ROK CUP ITALIA, ROUND 2 – Race report

After the inaugural round of March, ROK Cup Italia continued his path with the second appointment of the season, at the Pista Azzurra in Jesolo (VE). Once again, numerous drivers of the six categories joined the sunny weekend. At the end of Sunday, the following leaders of the championship emerged: Nanni Alessandro (Mini ROK), Kosiba Antoni (Junior ROK), Bedetti Lorenzo (Senior ROK), Sorbello Andrea (Expert ROK), Pozzi Brando (Super ROK) and Rigodanza Riccardo (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK

Excellent number of participants in the Mini ROK, with 40 drivers competing for a spot in the final of Sunday afternoon.

In the qualifying heats of Sunday morning, Alessandro Nanni showed off with the best time of 51.829 seconds in Group 1, standing out in the final ranking. Luca Muzzolon got a time of 51.852 in Group 2 and placed himself at the back of his compatriot. The French driver Augustin Feligioni achieved the third position, ahead of Patrick Bissa, fourth, of Leonardo De Grandi, fifth, and of Li Linghan, sixth. Giuseppe Noviello followed them in seventh position with the two Polish drivers Dominik Wojcik and Mikolaj Gawlikowski at his back in eighth and ninth position. The ranking continued with Valentino Vivian, Achille Rea, Alberto Masotto, Jan Gardzielik, Elias Boullier, Vincenzo Salierno, Andrea Carbone, Alex Puligheddu, Morgan Tyler Zammit Azzipardi, Momcilo Davoust, Alexander Volkmer, Nicholas Bertolani, Stanislaw Grabowski, Giulio Manzoni, Odin Flora, Daniel Hakkinen, Emma Boschetto, Gianmaria Ferretti, Nicolò Baldin, Bryan Filippelli, Tommaso Pomoni, Arthur Wildanger, Mattia Finadri, Nicolaj Pietras, Ferdinand Block, Paul Plattner-Garamb, Federico Schiavi, Jessica Calleja, Farel Dugat Berettà, Giovanni Pasini and Siavosh Derakhshan.

Noviello showed off in the qualifying heats, achieving two victories on two heats. Muzzolon, with a success and a third place, maintained the second position, while Nanni got two podiums but he moved back in third position. Feligioni is fourth, Bissa fifth, Linghan sixth and De Grandi seventh. Salierno, Carbon and Masotto completed the Top 10.

The final is characterized by an intense battle for the victory. At the start, Noviello didn’t make mistake from the pole position and in the first corners he preceded Nanni, Bissa and Muzzolon, this last started from the first row. These four drivers became the main protagonists of the race. De Grandi also joined them during the central phases of the competition. At the 8^th lap, the leading group lost Muzzolon, forced to get on track again from the last place but Linghan took his place joining the battle for the lead. Despite the competition, Noviello kept his competitors under control and won the race, with Nanni second and Bissa third. Linghan closed fourth, but a following penalty of 5 seconds for overtaking under yellow flag relegated him to the ninth position the final ranking. Nevertheless, he reached a spot among the Under 10. Consequently, De Grandi is fourth. Bitter end for Muzzolon, 30^th place.

Junior ROK

Breath-taking races in the Junior ROK too, once again with a large number of entrants at the start.

