Four Australians competed at the fourth and final round of the WSK Open Series at Sarno on the weekend.
William Calleja crossed the line second in the Mini final, but a 10-second time penalty dropped him to 17th.
“A bittersweet weekend with some strong heat results” he wrote on social media. “But a penalty for an irregular start held me back. A big thank you to the team for going over and above and working overtime to try to fix some mechanical issues through out the race week.”
Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi started strong in Mini Under 10, qualifying second. After some tough heat races, he started the final out of P9. “The kart felt amazing to drive and we finished P4, which meant we finished P5 over all in the WSK Open Cup championship” he posted.
The Pocket Rocket Brothers, Koda and Oscar Singh, finished 24th and 16th in their respective Finals.
The meeting was also the first time the new OK-N categories were run at a WSK event. However, the single entry in OKN (Turkey’s Bati Yildirim) gapped the rest of the field, made up of 12 OKN-Juniors.
Video Highlights
Aussie Wrap
William Calleja (Mini, Babyrace Driver Academy, Parolin/IAME)
Q: 3 (of 30). Heats: 8, 9, 1. Pre-final: DNS. Ranking: 7. Final: 17th (penalty)
Oscar Singh (Mini, Babyrace Driver Academy, Parolin/IAME)
Q: 25 (of 30). Heats: 27, 32, 26. Pre-final: 27. Ranking: 25. Final: 16th.
Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (Mini U10, Tony Kart Racing Team, Tony Kart/Vortex)
Q: 2 (of 31). Heats: 20, 19, 9. Pre-Final: 9. Ranking: 9. Final: 4th.
Koda Singh (Mini U10, Babyrace Driver Academy, Parolin/IAME)
Q: 20 (of 31). Heats: 24, 28, 37. Pre-Final: 31. Ranking: 30. Final: 24th.
official WSK finals day report & pics
The WSK Open Series titles have been awarded
The WSK Open Series concluded with a fantastic finale at the International Circuit Napoli in Sarno, marking the fourth round of the championship featuring drivers from 34 different nationalities competing for category titles in MINI, KZ2, OK-N and OK-N Junior. The on-track action was exceptional, with the presence of Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc, who visited Sarno to support the team bearing his name, in partnership with Lennox, for their personal line of chassis produced by BirelART.
Following the first three events in Lonato, Cremona and Castelletto, this fourth weekend in Sarno was fiercely contested and demanding, influenced by exceptionally high temperatures. In the end, the category titles were claimed by Stan Pex in KZ2, Bogdan Cosma Cristofor in MINI Gr.3, Oleksandr Legenkyi (under review) in MINI Gr.3 Under 10, Bati Ege Yildirim in OK-N and David Cosma Cristofor in OK-N Junior, both in a single round format.
The winners of the Prefinals
The winners of the Prefinals held on Saturday morning are the following:
MINI Gr.3 Under 10: Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR) (#536 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega);
MINI Gr.3: Noah Baglin (GBR) (#521 iKart/KR-Iame-Vega);
KZ2 – Prefinal-A: Jeremy Iglesias (FRA) (#81 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart-LeCont);
Prefinal-B: Paolo Ippolito (ITA) (#21 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont).
OK-N: Bati Ege Yildirim (TUR) (#202 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega),
OK-N Junior: David Cosma Cristofor (ROM) (#307 Kidix/KR-Iame-Vega).
The Finals, the winners and the champions
KZ2 – Ippolito wins the closing Final, Pex the championship
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A series of notable retirements unfolded during the course of the final race, but the focus is primarily on those competing for the title: the Italian driver Paolo Ippolito (#21 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont) and the championship leader, the Dutch Stan Pex (#13 SP Motorsport/KR-TM Kart). The Italian driver dominated the final race from the start, positioning himself as the virtual champion until halfway through the race. However, Pex, starting from seventh place, mounted a comeback to secure second position and, mathematically, the championship title. Completing the podium behind Paolo Ippolito and Stan Pex was the French driver Jeremy Iglesias (#81 CRG Racing Team/CRG-TM Kart), another impressive performer of the weekend. Among the disappointments were the two Sodikart drivers, the Dutchman Senna Van Walstjin and Frenchman Emilien Denner, who were forced to retire.
Notable comebacks were achieved by the two Italians Danilo Albanese (#20 KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) and Cristian Bertuca (#51 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart), finishing in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Sixth place went to French driver Adrien Renaudin (#94 DR/DR-Modena Engines), followed by the two BirelART drivers, Daniel Vasile and Giuseppe Palomba. Other contenders of the weekend faced disappointment as they failed to finish in top positions: Alex Powell, despite setting the fastest lap, finished in 25th place, Francesco Celenta in 30th, and Kean Nakamura Berta in 31st. In the championship standings, Pex secured first place with 235 points, followed by Ippolito in second with 219 points and Iglesias in third with 123 points.
