The winners are: Bertuca (KZ2), Cosma-Cristofor (OKJ), Arias Chavarri (MINI Gr3), Legenkyi (MINI Gr.3 U10), Ferrari (X30 Junior) and Carerini (X30 Senior).
The 34th edition of the Andrea Margutti Trophy in Lonato proved to be a great and beautiful event with the usual organization by Parma Motorsport in memory of the young Andrea Margutti since 1990. A good number of drivers have been contesting also this edition: 242 entered from 37 countries in the MINI, OKJ, KZ2, X30 Junior and X30 Senior categories.
A series of exciting races have been run in this 34th edition of the Andrea Margutti Trophy, which this year was also valid for the FIA Karting “International Karting Ranking” world classification. The finals were thrilling and spectacular, with several unexpected twists. The winners were Cristian Bertuca (ITA – KCS/Birel Art-Tm Racing-Vega) in KZ2, David Cosma-Cristofor (ROU – KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) in OKJ, Bosco Arias Chavarri (ESP – Team Driver Racing Kart/KR/Iame/Vega) in MINI Gr.3, Oleksandr Legenkyi (UKR – Team Driver Racing Kart/KR-Iame-Vega) in MINI Gr. Under 10, Riccardo Ferrari (ITA – M2 Racing/Tony Kart-Iame-Komet) in X30 Junior and Danny Carenini (ITA – Energy Corse/Energy-Iame-Komet) for the second consecutive time in X30 Senior.
KZ2 – Another “jewel in the crown” for Bertuca.
In KZ2, the young rising star Cristian Bertuca (ITA – KCS/Birel Art-Tm Racing-Vega) confirmed himself as the winner of the Andrea Margutti Trophy after proving to be the driver to beat in the early stages of the season. Immediately competitive from the qualifying practice with pole position, the Italian driver faced tough competition, led mainly but not exclusively by his compatriot Alex Maragliano (Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Racing), who won the heats and the Prefinal. The battle for victory in the Final saw Bertuca prevail, after Maragliano was forced to lose positions in the midst of the duel. On the podium together with Bertuca, who added another “pearl” to his series of victories in 2023, his teammate, the Romanian Daniel Vasile, was always very competitive and climbed to the second step of the podium, while the third place was taken by the Estonian Markus Kajak (KH Racing/Birel Art-Modena), who made a great comeback from the tenth position. The Ukrainian Viacheslav Putiatin (LA Motorsport/Falcon-TM Racing) was always among the best and finished in fourth place. A note of merit also goes to an excellent Davide Forè, racing with Renda Motorsport on Sodikart-TM Racing, who has always been a great fighter and closed his effort with excellent fifth place finish.
Final standings KZ2:
1. Cristian Bertuca (ITA)
2. Daniel Vasile (ROU)
3. Markus Kajak (EST)
OKJ – David Cosma-Cristofor dominates the rivals.
The other international category of the 34th Andrea Margutti Trophy, the highly competitive OK-Junior, was almost entirely filled with foreign drivers and the Romanian David Cosma-Cristofor (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) proved to be the dominant force of the event. He claime the victory in the three qualifying heats and then kept his momentum in the final stages taking a double win in the Prefinal and Final. The second place went to the German driver Simon Rechenmacher (TB Racing Team/KR-Iame), while the third spot of the podium was taken by the Ukrainian driver Lev Krutogolov (Borsch Racing/Tony Kart-Iame), who had stood out in the heats with his pole position. The Hungarian driver Benett Gaspar (IPK Official/IPK-TM Racing) managed to secure the fourth place, ahead of the Danish driver Frederik Ravnkilde (HK Motorsport/KR-Iame).
Final standings OKJ:
1. David Cosma-Cristofor (ROU)
2. Simon Rechenmacher (DEU)
3. Lev Krutogolov (UKR)
MINI GR.3 – Great recovery and victory for Arias Chavarri.