Natan Rybczynski opened the day on Sunday morning, recording a pole position on 49.926 seconds in Group 2. Antoni Kosiba also demonstrated to be competitive through a time of 47.122 seconds in Group 1 and gained the second place. Third place for Giulio Mazzolini, ahead of Tomasz Cichoracki, fourth, and of Ettore Sanesi, fifth. Ioan Tudor Jercan took the sixth place, followed by Lyuboslav Ruykov, seventh, Giulia Bruno Bisoli, eighth, and Filippo Pola, ninth. Stefano Zamponi completed the Top 10 of the qualifying practices, which continued with Emilio Tedesco, Angelo Pecoraro, Marlon Di Salvo, Riccardo Brangero, Michal Czyzewicz, Julia Angelard, Enrico Pietro Villa, Maxim Becker, Leonardo Monzani, Christian Romeo, Nicolò Carrara, Matteo Lazzarotto, Anh Tu Ranghetti, Andrea Savoldelli, Davide Ruja, Victoria Farfus, Selina Baum, Andrea Proverbio, Jan Blazic Turk, Carlo Pongratz, Pietro Mondin, Nikola Nikolic, Andrea Dell’Edera, Irimia Benjamin Borg, Plamen Teliyski, Ilias Mitaki, Benjamin Westwood, Daniel Pokorny and Aarbaek Liam Secall.

The qualifying heats awarded Kosiba’s performances, who managed to win both his heats and to take the lead of the intermediate ranking. Mazzolini followed the Polish driver, moving from third to the second thanks to a success and a second place. Jercan secured the third place, followed by the Polish drivers Cichoracki and Rybczynski, fourth and fifth respectively. Bidoli and Tedesco are sixth and seventh, while Sanesi slipped back to eighth place. Brangero and Pola occupied the last two slots among the best ten.

The result of the final of the afternoon was not obvious at all. Mazzolini started better than Kosiba and, crossing his path, overtook him at the first corner and responded to his attacks during the following laps. However, Mazzolini didn’t manage to shake off Kosiba, who was threatened by Cichoracki, Sanesi, Bidoli, Pola and Jercan. Cichoracki took the initiative and in few laps he overtook both Kosiba and Mazzolini. Kosiba overtook right after him. Mazzolini got a penalty of five seconds for the anticipate start (to which five more seconds are added in the post-race) which excluded him from the battle for the victory. Four laps before the end, Kosiba took the lead and maintained it until the checkered flag. Bidoli finished second, only 0.091 seconds after Kosiba. Jercan snatched the lower step of the podium to Cichoracki. Sanesi and Pola followed, fifth and sixth respectively. Mazzolini took the 15^th place.

Senior ROK

The Senior ROK challenges continued in Jesolo, always with a large number of participants.

Second pole position in a row in the championship for Andrea Giudice, first in the Group 1 with a time of 46.371 seconds. The Italian beat the competitor Ghanzi Motlekar, who was the faster of Group 2, with a time of 46.601 seconds. Third place for Riccardo Ferratr, fourth for Samuele di Filippo, fifth for Lorenzo Bedetti and sixth for Franciszek Czapla. Ronnie Stefani was seventh, ahead of Edoardo Prioglio, eighth, Mattia Jentile ninth, and Alexander Panaev, tenth. The ranking continued with Kacper Turoboyski, Nicola Marini, Riccardo Salemi, Alessandro Cocchi, Andrea Moretti, Alessandro Giarratano, Ruben Pistolato, Riccardo Chiodo, Kaloyan Varbitzaliev, Nicky Gauci, Luca Lo Bue, Rebecca Guarguaglini, Daniele Galbiati, Ludovica Miceli, Giovanni Polato, Mattia Furlan, Federico Zanetti, Tereza Pokorna, Lorenzo Lenzi, Alex Michelon, Davide Pretosi, Valentino Rossi, Dominik Beller, Veronika Pokorna and Luca Davi.

At the end of the qualifying heats there was several changes. With a victory and a second place, Ferrari climbed to the top positions, Bedetti took the second place gathering a success and a third place. Di Filippo achieved two second places and secured the third position. Claiming third place twice, Czapla was fourth in the ranking, ahead of Stefani, fifth, and to Jentile, sixth. Among the first ten, we found Panaev, Turoboyski, Moretti e Proglio. Giudice won his first heat, but in the second one he got a resounding withdrawal. Motlekar was also unlucky, withdrawing in the last heat of the day. The Italian and the driver of Mozambico took the 17^th and 29^th places respectively in the ranking.

