Australian James Wharton has finished on the podium at the last round of the WSK Final Cup series at Adria Karting Raceway overnight.
On a day that remained wet throughout, Wharton started third and finished third in the OK-Junior final, but led eventual victor, Gabriele Mini, in the early running. James had earlier taken 2nd in his group’s pre-final.
“We have worked hard for this!” Wharton wrote on social media. “In what we scheduled as a learning year here in Europe I am stoked to have left with a podium in the WSK. Thank you to Ricky Flynn Motorsport and One Engines for a super fast package at every track we visited (and) Robert and dad for being by my side the entire time.”
Fellow Aussie Christian Mansell made the pre-finals (ranked 29th of 76) but DNFd Pre-Final A. Marcos Flack qualified 47th but didn’t get to the pre-finals (missed by just two positions) after trouble in the heats.
- full results are HERE
WSK press
Rosso wins the Final, Travisanutto king of OK
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A lot of twists characterized the OK Final: the Dane Nicklas Nielsen (Praga-Parilla-Bridgestone), who won Prefinal B after the Italian Lorenzo Travisanutto (KR-Parilla) had the upper hand in Prefinal A, had to stop early in the Final. This gave way to the Swiss Leandro Anderruti (KR-Parilla), who installed himself on top early on, overtaking also poleman Travisanutto. The latter managed to bounce back and regain the lead but had to stop in the closing stages due to the failure of the drive chain. The Italian Andrea Rosso (Parolin-TM) managed to find his way past Anderruti and claim a deserved win at the end of a difficult race. The Dutch Kas Haverkort (CRG-TM) followed him and relegated Anderruti to P3. Travisanutto managed to stay on top of the classification though, thanks to the victory in Prefinal.
The 60 Mini Final to Bergstrom, classification lead to Powell
The heat of the competition betrayed several 60 Mini drivers that compromised their races with some penalties. The Swede Joel Bergstrom (Parolin-TM-Vega) managed to win the Final, while the Russians Alexandr Tibekin (DR-TM) and Alexander Gubenko (Parolin TM) lost the podium due to their dropped front fairings. The Russian Krill Kutskov (Parolin-TM) and the Jamaican Alex Powell (Energy-TM) inherited, therefore, P2 and P3. Powell celebrated the podium claiming also the victory of the overall 60 Mini classification.
The OK Junior final to Minì, overall victory to Barnard
The Italian Gabriele Minì (Parolin-Parilla-Vega) and the British Taylor Barnard (KR-Parilla) won the two Prefinals but were overtaken at the start of the Final by the Australian James Wharton (FA-Vortex). Minì displayed a great shape and regained the lead shortly after, pulling away. Wharton was also overtaken by the Russian Kirill Smal (Tony Kart-Vortex), while Barnard slipped down to P4, but he held on to this result which earned him the final victory of the OK Junior classification.
Double win in KZ2 for Renaudin
The French driver Adrien Renaudin (SodiKart-TM-Bridgestone) ended also the weekend of Adria unbeaten. He won, in fact, the KZ2 Final and secured P1 in the classification. Started from the pole position, Renaudin has never been challenged by the Swiss Jean Luyet (CRG-TM), who followed him for a long time. The Swede Axel Bengtsson (Kosmic-Vortex) put in an extraordinary comeback from P12 and climbed up to P2, before being penalized for the displaced front fairing. A closing battle allowed the Dutch driver Dylan Davies (DR_Modena) to end second behind Renaudin, while Luyet was third.
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