Two Italian teams secured the top step of the podium in the 7th edition of the 24 Hours Karting of Italy: the GAS Racing Team in the PRO category and the Marline Karting team in the SILVER one. Once again the most demanding Endurance race among the international Rental events has recorded an important organizational success, confirming itself among the most prestigious and popular ones.
Over 240 drivers divided into 37 teams from all over the world, including China and Ecuador, gave life to a spectacular race, fought for every position on the podium until the last hour of the race itself.
The new format also passed with full marks, which included 4 mandatory kart changes in the race for all teams, as well as the Castelletto circuit, always much appreciated by the drivers. In the PRO standings, the GAS RT team made up of Alessandro Cavallè, Cesare Cattaneo, Federico Bosio, Jeffry Macrì, Mauro Molaschi and Gabriele Gargano prevailed over the others and was author of an exceptional performance, which allowed the squad to recover an accumulated delay of the race, due to a technical problem in the early stages.
The winners covered 1254 laps in the 24 hours of the race, preceding by just 20″ under the chequered flag the SMO Racing Team of Wesley Bettinelli, Davide Balbo, Lorenzo Vailati, Daniele Pozzoli and Matteo Roncaglio, also great protagonists of the event since from Super Pole, in which they achieved the best overall time with Lorenzo Vailati, a performance also confirmed with the fastest lap in the race. The Pomposa Dream Team drivers (Gioele Bondi, Michele Biffi, Massimiliano Marchesini, Dino Masina, Gianpaolo Quaquarelli and Krzysztof Severi) got on the third step of the podium and after two consecutive successes, they once again ended a beautiful race as protagonists. After them, an excellent P4 for the BAC-PKI team which was fighting for success until the final stages of the race, like the Red Jaguar squad, which did a great race, even remaining at the top of the standings for a few hours.
The BTECS Young team ranked 6th overall, protagonist of a great comeback in the final hours, after having suffered some problems at the start of the race, while P7 overall went to the Next Gen team. P8 in the general classification and an amazing race for the Marline Karting team made up of Gian Maria Gabbiani, Manuel Grandi, Domenico Ferlito, Riccardo Gasparini, Marco Ferazzini and Christian Resa, who prevailed among the SILVER crews with 4 laps ahead of the Tec-Tav Racing Kart team, composed of Enrico Manzoni, Andrea Tonoli, Patrick Fraboni, Mattia Corbetta and Maurizio Giberti, who had suffered a few laps of delay in the first part of the competition, then recovered with an amazing second part of the race.
The 3rd place of the Czech Republic team Chovtrans Frenkart of Polasek, Kostelnak, Mikulik, Vavrecka and Pehanec, who won the comparison with the other team Steel Ring from their same country, which finished in P4 place of the SILVER ranking, was also very good.
In the top ten of the PRO standings, the performances of Team Ecuador – Kartodromo Cotopaxi, P9 at the finish line, as well as the one of Zena Panther in P10, must also be highlighted.
As usual, the 24 Hours Karting of Italy had very wide media coverage with 5 live streaming connections and a TV studio on the circuit, in which more than 20 protagonists of the race were interviewed. Among the most exciting moments, it is worth saying about the spectacular Drivers Parade with over 240 drivers and their respective national flags, who paraded on the starting straight, as well as the start of the race given with the Italian flag in Le Mans style, with the drivers who had to run across the track to their karts, which were parked on the other side.
Finally, the feedback on the CRG Centurion karts that the Italian company provided to the teams was exceptional and demonstrated unprecedented reliability, just as the ecological Marline fuel used in the race was promoted with flying colours, guaranteeing top performance in every stage of the race.
Feedbacks from the protagonists:
Jeffry Macrì (GAS RT): “We are among the teams that boast the highest number of participations in this prestigious event of which we are very fond and the victory repays us for all the effort we have put into constantly improving ourselves in all aspects view, from kart management to strategy. We are all very happy because with the kart changes required by the regulations, we managed to catch up the delay we had accumulated in the first part of the race from the leaders. It was a very beautiful edition of the 24 Hours Karting of Italy, very tight and with very strong opponents, with whom we kept a close eye on gear changes and strategy throughout the race. In the end, the small margin of just 20″ over SMO Racing who finished in P2, makes it clear what a high race pace everyone maintained until the finish line”.
Gian Maria Gabbiani (Marline Karting): “First of all as a representative for the karting sector of Marline fuels, I am very happy with the feedback we have had as official fuel suppliers: the CRG technicians have had very positive feedback on the performance of the engines and for the reduced emissions guaranteed by our ecological product, just as all the competing teams have never experienced problems with carburetion or engine performance. The victory with the team we organized to promote our brand in the rental kart market is the icing on the cake of an exceptional weekend. The race was fantastic, always with a high pace and against very strong opponents”.