A very contested first stage in ROK CUP Romania

During the weekend that has just ended, the opening round of the 2024 Romanian Karting Masters season, the seventh for the popular motorsport competition, took place on the "Prejmer Raceway" circuit. The track located near Brasov, a traditional host for local karting, hosted highly contested races in all five categories. During the two days of competition we had spectacular wheel-to-wheel duels, close overtakes, stunts, crashes, retirements and, last but not least, victories on the edge. It should be mentioned that the most important stake this year is the participation in the ROK World Finals, which will take place in October on the Lonato track. Also, in the categories with more than 20 entries there will be a second ticket to the World Final, and participation in the Romanian Karting Masters 2024 is the admission criterion for the wildcard to the prestigious event in Italy.

It should also be noted that, for the Micro and Mini ROK categories, this season, the organisers will provide all drivers with a similar sealed technical kit, following a draw. This consists of the engine, carburettor, air filter and drum, with the same settings, no modifications of which are allowed. The tyres are also taken from the „parc fermé”. At the same time, starting with the second heat, the first eight drivers are reversed in the starting order, which means that whoever wins heat 1/2/3 will receive points for 1st place, but will start the following heats 2/3/4 from 8th position. The same goes for the other drivers placed 2-7, 3-6 and 4-5. Drivers from 9th place down remain in the same starting position. Let's see together what happened in each category in the first round of ROK 2024.

Promo KM

Final results: In the absence of the best driver in this category in 2023, Dragoș Ciuleanu, who moved up to the next category, Micro ROK, the debut round in 2024 saw Bogdan Niculae from GTK Racing take the final victory in Prjmer. He won three of the four heats. Polina Alexandrova (Borsch Racing), Radu-Florin Stîngă (Drinago Racing), Matvei Cotorobai (BRT) and Artem Ponochovni (Borsch Racing) finished next. In this category, all participants have the same karts and engines, which are provided by the organisers.

Stage standings:

1. Bogdan Niculae (GTK Racing/OTK/Honda/Bridgestone)

2. Polina Alexandrova (Borsch Racing/ OTK/Honda/Levanto)

3. Radu-Florin Stîngă (Drinago Racing/ OTK /Honda /Levanto)

Micro ROK

Pole position: Hugo Hejnar (Formula K Ro/Kr / Vortex / Levanto)

1st heat: Dominic Maniga (BRT/Parolin / Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 2: Hugo Hejnar (Formula K Ro/Kr / Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 3: Adam Predescu (Formula K Ro/ Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 4: David Darie (BRT/Alonso Kart / Vortex / Levanto)

Final results: The four heats in this category had different winners, proof of the balance on the grid. In fact, the winner of the stage was decided in the fourth and final heat, which was won by David Darie, who had placed second and eighth in the previous races. He is one of the protagonists of the season, but we are sure that Hugo Hejnar and Adam Predescu will not be long in responding.

Stage standings

1. David Darie (BRT/Alonso Kart / Vortex / Levanto) 73 p

2. Adam Predescu (Formula K Ro/ Vortex / Levanto) 72 p

3. Hugo Hejnar (Formula K Ro/Kr / Vortex / Levanto) 69 p

Junior ROK

Pole position: Sonia Crivoiruc (Real Racing/Tony Kart / Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 1: Sonia Crivoiruc (Real Racing/ Tony Kart / Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 2: Alexandru Nechifor (JMS Performance/DR/Vortex/Levanto)

Heat 3: Daniil Stoianenco (Time Performance Team/KR/Vortex/Levanto)

Heat 4: Ruxandra Cozma (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

Final results: In her second season in this class, Sonia Crivoiruc has decided the „overall” race in her favour thanks to her two heat wins and two more podium finishes. Ruxandra Cozma, who won the last heat after Sonia was penalised by the stewards, and Alexandru Nechifor were the next to finish. The "Junior Lady ROK" subcategory was also won by the Real Racing rider, who won at the expense of Ruxandra Cozma.

Stage ranking

1. Sonia Crivoiruc (Real Racing/Tony Kart / Vortex / Levanto) 77 p

2. Ruxandra Toma (Real Racing//Tony Kart / Vortex / Levanto) 69 p

3. Alexandru Nechifor (JMS Performance/DR/Vortex/Levanto) 66 p

Junior Lady ROK" ranking:

1. Sonia Crivoiruc (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto) 77 p

2. Ruxandra Toma (Real Racing//Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto) 69 p

Mini ROK

Pole position: Darren Betea (Real Sport ART/ Topkart / Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 1: Darren Betea (Real Sport ART/ Topkart / Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 2: Victor Gorun (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

Heat 3: Platon Kovtunenko (Borsch Racing/Energy Corse / Vortex / Levanto)

Heat 4: Robert Pulbere (Gulstar Racing/KR/Vortex/Levanto)

Final results: Big crowd on the starting grid in the Mini ROK category, where we had the largest participation with no less than 29 drivers, one of the most numerous participations in all seven seasons of the Romanian Karting Masters. As in other classes, we had four different winners in the heats on Saturday and Sunday. However, none of them could rejoice at the end as the stage win went to Marc Moia of JMS Performance. He was followed in the final standings by Darren Betea and Victor Gorun. In the "Under 10" drivers' competition, Victor Gorun won and Carla Maria Rosu (Real Racing) won the "Mini Lady ROK" category.

Stage ranking

1. Marc Moia (JMS Performance/DR/Vortex/Levanto) 72 p

2. Darren Betea (Real Sport ART/ Topkart / Vortex / Levanto) 66 p

3. Victor Gorun (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto) 65 p

Ranking "Under 10"

1. Victor Gorun (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto) 65 p

2. Platon Kovtunenko (Borsch Racing/Energy Corse / Vortex / Levanto) 54 p

3. Robert Pulbere (Gulstar Racing/KR/Vortex/Levanto) 50 p

Mini Lady ROK" classification

1. Carla Maria Rosu (Real Racing/Tony Kart / Vortex / Levanto 15 p

2. Antonia Vidican (Vidi Sport Top /Parolin/Vortex/Levanto) 6 p

KZ 2

Pole position: Milan Degeratu (JMS Performance/DR/Modena/Levanto)

Heat 1: Milan Degeratu (JMS Performance/DR/Modena/Levanto)

Heat 2: Milan Degeratu (JMS Performance/DR/Modena/Levanto)

Heat 3: Milan Degeratu (JMS Performance/DR/Modena/Levanto)

Heat 4: Milan Degeratu (JMS Performance/DR/Modena/Levanto)

Final results: The opening round of the 2024 season in this category went to Milan Degeratu. He won all four heats of the weekend, accumulating maximum points, and is the big favourite for the 2024 title. The only driver who managed to keep up with the JMS Performance driver was Andrei Constantin, who finished second three times. The stage podium was completed by Andrew Denis Boriceanu, who also climbed twice to third position, also accumulating important points, with which he overtook Stefan Eugen Brotac (Gulstar Racing) at the end.

Stage ranking

1. Milan Degeratu (JMS Performance/DR/Modena/Levanto) 100 p

2. Andrei Constantin (Superkart Racing Team/Birel/TM/Levanto) 60 p

3. Andrew Denis Boriceanu (Drinago Racing/Tony Kart/TM/Levanto) 55 p

KZ+35 Ranking

1. George Guli (Superkart Racing Team/Birel/TM/Levanto) 49 p

2. Erwin Moetz (Formula K Ro/Formula K/TM/Levanto) 29 p

3. Christian Muller (Prejmer Circuit/CRG/TM/Levanto) 23 p