More than motivated by what was at stake, competitors for the KF3 World Cup were under great pressure at the start of the Prefinal for this World Cup for 13-15 year-olds. On the over-heated tarmac of the Zuera circuit, it was vital first of all to survive the relative confusion of the pack unscathed… Among the leaders, Guillermo Russo (FA Kart-Vortex) continued his dream weekend on this track situated a mere twenty kilometres from his home. In fact the Spaniard won the Prefinal, thus taking pole position for the Final ahead of the Russian Nikita Sitnikov (Tony Kart-BMB), the Canadian Lance Stroll (Zanardi-Parilla), the Italian Alessio Lorandi (Tony Kart-Vortex) and the Spaniard Alex Palou (CRG-BMB), who saw his odds shorten when he climbed from 14th to 5th place. Among other fight-backs were those by the Britons Daniel Ticktum and Callum Ilott (both Zanardi-Parilla), finally 8th and 10th after starting from 19th and 22nd positions, and also the Frenchman Paolo Besancenez (Sodi-Parilla), 9th after starting from 32nd position. In contrast, several drivers had to relinquish dreams of winning after various collisions: the Frenchmen Bryan Elpitiya (Zanardi-Parilla), Gabriel Aubry (Birel-TM) and Dorian Boccolacci (Intrepid-TM) and the two-times European Champion, Briton George Russell (Intrepid-Vortex) in fact ended at the back of the starting grid for the Final.
Nerves were still jangling for the Final. After three laps, spectators could no longer tell who was in the lead after numerous overtaking manoeuvres. And then, in a thrice, one Driver took advantage of a slight jostle to pull out a decisive lead. “The early laps went perfectly for me,” recalled Luca, practically born on a karting track (he is the son of the owner of the Lonato track). “I made a good start from 11th place and then I overtook one, two, even three Drivers a lap. Then I was in the lead and realised that there was a considerable gap between me and the rest. I was a little lucky, but I just had to make sure I was not overtaken. So I just tried to keep my advantage and it all worked perfectly.”
This win for the Italian was also a win for the Kosmic Racing Department team, managed by Olivier Maréchal. Little more than a week after the death of his father Roland, who was one of the most iconic kart tuners in his time, this success was welcomed with considerable emotion.
Driving extremely quickly, as his fastest lap illustrated, the Briton Callum Ilott was 13th after the first lap. He rapidly climbed back to take second place ahead of the Dane Slavko Ivanovic (Tony Kart-Vortex), who profited from a penalty imposed on the Russian Nikita Sitnikov to take the lower step on the podium. On his home soil, Alex Palou (CRG-BMB) had to be content with 4th place ahead of the Briton Connor Jupp (FA Kart-Vortex), who climbed from 33rd place (!) on the grid, the Italian Alessio Lorandi (Tony Kart-Vortex), the Brazilian Vitor Baptista (who started 26th with his CRG-BMB), the Frenchman Paolo Besancenez (Sodi-Parilla), who lost several places in the battle for second place, and the Spaniard Albert Gil (Tony Kart-Vortex). Completing the Top 10 was Canada’s Lance Stroll (Zanardi-Parilla), one of the victims of the attack by the Russian Sitnikov which caused the latter to receive the penalty relegating him to 11th position. The other major victim was the unfortunate Guillermo Russo, who saw his dreams of victory on home soil disappear in a flash with the manoeuvre… A World Cup is definitely a test like no other. Perhaps that is what makes victory taste so sweet!
Info CIK / © Photo KSP