All the Australians made the finals at the opening round of the WSK Euro Series at Franciacorta, Italy, on the weekend. But for one in particular, a podium and possible victory went begging.
Queensland’s Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi qualified second in the OKN-Junior class, but disaster struck heading out for the first heat when the engine flooded. “We didn’t even get around to do the formation lap” he explained.
Victory in heat 2 was followed by another win in heat three, but a penalty dropped him to 6th (too late to take up starting position after experiencing an engine start issue out of the gate).
He started the final 12th and clocked the race’s fastest lap on the way to 6th place, progress once again hampered by lot of blocking from rivals.
Meanwhile, William Calleja continued his journey in the OK-Junior class, grabbing a bunch of top-tens plus 4th in his pre-final, but slipping to 18th in the final. “A lot of lessons learned this weekend as we keep working harder” he posted.
Aussie Wrap
- Jay Kostecki (Mini U10) – Energy/TM
Q: 12 (of 47). Ranking after heats: 16. Pre-final B: 13. Final: 14th. - Ava Lawrence (Mini U10) – Parolin/IAME
Q: 36 (of 47). Ranking after heats:: 25. Pre-final A: 14. Final: 17th. - Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (OKN-Junior) – Tony Kart/Vortex
Q: 2 (of 40). Ranking after heats:: 11. Pre-final A: 6 (3rd across line). Final: 6th. - William Calleja (OK Junior) – Parolin/TM
Q: 15 (of 66). Ranking after heats: 15. Pre-final A: 4. Final: 18th. - Lewis Francis (OK) – KR/IAME
Q: 19 (of 42). Ranking after heats:: 17. Pre-final A: 10. Final: 15th.
Full results are on the WSK website HERE.
Sunday’s video stream:
official WSK report
The winners of the first round of theWSK Euro Series in Franciacorta
The first of the two events in the WSK Euro Series at the Franciacorta Karting Track concluded with great participation from the categories MINI, OKNJ, OKN, OKJ, and OK. The on-track spectacle was also excellent, with exciting battles among the 245 drivers from 48 nations, featuring many young talents as well as several international stars.
The intense weekend at Franciacorta, after 33 qualifying heats, culminated on Sunday with 11 Prefinals and the Finals for each category. After a series of battles, the winners of the first event were Robertson in MINI U10, Miron Lorente in MINI Gr.3, Pizzonia in OKNJ, Yildirim in OKN, Kamyab in OKJ, and Lindblom in OK.
THE PREFINALS
The winners of the Prefinals:
MINI Gr.3 U10 – Prefinal A: Niccolò Perico (ITA) (#501 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 U10 – Prefinal B: Mark Loomets (EST) (#502 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 – Prefinal A: Daniel Miron Lorente (NLD) (#552 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega).
MINI Gr.3 – Prefinal B: Oliveri Sini (IND) (#536 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega).
OK-NJ – Prefinal A: Billy Van Staveren (NLD) (#734 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega).
OK-NJ – Prefinal B: Alex Molota (SVK) (#702 Firefly Racing Team/Gillard-TM Kart-Vega).
OK-N – Prefinal: Bati Ege Yildirim (TUR) (#804 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega).
OKJ – Prefinal A: Roman Kamyab (GBR) (#326 Ricky Flynn/LN Kart-TM Kart-Vega).
OKJ – Prefinal B: Dries Van Langendonk (BEL) (#336 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart-Vega).
OK – Prefinal A: Scott Lindblom (SWE) (#221 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont).
OK – Prefinal B: Zac Drummond (SCO) (#216 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart-LeCont).
THE FINALS
MINI GR.3 UNDER 10 – Robertson has the upper hand.
In the smallest category, Under 10, the Scottish driver Mason Robertson (#508 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-Vega) won the Final, outpacing the competition after overtaking the Italian Niccolò Perico (#501 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart), who had secured pole position with victories in the heats and Prefinal-A. Starting from the second row, Robertson quickly surged ahead to victory, crossing the finish line ahead of his teammate, another Italian, Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio, while Perico managed to finish in third place.
The Italians David Moscardi (#550 Team Driver/KR-Iame) and Antonio Ianni (#557 CRG Racing Team/TGroup-TM Kart) ended their effort in fourth and fifth, respectively.
