60 Mini : Powell’s sprint to pole
The most driver-packed class of the weekend saw the impressive series from Jamaica’s Alex Powell (Energy / TM / Vega) who went on to win his five races to secure pole position for tomorrow’s Prefinal. After opening his weekend with a great performance in Qualifying, Brando Badoer (Parolin / TM / Vega) kept his momentum going with four wins and a second place putting him alongside Powell on the front row of the grid. Winner of two rounds, Coskun Irfan (Parolin / TM / Vega) won’t be far behind in third as well as Joel Bergström (IP / TM / Vega) and Belgium’s Ean Eyckmans (Parolin / TM / Vega). Despite a second best lap time in Qualifying and two Heats won, Dmitry Matveev (CRG / TM / Vega) will only be starting from 12th on the grid after a late P25 finish.
OKJ : RFM bare its teeth
With two wins out of four Heats, Ricky Flynn Motorsport’s James Wharton (FA Kart / TM / Vega) will start from pole position in the Junior class, joined at the front by his teammate Thomas Ten Brinke (FA Kart / TM / Vega), who managed to grab one win despite a distant 17th time in Qualifying. The other winners in the category include Norton Andreasson (KR / Parilla / Vega), P3, Marcus Amand (KR / Parilla / Vega), P6, Taylor Barnard (KR / Parilla / Vega), P7, and Nikita Bedrin (Tony Kart / Vortex / Vega), only P8 despite winning three Heats from pole position but penalized by a early P19 finish. This year’s World Junior Vice-Champion Gabriele Mini’ (Parolin / TM / Vega), who failed to win any Heat, will be P7 on the grid while Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR / Parilla / Vega), freshly-recruited by the Nico Rosberg Driver Academy for 2019, will be starting from P11.
OK : Travisanutto on top
In the wake of his OK World Championship title in Sweden, Lorenzo Travisanutto (KR / Parilla / Bridgestone) has proven to be on once again for a strong result this weekend by securing the highest place on the Prefinal grid thanks to three wins in a row, each taken from pole. With one victory, his teammate Dexter Patterson (KR / Parilla / Bridgestone) will try to give him a hard time at the front, such as Nicklas Nielsen (Praga / Vortex / Bridgestone). The Danish will share the second row of the grid with Dino Beganovic (Tony Kart / Vortex / Bridgestone), among today’s winners as well as Zane Maloney (FA Kart / Vortex / Bridgestone), whose late win put him in seventh position for the Prefinal. Qualified at a distant P15, 2018 European Junior Champion Paul Aron (FA Kart / Vortex / Bridgestone) had a difficult day at the office.
KZ2 : Lammers dictates the pace
Qualifying from third position, Bas Lammers (Sodikart / TM / Bridgestone) kept his sheet clean on Saturday by winning his entire round of qualifying races, securing pole position in the only gearbox category of the 2018 Final Cup. With a third and second places as best personal results, KZ2 World Champion Matteo Vigano (Tony Kart / Vortex / Bridgestone) will be alongside Lammers on the front row. The opposition promises to be fierce with the likes of France’s Emilien Denner, Simo Puhakka, Marco Ardigo, overall pole sitter Anthony Abasse or Jeremy Iglesias all in the top ten.
On Sunday, the Prefinals will take place from 10:50 until 12:50 before the Finals for each of the four categories taking place from 14:00 to 16:00.
Info: WSK Promotion
Editing: Guillaume Alvarez
Photos: Alex Vernardis