From the tenth place in the Prefinal due to a 5s time penalty, to the victory in the Final. This is the noteworthy achievement of the fast and competitive Spanish driver Bosco Arias Chavarri (Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega), an excellent protagonist in the category and certainly among the emerging names of this early season. At the end of a great progression, the Spanish driver managed to take the victory in the final moments ahead of the other protagonists of the Final, the Canadian Ilie Crisan Cristan (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) and the Turkish Iskender Zulfikari (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). Also excellent was the fourth position taken by the Bulgarian Lyuboslav Ruykov (Team Driver/KR-Iame), and the fifth final position of the always fast Dutchman Dean Hoogendoorn (Kidix/KR-Iame).
Final standings MINI Gr.3:
1. Bosco Arias Chavarri (ESP)
2. Ilie Crisan Tristan (CAN)
3. Iskender Zulfikari (TUR)
MINI GR.3 UNDER 10 – Legenkyi dominates the final stages.
The Ukrainian driver holding Italian license Oleksandr Legenkyi (Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) had a comeback weekend ended with the victory in MINI G.3 Under 10 after a fluctuating qualifying phase. He managed to win both the Prefinal and Final after a fierce battle with another fast Ukrainian driver, Andrii Kruglyk (Tsunami/Parolin-Iame), also with an Italian license, who finished third. The second place in a photo finish behind Legenkyi was obtained by the Swiss driver Albert Tamm (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame). The Slovakian Alex Molota (Firefly/EKS-TM Racing) and the American Drew Walz (BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Final standings MINI Gr.3 Under 10:
1. Oleksandr Legenkyi (ITA)
2. Albert Tamm (CHE)
3. Andrii Kruglyk (ITA)
X30 Junior – Ferrari is the winner, as Sala and Kuzhnini are penalized.
The final classification was overturned at the end of the race of X30 Junior, with a double penalty of 5 seconds imposed on the two drivers from Team Driver, the Italian Filippo Sala and the Swiss Tiziano Kuzhnini, both on Tony Kart-Iame, who had finished in first and second place respectively. The final order therefore saw Riccardo Ferrari (M2 Racing/Tony Kart-Iame-Komet) in first position, who was already a protagonist in the qualifying stages with the pole position and three wins in as many heats. In the Prefinal, Kuzhnini had the upper hand over Ferrari in a close race, with Sala finishing third. The battle in the Final saw the three drivers as the main protagonists, all taking turns leading the race, until the final outcome that took the victory away from Sala and second place from Kuzhnini, giving the top step of the podium to Riccardo Ferrari, with Alberto Fulgori Jr (Fulgori/Tony Kart-Iame) in second place and Fabio Reale (LA Motorsport/Falcon-Iame) in third. The fourth place went to Filippo Pancotti (Team Driver/Tony Kart-Iame) and the fifth to Riccardo Paniccià (Paniccià/Tony Kart-Iame). Sala was closed his effort in seventh place, Kuzhnini in eighth.
Final standings X30 Junior:
1. Riccardo Ferrari (ITA)
2. Alberto Fulgori Jr. (ITA)
3. Fabio Reale (ITA)
X30 Senior – Carenini at his second win in a row.
Another success for Danny Carenini (Energy Corse/Energy-Iame-Komet), who claimed his second consecutive victory in the Andrea Margutti Trophy taking another impeccable win in the Final in Lonato. The Italian driver once again proved to be a protagonist in the category, dominating the final race after having to fight with a good number of opponents throughout the weekend. In the Final, Carenini won with a good advantage over Giulio Olivieri (Zanchi Motorsport/Tony Kart-Iame), who climbed up from behind to beat Brando Pozzi (M2 Racing/Tony Kart-Iame). A good fourth place was taken by Cristian Comanducci (PRK/Tony Kart-Iame) after prevailing in the heats, while the fifth place went to his teammate Federico Rossi after an impressive comeback from the last position!
Final standings X30 Senior:
1. Danny Carenini (ITA)
2. Giulio Olivieri (ITA)
3. Brando Pozzi (ITA)
Info Parma Motorsport / Photo © FMP