Promising Performances for Aussies at Adria

The two Australians competing in the WSK Open Cup in Italy on the weekend put in promising performances in their respective classes.

William Calleja (Parolin/TM, Parolin Motorsport) made it into final of the mammoth Mini class, which boasted 102 entries.

Griffin Peebles at Adria (pic – Peebles/FB)

Griffin Peebles (KR/IAME, Team Driver Racing Kart), in only his second start in OK-Junior, qualified an impressive seventh. He was ranked 11th after consistent heat results, but a disastrous pre-final saw him drop 17 positions. With the entire field on new tyres, Peebles just didn’t have the pace, finish 23rd and missing the cut to the Final.

(pic – Peebles/FB)

Aussie Results Summary:

William Calleja (Mini) – Q34 of 102. Ranked 33rd after heats of 10, 7, 11, 6, 34 (DNF). Pre-Final A – 15th. Final grid: 30th. Final Result: P27.

Griffin Peebles (OKJ) – Q7 of 68. Ranked 11th after heats of 4, 10, 4, 4, 8. Pre-Final A – 23rd. DNQ for final.

  • full results are on the WSK website HERE
Lando-mania at Adria (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

WSK Finals Day official report

The 2021 titles of WSK Open Cup have been assigned

The fourth edition of the WSK Open Cup did not betray expectations and the final event at the Adria Karting Raceway has been once again a great international challenge after the opening round held in Lonato on September 19th. The championship organized by WSK Promotion had a great participation again with the presence of the main manufacturers and teams. In the two rounds the overall participation has been of nearly 500 drivers coming from 50 countries.

WSK Open Cup Champions 2021, L to R, Schaufler (Mini), Egozi (Junior), Taponen (OK), Paloma (KZ2) (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

At the end of the long weekend in Adria, the final stages started with Prefinals on Sunday morning. These races have been tight and did not lack surprises, while the Final in the afternoon awarded the titles of each category. The KZ2 title went to the Italian Giuseppe Palomba (BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Racing-Vega), that of OK to the Finn Tuukka Taponen (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont), OKJ’s to the American Luis James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) and MINI’s to the Austrian Niklas Schaufler (Emme Racing/EKS-TM Racing-Vega).

Lando Norris demonstrates his new LN Kart (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

The KZ2 Final of Adria and the title to Giuseppe Palomba

Giuseppe Palomba (BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Racing-Vega) took an early lead in the Prefinal of KZ2 and crossed the finish line on top from the French  Adrien Renaudin (CPB Sport/Sodikart-TM Racing). Jeremy Iglesias (CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Racing-Vega) was third and led the driver on top after the heats, Paavo Tonteri.



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Palomba, 1st KZ2 (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

Giuseppe Palomba led the Final since the beginning and kept the position until the end. This victory allowed him to take the title too. The second position went to Jeremy Iglesias, and the third to Adrien Renaudin, who managed to fend off Danilo Albanese’s attacks (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame). Palomba ended the championship on top with 170 points, Renaudin is second at 150 and Iglesias third at 111.

KZ2 final podium (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

The Pole Kucharczyk wins the OK Final, but the Finn Taponen takes the title

In OK, Prefinal-A was won by the leader of qualifying Tymoteusz Kucharczyk (BirelART Racing/RK-TM Racing-LeCont), while Prefinal-B went to the other favourite of the weekend, the Brit Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame).

Tymoteusz Kucharczyk, OK winner (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

The winner of the opening race in Lonato, the Brit Joe Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) had to retire just after the start. An unlucky incident early into the Final forced the organizers to stop the race for a long time. Three drivers of team KR Motorsport were involved: Czech Republic’s Eliska Babickova, the Italian Nicola Lacorte and Malta’s Zachary David. Promptly helped, Babickova and Lacorte were taken to the Hospital of Padova for medical checks, while David injured his ankle.

When the race could restart, the Pole Tymoteusz Kucharczyk won the Final, while the British driver Arvid Lindblad was involved in an incident in the closing stages when he was second. The second place went therefore to Cristian Bertuca (BirelART/BirelART-TM Racing), while the Finn Tuukka Taponen (Tony kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) ended third and secured the title. Taponen totalled 188 points, Kucharczyk was second at 173 and Lindblad third at 132.   

OK final podium (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

The Brit Slater wins the OKJ Final, the American Egozi the title.

In Prefinal-A the Brit Freddie Slater (Ricky Flynn Motorsport/Kosmic-Vortex-Vega) kept his successful momentum after winning the heats. The American Luis James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) won Prefinal-B instead from the Jamaican Alex Powell (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame).

Freddie Slater, 1st OJunior (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

The Final saw Freddie Slater taking the lead and ending on top followed by Luis James Egozi. The American managed to clinch the title thanks to the second place though. The third place in the Final went to the Russian Anatoly Khavalkin (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing). Luis James Egozi secured the title with 223 points, the Brit Harley Keeble (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) ended fourth in the Final and earned the second place of the classification at 170 points. Freddie Slater was third in the championship at 156 points. 

Junior final podium (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

The Romanian David Cosma-Cristofor wins MINI, while the title goes to the Austrian Schaufler

Prefinal-A of MINI has been hard-fought and the victory went to David Cosma-Cristofor (Gulstar Racing/KR-Iame-Vega) from the Spaniard Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing). Prefinal-B was won by the Dutch Dean Hoogendoorn (Kidix/Alonso-Iame) from the Italian Jacopo Martinese (CMT/Parolin-TM Racing).

David Cosma-Cristofor, Mini winner (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

David Cosma-Cristofor won the Final, but the Austrian Niklas Schaufler had the upper hand in the championship securing the title thanks to the second place in the Final. The third place in the Final went to the Czech Jindrich Pesl (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). Niklas Schaufler ended the championship on top at 176 points, Jindrich Pesl was second at 172 points, David Cosma-Cristofor third at 159.   

Mini final podium (pic – Sportinphoto/WSK)

The WSK Final Cup will close the season on November 21st in Adria.



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