The 2023 OK World Championship seemed to be the race nobody wanted to finish, collisions galore seeing many of the stars of the category wiped from the event prior to a red flag that removed two more. Only 14 of the 36 starters greeted the chequered flag.

Kirill Kutskov (KR/IAME) took an unexpected victory in OK while Dries van Langendonck (Exprit/TM) was untroubled to win the Junior final.

The new World Champions, Kirill Kutskov (*left*, OK) and Dries van Langendonck (OK Junior) (pic – FIA/KSP)

scroll down for official finals day report and photos
Sunday’s live stream, below
full results on FIA Karting HERE

Three Australians contested the event, our lone Junior, Lewis Francis, in contention for a solid top ten finish before he was involved in a collision. He had earlier qualified sixth in the mammoth 123-kart field and picked up a win in the heats.

“It was a heart-breaking end” the KR/IAME driver wrote on social media. “Rear end contact from another kart ended my Final while I was running strongly inside the top 10.

Lewis Francis heads out of the pits (pic – LFR/FB)

“Although a very disappointing end, with a win and multiple podium finishes in the heat races, it was a World Championship that I can be immensely proud of.”

After nine months in Europe, Francis now heads back to Australia for the summer.

In the OK category, Dante Vinci and Xavier Avramides (both on Kart Republic/IAME) qualified in the middle of the 111-strong field. Neither was able to make the top 36 for the final, however Vinci did scrape through to the Super Heat stage.

Xavier Avramides enjoying the sun in Italy (pic – XA/Inst)

“For sure not the result I hoped for but I learned a lot throughout the whole weekend” Avramides wrote. “Many thanks to my team Kart Republic and my family for the efforts, we will bounce back.”

It was a similar story from Vinci. “Tough weekend here in Franciacorta. Unfortunately some events didn’t go my way but after all that is racing. Super happy with the pace we had all weekend, being fast from the first time on track.”

Aussie Wrap

Lewis Francis (OKJ – KR Motorsport Srl, Kart Republic/IAME)
Q: 6 (of 123). Heats: 2, 5, 3, 7, 1, 6. Super Heat: 6. Ranking: 8. Final: 33rd (DNF)

Xavier Avramides (OK – KR Motorsport Srl, Kart Republic/IAME)
Q: 62 (of 111): Heats: 30, 19, DSQ, 13, 17, 24. Super Heat: DNQ (ranked 85th)

Dante Vinci (OK – KR Motorsport Srl, Kart Republic/IAME)
Q: 51 (of 111): Heats: 15, 16, 30, 26, 25, 11. Super Heat A: 33rd. Ranking: 71. Final: DNQ

from FIA Karting

The Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship – OK and Junior at Franciacorta will go down in history as one of the most spectacular ever. All the predictions were thwarted by a series of twists and turns before witnessing the crowning of Dries van Langendonck (BEL) in Junior and Kirill Kutskov in OK.

Both on the track and behind the screens, the Franciacorta FIA Karting meeting showed just how exciting kart racing can be. Competing for a World Championship in a single event is always a very special challenge. However, the 2023 event exceeded all expectations, with a series of twists and turns worthy of a thriller right up to the end of the competition. The tension generated by this type of event was at its height, as the FIA Karting world title represents for the competitors. The presence of 234 drivers from 57 nations undoubtedly raised the tension several notches. FIA Karting President Akbar Ebrahim and FIA Karting Vice-President John Ryan came to watch the event and present the trophies to the winners. They were privileged witnesses to a magnificent example of karting at the highest level.

The results from Franciacorta will have an impact on the International Karting Ranking (IKR), as you will soon be able to see by following this link.

Spectacular driver parade and ceremony (pic – Francis/FB)

JUNIOR: VAN LANGENDONCK DOMINATES THE FINAL WITHOUT A FIGHT

The Super Heats of the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship – Junior confirmed the domination of Christian Costoya (ESP-Parolin/TM Kart/Vega) in OK-Junior as well as the rise of Filippo Sala (ITA-LN/TM Kart/Vega) and Dries van Langendonck (NLD-Exprit/TM Kart/Vega) to the top three. Lewis Wherrell (GBR-Exprit/TM Kart/Vega) and Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL-KR/IAME/Vega) finished 9th and 10th in the Final intermediate rankings, a long way from their objectives.

