All three Australians made it into the finals of the opening round of the WSK Super Master Series at Adria Raceway in Italy on the weekend.
James Wharton (Parolin/TM) won Pre-Final A in the OK class to start the final off the front row. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite have the pace required in the main race, but still managed to finish 11th. He’d earlier qualified 20th and was ranked ninth after heat results of 4, 6, 4, 7.
In 60Mini, Peter Bouzinelous went one better and brought his KR/IAME home 10th in the final. He had qualified 13th, carded heat results of 5, 10, 10, 6 (ranked 11th) and placed 8th in Pre-Final A.
Griffin Peebles (Parolin/TM) qualified 47th, had heat results of 18, 7, 10, 13 (ranked 24th) and charged to 9th in Pre-Final B. He ran as high as 15th in the Final but was classified one lap down at the end in 33rd place.
WSK press
Another great international karting event has taken place at the Adria Karting Raceway in the weekend of February 2nd in occasion of the opener of the WSK Super Master Series, that saw 231 drivers on track from 40 countries in the three categories OK, OK-Junior and Mini.
Just one week after the WSK Champions Cup – held on January 26th – the participation has been positive again, with the presence of strong drivers and all the main constructors and teams, some of which fielding a renewed lineup for 2020.
Among the VIPs present, Formula 1 Alfa Romeo’s driver Robert Kubica followed the Pole Tymoteusz Kucharczyk on the RK chassis by BirelArt. The spectacle on track has been exciting and all finals have been hard-fought until the very final meter that decided the podium.
Pedro Hiltbrand (Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone/Tony Kart Racing Team) claimed the win in OK, Alfio Andrea Spina (KR-Iame-Vega/KR Motorsport) in OK-Junior and Gerasim Skulanov (IPK-TM Racing-Vega/Formula K) in Mini.
Hiltbrand takes the win in OK at the end of a big battle
The OK final has been spectacular until the chequered flag. The Spanish driver Pedro Hiltbrand (Tony Kart-Vortex), who already won the final race of WSK Final Cup in Adria, managed to win this time around too at the end of several exciting duels with more than one rival. His teammate from Great Britain Joe Turney led the Final for a long time, but in the closing stages Hiltbrand had the upper hand at the end of several position exchanges.
The British driver Taylor Barnard (KR-Iame/Rosberg Racing Academy) – who won the recent WSK Champions Cup – eventually ended the race in second position in the slipstream of Hiltbrand, while Dilano Vant Hoff (Exprit-TM Tacing/Forza Racing) was third.
The Brit Harry Thompson (KR-Iame/Sauber Karting Team) ended fourth, while the Russian Kirill Smal (Energy-TM Racing/Energy Corse) dominated heats, but a 5s time penalty in the Final made him slip down from P5 to P7. The fifth place was therefore inherited by the Italian Edoardo Ludovico Villa (TB Kart-Iame/TB Kart), who proceeded Turney.
OK Final Classification: 1. Hiltbrand; 2. Barnard; 3. Vant Hoff.
Spina the “king” of Adria in OK-Junior
Alfio Andrea Spina (KR-Iame/KR Motorsport) confirmed his name among the protagonists of OK-Junior just one week after the WSK Champions Cup, also held in Adria. The Italian driver completed a weekend with a crescendo of results winning Prefinal-A and then the Final at the end of several neck-to-neck duels for the top.
His teammate Arvid Lindblad crossed the finish line behind him, but the British driver was handed a 3s time penalty and had to concede P2 to the American Ugo Ugochukwu (Kosmic-Vortex/Ricky Flynn) who ran a great race and led the final for a few laps. The third place went to the Asian from Singapore Christian Ho (KR-Iame/Sauger Karting Team). The 3s added time relegated Lindblad to P7.
The fourth position went to the Pole Karol Pasiewicz (Tony Kart-Vortex/Tony Kart Racing Team), who had won Prefinal-B in the morning. The fifth place went to the Norwegian Martinius Stenshorne (KR-Iame/Rosberg Racing Academy), who led the Russian Miron Pingasov (KR-Iame/KR Motorsport). The Pole Tymoteusz Kucharczyk (RK-TM Racing/BirelArt) was eighth.
OKJ Final Classification: 1. Spina; 2. Ugochukwu; 3. Ho.
Mini dominated by Russian drivers: victory to Skulanov
Mini has also been exciting until the closing stages. The Russian Gerasim Skulanov (IPK-TM Racing/Formula K) crossed the finish line in P1 leading his fellow countryman Anatoly Khavalkin (Parolin-TM Racing/Parolin Racing), who had won the WSK Champions Cup. The French Jimmy Helias (Tony Kart-Vortex/Tony Kart Racing Team) came third at the end of a good comeback from the starting P9.
The other Russian Dmitry Matveev (Energy-TM Racing/Energy Corse) was also among the quickest. He won Prefinal-B and then was fourth in the Final. The young driver from United Arab Emirates Rashid Al Dhaheri (Parolin-TM Racing/Parolin Racing) managed to get P1 in the closing stages, but eventually crossed the finish line in fifth place.
The Russian German Foteev (Energy-TM Racing/Energy Corse) also put in a strong race, after being on top in qualifying heats, he was sixth in the Final, while the Pole Maciej Gladysz (Parolin-TM Racing/Parolin Racing Kart) ended a good final in P7.
Mini Final Classification: 1. Skulanov; 2. Khavalkin; 3. Helias.
The next round of WSK Super Master Series is scheduled for February 23rd at the South Garda Karting circuit in Lonato.
WSK Super Master Series 2020 calendar.
Rd. 1: February 2nd, Adria Karting Raceway
Rd. 2: February 23rd, South Garda Karting, Lonato
Rd. 3: March 8th, International Circuit La Conca
Rd. 4: March 22nd, International Circuit Napoli, Sarno