The final started without Di Filippo on the grid. Ferrari took advantage of his pole position and performed a perfect start, with Stefani, Bedetti, Panaev and Moretti as first chasers. Immediately out of the games Czapla, because of a technical problem at the turning off of the traffic light. Ferrari initially seemed to be ready to run for the win but Bedetti (moved to second position) began to tailgate the opponent and the two drivers faced a duel made of fast laps. But, at the end of the 19 laps in program, Ferrari crossed the finish line first, with 0.582 seconds before Bedetti, second. Thanks to a good performance during the second half of the race, Turoboyski chased the third position, ahead of an unchained Giudice. This last was penalized of three seconds because the front spoiler wasn0t in the correct position and he moved back to the sixth place. Fourth position for Salemi, fifth for Moretti. Seventh Stefani, who also collected a penalty of three seconds in the post-race.

Expert ROK

Contrary to what we had seen in Franciacorta, the sun shone high in the sky for the Expert ROK races, the category reserved to the "senators" of the ROK Cup Italia.

Alessandro Viganò excelled in the qualifying heats, setting the best time of 47.125 seconds and faster than Fabio Cretti (second place). Andrea Sorbello took the third place, preceding Paolo Baselli, fourth, Roberto Nali, fifth, and Filippo Repetto, sixth. Michele Zampieri and Gianni Zani occupied the fourth row, while Tino Donadei and Adrian Marcinkiewicz occupied the fifth position. Riccardo Pini, Angelo Ardito, Roberto Pelanconi, Riccardo Pedrola, Piergiuseppe Di Landro and Gianluca Rubiolini completed the lineup.

In Race 1, Baselli moked everyone at the start and took the lead, while Sorbello overtook Viganò at the second corner and momentarily took the second place. Cretti, Repetto, and Zani occupied the immediately following positions. However, the turn of events came from the sporting marshals: Baselli received a three-second penalty for the jumped start. The Italian remained firmly in front of everyone, until he decided to let Sorbello, Cretti, Viganò and Zani pass. With a clear track ahead, Sorbello gained a good advantage and flew towards the victory. However, Cretti beated Viganò and took the second place. Zani, Baselli Repetto, Zampieri and Marcinkiewicz followed in the ranking.

In Race 2, Baselli took the lead again at the first corner, with Zampieri that was second, but that was overtaken after a few meters by Viganò. Instead, Nali didn't make a good use of the pole position and he fell to the middle of the group in just one lap. After being in the lead in the early stages of the race, Baselli left the way to his teammate Viganò and began a long duel with Zampieri. But, once again, the race direction assigned a three-second penalty to Baselli for the jump start which, virtually, found himself behind Sorbello. In the meantime, Viganò increased his margin over his pursuers and passed alone under the checkered flag. However, behind him, Zampieri and Sorbello made contact with each other at the last lap and they had to retire: Zani took advantage of this and he classified second ahead of Baselli, third.

Super ROK

The Super ROK has staged a unique show, with numerous plot twist in both races.

Absent in Franciacorta, the champion Bartosz Grzywacz made his return in style with a pole position in qualifying heats. The Polish achieved a time of 45.948 seconds, more than one-tenth faster than the time of Riccardo Martinello, second. Also very fast were Matteo Berruti, third, and Luca Magnussen, fourth, preceding Brando Pozzi and Aleksandar Bogunovic, fifth and sixth. Alex Desario and Christian Canonica occupied seventh and eighth position respectively. Finally, Matteo Favero and Vittorio Maria Russo completed the top ten ranking. Further back we found Manuel Gritti, Chiara Bolognini, Domenico Cicognini, Alessandro Zini, Thomas Carnovali, Edoardo Montoro, Lorenzo Poletti, Sachel Rotge, Simone Donchi, Luca Fiorenti, Matilde Seregni, Mattia Gafforelli, Mattia Bernardi and Christian Signoretta.