1st Mason Robertson (SCO) 10 laps
2nd Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio (ITA) +0.352
3rd Niccolò Perico (ITA) +3.120
MINI GR.3 – An easy one for Miron Lorente.
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The Spanish driver Daniel Miron Lorente (#552 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) dominated the final after also winning Prefinal-A. Initially, he battled with the Polish driver Leonardo Gorski (#534 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), but then had no trouble maintaining the lead and winning ahead of Gorski. On the last lap, the Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (#588 Team Driver/KR-Iame) managed to take third place with a great comeback from the ninth starting position.
The American Alessandro Truchot (#BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) finished fourth, ahead of his teammate, the Italian Julian Frasnelli, and another Italian, Gioele Girardello (#574 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), who had excelled in the heats.
1st Daniel Miron Lorente (NLD) 10 laps
2nd Leonardo Gorski (POL) +2.747
3rd Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR) +2.987
OK-N Junior – Pizzonia dominates.
The OK-N Junior category proved highly competitive, though there were no major surprises in the race for the top three podium positions. The Brazilian second-generation driver Neto Antonio Pizzonia (#738 Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) secured first place, while the two Modena Kart team drivers, the Dutchman Billy Van Staveren and Italian Giacomo Giusto, both on Parolin-TM Karts, took second and third place respectively, maintaining these positions until the finish line.
The Bulgarian Lyuboslav Ruykov (#729 Zanchi Motorsport/Tony Kart-TM Kart) comfortably secured fourth place, while fifth place went to the Slovakian Alex Molota (#702 Firefly Racing/Gillard-TM Kart).
1st Neto Antonio Pizzonia (BRA)
2nd Billy Van Staveren (NLD)
3rd Giacomo Giusto (ITA)
OK-N – A good victory for Yildirim.
The Turkish driver Bati Ege Yildirim (#804 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart-Vega) achieved an undisputed victory in the OK-N category, finishing ahead of the Polish drivers Juliusz Ociepa (#805 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE) and Maksymilian Rafalik (#802 KRZ Motorsport/KR-TM Kart), both of whom made significant recoveries from their starting grid positions. The Italian Lamberto Ferrari (#806 FK Motorsport/IPK-TM Kart) initially held second place but had to settle for fourth, just ahead of fellow Italian Nicolas Marchesi (#809 Team Driver/KR-Iame).
1st Bati Ege Yildirim (TUR) 18 laps
2nd Juliusz Ociepa (POL) +1.906
3rd Maksymilian Rafalik (POL) +2.217
OKJ – Kamyab is uncatchable.
After dominating in qualifying, heats, and Prefinal-A, the English driver Roman Kamyab (#326 Ricky Flynn/LN Kart-TM Kart-Vega) secured a stunning victory in the Final, proving unbeatable for everyone, including the Belgian Dries Van Langendonk (#336 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart), who made an impressive comeback of 13 positions to finish just behind Kamyab. The podium was completed by the Italian Filippo Sala (#327 Ricky Flynn/LN Kart-TM Kart) in third place, followed by the Americans Jack Iliffe (#330 Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Kart) and Arata Endo (#348 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart). The Austrian Niklas Schaufler (#301 DPK Racing/KR-Iame), who started from the front row, lost positions and finished sixth.
1st Roman Kamyab (GBR) 16 laps
2nd Dries Van Langendonk (BEL) +0.679
3rd Filippo Sala (ITA) +3.271
OK – A stunning full-haul for Lindblom.
The Swedish driver Scott Lindblom (#221 Fusion Motorsport/KR-Iame-LeCont) completed a perfect sweep with a victory in the Final after securing pole position in qualifying, winning the heats, and Prefinal-A. Among his main rivals, the Scottish driver Zac Drummond (#216 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) was forced to retire just a few laps from the end.
The second and third places thus went to the two drivers from Team Sodikart, the Frenchman Andy Consani and Belgian Kai Rillaerts, both driving Sodikart-TM Karts. The Lithuanian Markas Silkunas (#214 CRG Racing Team/CRG-Iame) finished fourth, and the Belgian Ean Eyckmans (#239 BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Kart) took fifth place.
1st Scott Lindblom (SWE) 20 laps
2nd Andy Consani (FRA) +2.922
3rd Kai Rillaerts (BEL) +3.742
The second and closing round of the WSK Euro Series is at Sarno on September 29 for MINI – OKNJ – OKN – OKJ – OK classes.
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