (Ricky Flynn Motorsport – LN Kart/TM Kart) at 0.107 seconds. The time of Ukrainian Vsevolod Osadchyi-Suslovskyi (Energy Corse – Energy/Iame) was slightly higher but was the best of Session-2 (48.128s), closely edging out Italian Julian Frasnelli (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart/Vortex) by 26 milliseconds and British driver Jarlath Sayer (Ricky Flynn – LN Kart/TM Kart) by 35 milliseconds.
OK – Crisan tops Scognamiglio due to the best discriminant.
An extremely uncertain final showdown between Canadian Ilie Tristan Crisan (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart/Vortex/LeCont) and Italian Manuel Scognamiglio (Pantano by DAM – Pantano/Iame)—the absolute protagonists of the two OK Series—who recorded the exact same time down to the thousandth of a second at 47.044s. Deciding who earned pole position came down to the second-best time tiebreaker: 47.196s for Crisan and 47.677s for Scognamiglio. The opponents were also extremely fast, promising a spectacular show in the upcoming heats. Spanish driver Benjamin Manach (Ward Racing – Parolin/TM Kart) finished 8 milliseconds behind Scognamiglio, and Brazilian Francisco Rocha (Forza Racing – Exprit/TM Kart) was 29 milliseconds back. Ukrainian Lev Krutogolov (Energy Corse – Energy/Iame), already a winner of the WSK Super Master Series, finished 0.016s behind Crisan, and Maltese driver Benjamin Westwood (VictoryLane – KR/Iame) was 0.069s behind.
The winners of the initial heats.
The first heats, which will continue on Saturday, saw these winners on Friday afternoon:
OK-N (M1): Jenson Eric Burns (AUS) (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart/Vortex/Vega).
OK-NJ (C-E): Antoni Ociepa (POL) (Novalux – Lenzokart/LKE/Vega).
OK-NJ (B-D): Henri Moehring (DEU) (KR Motorsport – KR/Iame/Vega).
MINI U10 (A-B): Zayne Burgess (USA) (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin/TM Kart/Vega).
MINI U10 (C-D): Max Zvarich (THA) (BabyRace – Parolin/Iame/Vega).
MINI Gr.3 (A-B): Ghazi Almekdad (AUT) (Team Driver – KR/Iame/Vega).
MINI Gr.3 (C-D): Nahyl El Gahoudi (MAR) (BabyRace – Parolin/Iame/Vega).
OKJ (A-B): Jarlath Sayer (GBR) (Ricky Flynn – LN Kart/TM Kart/Vega).
OKJ (C-D): Julian Frasnelli (ITA) (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart/Vortex/Vega).
OK (M1): Rumlenova Martina (CZE) (MVM Racing – KR/Iame/LeCont).
OK-NJ (A-E): Victor Gorun (USA) (Tellone Motorsport – Tony Kart/Modena Engines/Vega).
OK-NJ (C-D): Henri Moehring (DEU) (KR Motorsport – KR/Iame/Vega).
The program of the weekend in Franciacorta, WSK Final Cup Rd1.
Saturday, August 29th: 8:20 Warm-up, 10:00 Qualifying heats.
Sunday, August 30th: 8:20 Warm-up, 10:00 Prefinals, 13:30 Finals (13:30 OK-N, 14:00 OK-NJ, 14:30 MINI U10, 15:00 MINI Gr.3, 15:30 OKJ, 16:00 OK).