• Text: Guillaume Alvarez
  • Photos: Alex Vernardis

25th Winter Cup

The weather remained dry and mildly warm all weekend for the 25th Winter Cup, held from February 13th to 16th at South Garda Karting, offering carburettors ideal conditions for high-level functioning at the expectations of the drivers.

The standard-bearers of the Energy Corse Racing Team, Kirill Smal and Robert De Haan, set the pace in Friday’s Qualifying. The Russian went on to win two heats, took a fastest lap and classified third overall on Saturday. After a difficult Qualifying, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, driving for Kart Republic, recovered 13 positions thanks to a couple of top three finishes while taking the fastest lap on three occasions. His teammate, the Brit Taylor Barnard, struck by bad luck in Timed Practice, was also among the fastest performers with four best laps in four heats.

The Brazilian Rafael Camara, with Forza Racing, reached the second place of the Super Heat 2 while Antonelli won the Super Heat 1. The Italian fought hard at the forefront of the Final that he concluded on the podium’s third step as a reward for his flawless weekend using the Tillotson HC112 carburettor. De Haan, who led almost a third of the Final’s distance, finished fourth while Barnard lapped again faster than his rivals, climbing from 20th to sixth at the flag.

WSK Super Master Series – Round 2

A few days following the Winter Cup, focus shifted towards the Second Round of the WSK Super Master Series, held again at Lonato. The Italian Enzo Trulli claimed pole position ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Rafael Camara and the Dutchman Dilano Van’t Hoff, both drom Forza Racing.

The heats were dominated by Antonelli who clinched three wins and three fastest laps, ahead of Barnard who also won three races along with a best lap. Antonelli kept his impressive momentum going in Prefinal A, just like Van’t Hoff in a Prefinal B where Robert De Haan, fifth with Energy Corse, set the fastest lap with his new Tillotson HC115.

The battle for the podium raged in the 21 lap-Final between Antonelli and Barnard. The fastest on track once again, the British driver went for a late move on his rival who fought back in the very last corner to take another third place-finish. Small ended up in fifth position, Van’t Hoff in seventh and Trulli on the edge of the Top 10 after recovering eight ranks.

High-quality trackside service

In both events, Tillotson Racing provided top-level trackside assistance to all drivers using their carburettors, with services including sales and support, assistance with carburettor tuning, maintenance and spare parts supply. In order to always adapt to its partners’ demands, Tillotson Racing will bring on track in the upcoming weeks a new stock of HC115 carburettors for the OK class as well as HC114 and HC116 models OK-Junior. These new products have been optimised following drivers’ requests and according to the characteristics of the circuits used by WSK Series and the FIA Karting European Championship – OK/Junior, set to start in Zuera, Spain, from April 16th to 19th.

“I am happy that so many teams continue to choose Tillotson Racing in combination with engines provided by each manufacturer,” stated Keith McCloughry, Representative of Tillotson Racing, at South Garda. “Recent testing of the new HC115 carburettors has been positive and we are looking forward to seeing it win races in the near future. We are also working hard to compete at the front in the OK-Junior category with new material arriving for the next meeting of the WSK Super Master Series at La Conca.”

Tillotson Racing will be at the disposal of drivers at the Third Round of the WSK Super Master Series, scheduled from March 5th to 8th, on the International Circuit of Le Conca, in Southern Italy.