The opening meeting of the international karting season, the WSK Champions Cup in Adria, has been highly successful with 337 drivers from 51 countries challenging each other in the four entitled categories KZ2, OK, OK-Junior and MINI.
The four finals awarded the first four WSK titles of 2021 at the end of an intense weekend that included 52 heats and 8 Prefinals, that is two for each category.
The victory eventually went to the Swede Viktor Gustavsson (Leclerc by Lennox/BirelArt-TM Racing) in KZ2, the Brazilian Rafael Camara (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) in OK, United Arab Emirates’ Rashid Al Dhaheri (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing) in OK-Junior and to the Dutch René Lammers (Baby Race/Parolin-Iame) in MINI.
- Full results are on the WSK website HERE.
KZ2 dominated by Gustavsson
The KZ2 final saw the Swede Viktor Gustavsson (Leclerc by Lennox/BirelArt-TM Racing), who had previously won Prefinal-A, installing himself on top and keeping the lead until the chequered flag. He was initially followed by Prefinal-B winner Francesco Celenta (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing), but the latter had to concede P2 to the French Adrien Renaudin (Sodikart/Sodi-TM Racing) half-way into the race and shortly after the third to the Finn Juho Valtanen (KR Motorsport/KR-TM Racing).
The podium positions did not change in the closing laps and Gustavsson crossed the finish line on top, leading Renaudin and Valtanen, while Celenta was fourth and led the Spanish driver Pedro Hiltbrand (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) and his teammate from Finland Simo Puhakka.
Final classification KZ2: 1. Gustavsson; 2. Renaudin; 3. Valtanen; 4. Celenta; 5. Hiltbrand; 6. Puhakka; 7. Van Leeuwen; 8. Carbonnel; 9. Liwinski; 10. Pex.
Camara wins the duel with Antonelli in OK
A good performance in OK was put in by the Brazilian Rafael Camara (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame), who run a solid race and then won the final duel with his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The latter won Prefinal-A and took the lead of the Final but then lost it when four laps were remaining.
The third place went to his teammate Arvid Lindblad, who proceeded the Finn Tuukka Taponen (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), the Russian Artem Severiukhin (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) and Prefinal-B winner from America Ugo Ugochukwu (Sauber/KR-Iame).
Final classification OK: 1. Camara; 2. Antonelli; 3. Lindblad; 4. Taponen; 5. Severiukhin; 6. Ugochukwu; 7. Turney; 8. Tsolov; 9. Badoer; 10. Andreasson.
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Double win for Al Dhaheri in OK-Junior
In OKJ the driver from United Arab Emirates Rashid Al Dhaheri (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing) led the race from lights to flag. He won the WSK Champions Cup in MINI last year and switched to the higher category this year. Al Dhaheri displayed a great shape again and won also the Prefinal in this occasion.
The Japanese Kean Nakamura Berta (Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Racing) secured a solid P2 at his debut in OKJ, while the other protagonist of the category, the Brit Harley Keeble (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) won Prefinal-B and then bounced back from a difficult start recovering several places and climbing up to the final P3.
The Russian Maksimilian Popov (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) was fourth and led the other two Russians Maksim Orlov (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing) and Dmitry Matveev (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame).
Final classification OKJ: 1. Al Dhaheri; 2. Nakamura; 3. Keeble; 4. Popov; 5. Orlov; 6. Matveev; 7. Smith; 8. Slater; 9. Wisniewski; 10. Egozi.
Lammers takes the win in MINI
After an initial duel, the Dutch Renè Lammers (Baby Race/Parolin-Iame) took the lead of the final after winning Prefinal-A and kept it until the chequered flag. He was trailed by Emanuele Olivieri (Formula K Serafini/IPK-TM Racing) who crossed the finish line in P2. The third place went to the Asian Tiziano Monza (Sauber/KR-Iame), who led the pack in the first two laps but then slipped down a bit. He eventually recovered some ground and in the last lap he had the best of the Spanish driver Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport/TM Racing).
The Pole Jan Przyrowsky (AV Racing/Parolin-TM Racing) won Prefinal-B and then ended his effort in fifth place leading the Belgian Dries Van Langendonk (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM Racing).
Final classification MINI: 1. Lammers; 2. Olivieri; 3. Monza; 4. Costoya; 5. Przyrowsky; 6. Van Langendonk; 7. Peebles; 8. Tarnvanichkul; 9. Josseron; 10. Bogunovic.
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