1 Paolo Ippolito (ITA)
2 Stan Pex (NLD)
3 Jeremy Iglesias (FRA)
KZ2 Championship
1 Stan Pex (NLD) points 235
2 Paolo Ippolito (ITA) points 219
3 Jeremy Iglesias (FRA) points 123
MINI GR.3 – Baglin dominates also the Final, but the title goes to Bogdan Cosma Cristofor
In MINI Gr.3, the English driver Noah Baglin (#521 iKart/KR-Iame-Vega) continues his pursuit of the championship lead by finishing first in the final race after demonstrating his skills throughout the practice sessions. However, the Romanian driver Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (#539 Team Driver/KR-Iame) maintained his position at the top of the standings with a third-place finish in the final, behind Baglin and American driver Devin Walz (#514 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame).
Another BabyRace driver, Australian William Calleja, who crossed the finish line in second place, was classified 17th due to a 10s penalty for an irregular start. Vladimir Ivannikov (#522 Gamoto/EKS-TM Kart) took fourth place ahead of the American driver Keelan Harvick (#513 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), Canadian Ilie Crisan Tristan (#526 Tony Kart R.T./Tony Kart-Vortex), and Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (Kidix/KR-Iame).
1 Noah Baglin (GBR)
2 Devin Walz (USA)
3 Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU)
MINI GR.3 Classification
1 Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (ROU) points 289
2 Noah Baglin (GBR) points 266
3 Dean Hoogendoorn points 246
MINI GR.3 Under 10 – Tamm wins the Final, Legenkyi the championship, but sub judice
As usual, the final race of the youngest category, MINI Gr.3 Under 10, was thrilling, aided by a penalty imposed on the championship leader, the Polish driver Leonardo Gorski (#511 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega), for an irregular start. In the fiercely contested Final, the victory went to the Swiss driver Albert Tamm (#510 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), followed by the Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (#536 Team Driver/KR-Iame) and Swiss driver Maximus Unt (#569 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart), with Leonardo Gorski finishing fourth. However, due to the 10s time penalty imposed on him, the Polish driver dropped from fourth to 22nd place, but an appeal has been filed.
The Australian Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (#524 Tony Kart R.T./Tony Kart-Vortex) climbed to fourth place, followed by the Italian Niccolò Perico (#566 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart) in fifth, and the Belgian Henri Kumpen (#549 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame), who made a great comeback to finish sixth. Another notable participant in the category, the Belgian driver Antoine Venant (#572 Kidix/KR-Iame), secured seventh place, with Daniil Kutskov (#649 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) taking eighth. In terms of the championship, Legenkyi surpassed Gorski at the top, but everything is pending due to the ongoing appeal.
(provisional…)
1 Albert Tamm (CHE)
2 Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR)
3 Maximus Unt (SWE)
MINI GR.3 U10 Classification (sub judice)
1 Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR) points 255
2 Leonardo Gorski (POL) points 253
3 Albert Tamm (CHE) points 199.
OK-N victory to Yildirim, OK-N Junior’s to David Cosma Cristofor
The debut for the two new categories, OK-N and OK-N Junior, envisaged an interesting growth. Meanwhile, in their first appearance at a WSK event, the overall victory went to Turkish driver Bati Ege Yildirim (#202 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega) in the OK-N class, while in the final of OK-N Junior, the podium was occupied by Romanian David Cosma Cristofor (#307 Kidix/KR-Iame) in first place, followed by the Polish driver Bruno Gryc (#309 MLG Racing/Parolin-TM Kart) in second, and the Italian Gino Rocchio (#308 DR/DR-Modena Engines) in third. The fourth place went to another Italian driver, Giacomo Giusto (#303 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart), while the Spanish driver Nikita Nikishov (#305 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Racing) finished sixth due to a penalty. Giuseppe Piccolo (#310 Team Driver/KR-Iame) secured seventh place, while the Turkish driver Ayse Cebi (#302 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) finished eighth.
Final OK-N
1 Bati Ege Yildirim (TUR)
Final OK-N Junior
1 David Cosma Cristofor (ROU)
2 Bruno Gryc (POL)
3 Gino Rocchio (ITA)
The next rounds by WSK Promotion:
WSK EURO SERIES
1st Rd – 03/09/2023 FRANCIACORTA / MINI – OKJ – OK – OKN – OKNJ
2nd Rd – 05/11/2023 SARNO / MINI – OKJ – OK – KZ2 – OKN – OKNJ
WSK FINAL CUP
1st Rd 19/11/2023 LONATO / MINI – OKJ – OK – KZ2 – X30J – X30S
2nd Rd 26/11/2023 FRANCIACORTA / MINI – OKJ – OK – KZ2– OKN – OKNJ
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