In Race 1, Grzywacz retained the first place after the first corner, with Berruti ahead of Martinello, both behind the leader. Pozzi occupied temporary the fourth place followed by Magnussen, Bogunovic, Favero and Canonica. In a short time, Grzywacz accumulated an advantage of more than a second over Martinello, who in the meantime returned to second place; but the race took an unexpected turn on the ninth lap: the race leader, in fact, was victim of a technical problem and forced to park his kart on the side of the track. Martinello had inhereted the lead, but another twist arrived: the Italian went long at the last corner and ends up against the barriers. Surprisingly, Pozzi found himself defending the lead from Bogunovic, Canonica, Berruti and Desario, but managed to distance himself from his rivals in the following stages. Pozzi won, with the Canonica-Berruti duo on the podium followed by Bogunovic, in fourth place. Desario has finished fifth.

In Race 2, an excellent start for Favero from the pole position, with Russo in second position and Pozzi able to go from eighth place to third in just two corners. However, the ones who showed off themselves in the first laps were Bogunovic, able to get behind the race leader Favero, and Martinelli, who started from the back of the grid and climbed up to the third position. These two started a battle with Favero, able to withstand the pressure put on him by his rivals. Thanks to a perfect and error-free performance, the victory went to Favero, winner ahead of Martinello, second, and Bogunovic, third. Pozzi has finished on the edge of the podium, followed by Desario, Russo, Gritti and Cicognini.

Shifter ROK

Two hard-fought and reach of emotions races in the Shifter ROK, the ROK Cup Italia category with gears.

In the qualifying practices, Marco Chiarello had positively surprised by taking pole position in 44.976 second and beating Marco Tormen. Andrea Zemin followed in third place, with Massimiliano Pezzucchi fourth, Mattia Sergio Limena fifth and Pietro Fioravanti sixth. Federico Diana and Fabrizio Morardo were respectively seventh and eighth, while Giacomo Maman and Roberto Manduchi occupied ninth and tenth place. Immediately behind there were Daniele Demartis, Gabriele Bensi, Leonardo Saba, Adrian Labuda, Ferrando Giacomo Pegazzano, Edoardo Sabatino, Marco Acquarella, Philippe Ehrensberger, Manuel Daziano, Luigi Del Vecchio, Giacomo Pellegrino, Riccardo Rigodanza, Andrea Aliberti, Paolo Fracasso, Boris Cutaia, Patrick Di Giuseppe, Cristian Lovi and Victor Jimenez.

In Race 1, Tormen burned everyone at the start and immediately took the lead, ahead of polesitter Chiarello who was followed by Zemin, Pezzucchi, Limena Diana and Maman. Chiarello tried in every way to worry Tormen, but the Italian didn't find the necessary space to attempt the overtaking. However, behind, Limena managed to overtake Pezzucchi who, subsequently, also had to let Diana and Maman pass. In the meantime, the duel between Tormen and Chiarello continued unabated, this one was also able to set the fastest lap, but the checkered flag confirmed the victory of Tormen, recent champion of the ROK Cup Winter Trophy. Zemin defended himself admirably from Limena and Diana and reached the podium. Maman was sixth, but a three-second penalty given to Diana for the non-correct positioned front spoiler promoted him to fifth place. Pezzucchi retired.

In Race 2, Bensi made the most of the pole position start and took the lead, immediately pressured by Diana and Limena. However, Morardo didn't shine when the traffic lights switched off and was relegated to seventh, also behind Maman, Zemin and Tormen. The leader Bensi held off first Diana and then Limena when, at the fifth lap, he came wide at the last corner. The leadership then passed to Limena, followed by a wild Tormen, Diana and Zemin. But the surprises, once again, were not over because Limena ended up off the track at the last corner and the beneficiary, first of all, was Tormen, who repeated the success of Race 1. Diana has finished second, while Maman reached the lowest step of the podium. Morardo and Manduchi, fourth and fifth, preceded Zemin, who dropped to sixth place.