Starting from 3rd place, van Langendonck took the lead on the second lap of the Final and went on to pull further and further away from his rivals. Scott Kin Lindblom (SWE-Tony Kart/Vortex/Vega) was 3rd ahead of Sala. Taym Saleh (DEU-KR/IAME/Vega) and Lewis Francis (AUS-KR/IAME/Vega) clashed and retired.

The winner Van Langendonc (207) is congratulated by runner-up Costoya (pic – FIA/KSP)

Van Langendonck continued at a fast pace and set the fastest lap of the race to edge Costoya by more than two seconds at the finish line. He went on to win the World Championship title with the Forza Racing team. Lindblom followed Costoya onto the podium, while David Cosma Cristofor (ROU-KR/IAME/Vega) finished 4th ahead of Stepan Antonov (KR/IAME/Vega) who moved up 10 places.

KR Motorsport, on 542 points, finished top of the 2023 OK-Junior team standings ahead of Forza Motorsport on 376 points and Parolin Motorsport on 364 points.

OK: KUTSKOV WINS AN INCREDIBLE FINAL

At the end of the Super Heats, Kean Nakamura-Berta (JPN-KR/IAME/MG) was leading ahead of Rene’ Lammers, (NLD-Parolin/TM Kart/MG), the 2023 European Champion, then Fionn Mac Laughlin (IRL-KR/IAME/MG) and Gabriel Gomez (BRA-CRG/IAME/MG), the 2022 Champion, in 4th place. Joe Turney (GBR-KR/IAME/MG) was 7th ahead of poleman Mark Dubnitski (EST-CRG/IAME/MG).

The Final saw three drivers leave the track at the first corner, while Lammers dropped back to 9th. Nakamura-Berta led ahead of Mac Laughlin and Turney, who quickly took the lead. Gomez climbed back into the lead and came to threaten Turney. The Brazilian briefly took 1st place before tangling with Turney and putting an end to their hopes of victory. When he tried to restart, Turney was hit by another kart and was injured, which led to the race being neutralised and then to a red flag with 14 laps remaining.

The restart took place in single file and Kirill Kutskov (KR/IAME/MG) maintained his lead over Nakamura-Berta. Very fast, Lammers then moved up to 2nd position with the objectiv of catching the leader. However, his attempt was unsuccessful and Kutskov took the title with a 0.184″ advantage over Lammers. Nakamura-Berta took 3rd place on the podium, while Enzo Tarnvanichkul (THA-KR/IAME/MG) finished 4th and Arthur Poulain (FRA-KR/IAME/MG) 5th. Louis Iglesias (FRA-CRG/IAME/MG) made up 23 places to finish 8th. Only 14 karts made it to the finish. After Morgatto in 2022, it was the second success in the World Championship for the Spanish team DPK Racing.

Prema Racing won the 2023 OK team standings with 487 points. Parolin Motorsport followed in 2nd place with 451 points, with CRG finishing 3rd with 379 points.

Apicella and Phillips win the Road to the first OK-N World Cup

A support race organised by Italian ASN ACI Sport to showcase the new OK-N and OK-NJ categories, the “Road to the first OK-N World Cup” finally rewarded Jesse Phillips (GBR-KR/IAME/Vega), winner of the OK-NJ Final ahead of Dean Hoogendoorn (NLD-KR/IAME/Vega). Asher Ochstein (ITA-CRG/TM Kart/Vega). In OK-N, Antonio Apicella (ITA-KR/IAME/Vega) clearly won the Final ahead of Maxime Geley (FRA-Sodi/TM Kart/Vega) and Gianmarco Cortopassi (ITA-Maranello/TM Kart/Vega).

The results of the Franciacorta event can be found on the official FIA Karting Championship app for mobile devices and on the www.fiakarting.com website.