Lonato Winter Cup – Saturday- Longhi (Birel/ART), Palomba (Birel/ART), and Puhakka (Tony Kart) top three in KZ2!
Lonato Winter Cup – Saturday- Longhi (Birel/ART), Palomba (Birel/ART), and Puhakka (Tony Kart) top three in KZ2!
Riccardo Longhi (KZ2- 125cc Shifter Karts), Nikita Bedrin (OK-125cc Direct Drive Single Speed) and Martinius Stenshorne (OK-Junior-125cc limited Direct Drive) lead the provisional classifications of their respective classes. The final Day of the 25th Lonato Winter Cup will be tomorrow, Sunday, February 16th, at South Garda Karting in Italy.
Photo: www.southgardakarting.it
Just look at that KZ2 Shifter grid...STACKED with talent from front to back!
- Info & photos: www.southgardakarting.it
Saturday, February 15th, has been an intense day of racing at Lonato as the Qualifying Heats selected the best drivers going through the final stages of the 25th Winter Cup. Winners will be named this Sunday afternoon at the end of an exciting international karting weekend attended by more than 300 drivers!
KZ2
The highest category, KZ2, brought 68 competitors on track where the fight for victory took the form of an internal affair between teammates Riccardo Longhi (Birel ART/TM) and Giuseppe Palomba (Birel ART/TM). Longhi won three heats, as Palomba who claimed three wins and a second place. Behind them, the Finn Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart/Vortex) secured two wins and a pair of second places, followed by Viktor Gustafsson (Birel ART/TM) and Jérémy Iglésias (Formula K/TM). Qualifying stages will end on Sunday morning with the closing heat (11:20), followed by the Super Heats and the much-awaited Finals from 15:00 (European Continental Time).
Top 10 from KZ2 Heat Races:
- Riccardo Longhi (Birel ART Racing Team)
- Giuseppe Palomba (Birel ART Racing Team)
- Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart Racing Team)
- Viktor Gustafsson (Leclerc by Lennox Racing)
- Jérémy Iglesias (Formula K Racing Team)
- Alexander Dahlberg (Energy Corse Racing Team)
- Alessandro Buran (Renda Motorsport)
- Alex Irlando (Birel ART Racing Team)
- Adrien Renaudin (Sodikart Racing Team)
- Jean Nomblot (CPB Sport Racing Team)
OK
The fight among the 85 drivers has been tight in OK. Nikita Bedrin (Tony Kart/Vortex) and Kirill Smal (Energy Corse/TM) both had the upper hand with the first winning three heats along with a second place, while his pursuer claimed two races and a third place. The first Italian came third in two times World Champion Lorenzo Travisanutto (Tony Kart/Vortex) who won one heat and scored two good placings. His teammate Pedro Hiltbrand (Tony Kart/Vortex) achieved a great comeback from 30th up to eighth place after the heats. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR/IAME) put in a great progression. Down to 18th in Qualifying, he climbed up to fifth following his races. The closing heat will decide the final OK classification at 10:40.
Top 10 from OK Heat Races:
- Nikita Bedrin (Ward Racing)
- Kirill Smal (Energy Corse)
- Lorenzo Travisanutto (Tony Kart Racing Team)
- James Wharton (Parolin Racing Kart)
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR Motorsport)
- Robert De Haan (Energy Corse)
- Matias Salonen (CV Performance Group)
- Pedro Hiltbrand (Tony Kart Racing Team)
- Josep Martì (KR Motorsport)
- Ben Dörr (TB Racing Team)
OK-Junior
Out of the 84 entered drivers, Martinius Stenshorne (KR/IAME) claimed three wins and a second place. Tymoteusz Kucharczyk (RK/TM) classified in second place while the polesitter Alex Powell (Energy Corse/TM) was third. Evan Giltaire (Sodikart/TM) put in a good performance, recovering from 19th to fifth. Last heat scheduled on Sunday morning at 11:00.
Top 10 OK Junior from heat races
- Martinius Stenshorne (Rosberg Racing Academy)
- Tymoteusz Kucharczyk (Birel ART Racing Team)
- Alex Powell (Energy Corse Racing Team)
- Evan Giltaire (Sodikart Racing Team)
- Konstantin Krapin (Ward Racing)
- Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport)
- Christian Ho (Ricky Flynn Motorsport)
- Matteo De Palo (KGT Motorsport)
- Brando Badoer (KR Motorsport)
- Freddie Slater (Ricky Flynn Motorsport)
Mini ROK
In the 64 driver-filled Mini ROK class, the definitive classification after the heats features a Russian domination. German Foteev (Energy/Vortex) claimed two wins and a second place, followed by Jan Przyrowski (Parolin/TM) who took a good win and a pair of second positions. Rashid Al Dhaheri (Parolin/Vortex) was also among the front runners as the three Baby Race drivers: Adam Hideg, Aditya Wibowo, and Enzo Tarnvanichkul (all on (Parolin/Vortex). One retirement cost several positions to Dmitry Matveev (Energy Corse/Vortex) who was the quickest in Qualifying but slipped down to 20th.
Top 10 from Heat Races
- German Foteev (Energy Corse Racing Team)
- Jan Przyrowski (AV Racing)
- Rashid Al Dhaheri (Ippoliti Fausto)
- Adam Hideg (Baby Race Driver Academy)
- Calvin Wibowo (Baby Race Driver Academy)
- Enzo Tarnvanichkul (Baby Race Driver Academy)
- Yaroslav Trukhin (Energy Corse Racing Team)
- Maciej Gladysz (Parolin Poland)
- Roberto Castellozzi (TB Kart)
- Marcus Saeter (ASD Revolution Motorsport)
Main Event schedule
Sunday |
08:30 – 10:28 Warm-up |