Certainly, other Winter Cup editions have been affected by rain in the past, but the finals of the 26th edition held on November 14th will be difficult to forget. It would be difficult to forget also the “heroes” that ran these hard-fought finals in KZ2, OK, OKJ and Mini Rok. On all, the best congratulations go to the winners that have been exceptional during the whole race on a very tricky tarmac that required opposite-lock application, great braking skills, amazing accelerations and impossible trajectories. A total of 170 drivers entered the race from 40 different countries.
The “heroes” of this winter race that closes season 2021 in Lonato were the exceptional Dutch World Champion of team BirelART on BirelART-TN Racing-Vega Marijn Kremers in KZ2, the new OKJ World Champion from Japan Kean Nakamura-Berta of team Forza Racing on Exprit-TM Racing-Bridgestone in OK. He was at the debut in the higher category. In OKJ the winner was the British driver Freddie Slater, who dominated the category on team Ricky Flynn Motorsport’s Kosmic-Vortex-Vega, while the very young Swiss talent Kilian Josseron of Team Driver Racing Kart won Mini Rok on KR-Vortex-LeVanto.
Incredible battles took place on a circuit that dealt well with the huge amount of rain. The races were very difficult and hard-fought in all stages, starting from Super Heats to the decisive Finals.
The experience and competitiveness of Marijn Kremers had the upper hand in KZ2.
In KZ2 the experienced Dutch driver Marijn Kremers (BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Racing-Vega) came out as the winner from a neck-neck exciting battle with fellow-countryman Senna Van Walstijn (Sodikart/Sodi-TM Racing), who ended second despite a 5s time penalty due to the misplaced front fairing. The Spanish driver Pedro Hiltbrand (Leclerc by Lennox Racing/BirelART-TM Racing) took the lead in the initial part of the final but eventually ended third. The Italian Fabian Federer (SRP Racing Team/Maranello TM Racing) was fourth, while Matteo Viganò (Leclerc by Lennox Racing/BirelART-TM Racing) fifth due to the 5s time penalty for the misplaced front fairing.
Great race on the wet by the Japanese Kean Nakamura-Berta in OK.
The Japanese Kean Nakamura-Berta (Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Racing-Bridgestone) claimed an amazing win in OK. He took the lead early on in the Final and kept it all the way to the flag. The Pole Karol Pasiewicz (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) went out early on after putting his name forward as the main rival in the previous stages. The Russian Artem Severiukhin (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) tried to attack Nakamura-Berta, but settled for P2 leading Estonia’s Markus Kajak in the end. The Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov (DPK/KR-Iame) claimed a great P4 leading the Swede Joel Bergstrom (Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Racing).
The Brit Freddie Slater dominates OKJ.
In OKJ the Brit Freddie Slater (Ricky Flynn Motorsport/Kosmic-Vortex-Vega) dominated the Final. He has always been in the lead after being the best after the heats too. The second position went to the Norwegian Marcus Saeter (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex), while the third to the Pole Jan Przyrowski (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex), who also competed a great recovery race. A 5s time penalty due to the dropped front fairing stripped United Arab Emirates’ Rashid Al Dhaheri (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) and the Russian Maksimilian Popov (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex) from the podium. The two ended respectively fourth and fifth.
The Swiss Kilian Josseron wins Mini Rok.
In the smallest category, Mini Rok, the young Swiss Kilian Josseron (Team Driver/KR-Vortex-LeVanto) completed a spectacular race taking the lead early on before managing the advantage in the end and taking a deserved win. Behind Kilian Josseron, the very strong Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (AV Racing/Parolin-Vortex) was second, while the third place went to the Russian Matvey Dergunov (Revolution Motor Sport/Energy-Vortex) who completed a stunning 14-place recover. The fourth place went to the Turkish driver Iskender Zulfikari (Team Driver Racing Kart/KR-Vortex), the fifth to the Canadian Jensen Burnett (Energy Corse/Energy-Vortex), who came to the fore in the heats. The Italian Filippo Sala (Team Driver/KR-Vortex) was among the strongest in the heats, but had to retire from the Final early on. The two AV Racing drivers Filippo Pancotti and Davide Bottaro ended within the top ten instead.
Info & Photo South Garda Karting Press Office