The thermometer was reading 8 degrees in Lonato on Sunday lunchtime for the Prefinals of the WSK Super Master Series.
Prefinal A: Bondarev shows off his skills
Unsurprisingly, Oleksandr Bondarev (KR/Iame) immediately took the lead. Kai Rillaerts (Tony Kart/Vortex) followed at a distance in 2nd position, then Anatoly Khavalkin (Parolin/TM) was 3rd ahead of Salim Hanna (KR/Iame) and Andy Consani (Sodi/TM). Louis Iglesias (CRG/Iame) had climbed eight places in four laps to 15th, but was still lacking in performance. Khavalkin moved up to 2nd after passing Rillaerts. Lewis Wherrell (Exprit/TM) was back in 6th place after a difficult start to the race. Khavalkin unfortunately retired halfway through the race. Bondarev had a lead of over four seconds over Hanna, while Wherrell was 3rd a second further back. Zac Drummond (Parolin/TM) challenged Consani for P6. Bondarev won by a masterful 6” ahead of Hanna, who controlled Wherrell by 61 thousandths. Roland Kuklane (Tony Kart/Vortex) was 4th ahead of Rillaerts, while Vivek Kanthan (Parolin/TM) finished 6th. Consani finished 8th, Iglesias remained 15th and Angelina Proenca (Exprit/Vortex) 22nd.
Prefinal B: Pavan unchallenged
Gerasim Skulanov (KR/Iame) left the track with his wheels locked at the first corner. Sebastiano Pavan (Tony Kart/Vortex) led by an impressive margin ahead of Ean Eyckmans (Birel ART/TM) and David Cosma Cristofor (KR/Iame). Jakub Kamenik (Tony Kart/TM) was 4th and Xavier Avramides (Tony Kart/Vortex) 5th. Given the gaps of over a second between the top six, the battles were played out at a distance with little overtaking. Pavan steadily increased his lead over Eyckmans, while Cosma Cristofor closed the gap towards the end of the race and moved up to 2nd place by the 14th lap. Pavan took the win, having reduced his pace by 2.6” ahead of Cosma Cristofor. Eyckmans took P3 4.3″ ahead of Kamenik. Avramides was 5th. Thomas Quincé (Tony Kart/Vortex) finished 11th and Tom Dussol (CRG/Iame) 18th.
Info Kartcom with Kartlink / Photo © KSP – Arthur Saulnier-Bruneau