ROK Cup Italy, round 4 – Race Report

The ROK Cup Italy is at its fourth round of the season at the Pista Azzurra in Jesolo, with a huge number of drivers attending the seven categories competing. At the end of Sunday, the following championship leaders emerged: Leo Kralev (Mini ROK U10), Marco Verde (Mini ROK), Matteo Melis (Junior ROK), Giuseppe Gaglianò (Senior ROK), Andrea Sorbello (Expert ROK), Riccardo Ferrari (Super ROK) e Karol Pasiewicz (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK U10

Also in Jesolo, the Mini ROK U10 category sees two different winners at the end of the two races scheduled for the weekend.

In a hardly battled qualifying session Leo Kralev stands out. The Bulgarian driver sets the best time of 52.658 seconds, beating Edoardo Traina, which placed second, and Giovanni Ventorino, third. Elias Boullier finishes in fourth place, followed by Radek Czernicki in fifth, Stec in sixth, Halilovic in seventh, and Pietras in eighth. Fardin and Meni complete the top ten staring grid lineup. In the next positions, we find Ghazi Almekdad, Yanik Lena, Giorgio Sapignoli, Sebastiano Leone Cecchin, Andrea Baraggi, Samuel Dal Pozzo, Francesco Petta, Anna Makolm, Gabriel Mara Varon, Cristian Basso, Bryan Galardini, Dos Santos John Farfus, and Przemyslaw Janiszewski.

In Race 1, Kralev and Ventorino perform a perfect start and, with the advantage of the inside line, immediately take the first and second positions. Halilovic, Fardin, and Meni chase the leading duo, although in the following laps they are forced to give in to the attacks of a determined Boullier. Kralev and Ventorino remain very close to each other throughout the race and cross the finish line divided by just 0.286 seconds, with the Bulgarian ahead of the Italian. Boullier tries to catch the leading duo, but in the end, he 'settles' for third place. Meni finishes fourth, ahead of Almekdad, who is fifth with six positions gained in the standings, and Fardin, sixth. Halilovic slips down to 11th place.

In Race 2, thanks to the eighth place achieved in Race 1, Sapignoli starts ahead of everyone, keeping Fardin, Meni, and Almekdad behind him. However, is Boullier who stands out later: already after four laps he is in second position and, two laps later, he overtakes Sapignoli, thus taking the lead. The French driver, however, cannot leave Ventorino behind, who is also able to overtake Sapignoli, but at the end of the nine scheduled laps, he gets his first victory in the category. Ventorino once again takes second place, while Sapignoli manages to take the lowest step of the podium. Stec finishes fourth, ahead of Fardin, Kralev, and Almekdad. Meni retires.

Mini ROK

The Mini ROK category offers several surprises on the occasion of the fourth round of the season.

Giuseppe Noviello is the main leader of the qualifying round. The Italian driver, who sets the best time of 51.630 seconds, claims the top position in the standings, ahead of Niccolò Perico in second, Lucas Doillon in third, and Jan Gardzielik in fourth. Mathias Drexler secures the fifth position, followed in the rankings by Ayrton Jon Tonna in sixth, Dominic Woijik in seventh, and Marco Verde in eighth. Alessandro Nanni and Lorenzo Zucchetto complete the top 10. They are followed in order by Nicholas Bertolani, Ava Jean Lawrence, Patrick Bissa, Andrea Buffo, Paul Plattner-Geramb, Thomas Ometto, Daniel Hakkinen, Tommaso Pomoni, Nicolas Yerly, Johannes Buchhammer, Nicolò Poli, Mattia Pellin, Ari James Kallenberg, Giulio Manzoni, Manuel Enrique Calendi and Sebastian Schirripa.

In Race 1, Noviello does not make the most of the pole position and is overtaken by Drexler, Perico, and Gardzielik at the first corner. After recovering to second position, Noviello begins a long duel with Perico, who has meanwhile taken the lead, but the two drivers are caught by a striking Verde, who started from the eighth position. On the last lap, Perico defends himself against Verde and Noviello, even going off track, but in the second division he is forced to give way to an unstoppable Verde, triumphant under the checkered flag. Perico finishes second, and Noviello third, and they then both climb the remaining steps of the podium. Gardzielik comes in fourth place, Wojcik fifth, Drexler sixth, Doillon seventh, and Lawrence eighth.

In Race 2, from the front row, Doillon is ahead Lawrence at the first corner, but the Frenchman's failure to align at the start is noted by the Sporting Mashalls, who soon assign him a three-second penalty. Behind the first two, Perico quickly moves up to third place but becomes involved in a long battle with Noviello and later with the Nanni-Verde pair. The race ends with Doillon crossing the finish line first, but the victory ends up in Lawrence's hands, with an unmistakable performance. Noviello and Nanni take second and third place, respectively, relegating Perico to fourth and Verde to fifth. Doillon drops back to sixth position, affected by an additional three-second penalty assigned to him post-race.

Junior ROK

As always, many participants of Junior ROK category come to Jesolo for the fourth round of the 2025 season.

The qualifying session speaks "Greek": Faidon Papafilippou claims the pole position with a time of 47.054 seconds, recorded in group 1, just ahead of Huifei Xie, the fastest in group 2, by only 24 thousandths of a second. Matteo Melis, winner of the last two championship events, follows in third place, with Victoria Farfus behind him in fourth, Riccardo Brangero in fifth, and Gioele Carrer in sixth. Among the top ten are also Ilias Mitaki, Borys Blaszczyk, Andrea Proverbio, and Leonardo Lanza. The combined ranking continues with Liam Aarsbaek Secall, Aleksander Mrozik, Samuel Gabriele Del Gaudio, Mikolaj Gawlikowski, Julia Angelard, Natan Rybczyński, Michal Czyzewicz, Enrico Pietro Villa, Odin Flora, Francesco Iannuzzo, Leonardo De Grandi, Stefano Zamponi, Selina Baum, Nikola Nikolic, Francesca Pietrini, Nikolaos Karagiannis, David Sean Beck, Alberto Masotto, Enzo Stambaugh, Alessandro Gorini, Alexander Volkmer, Ascanio Sandrini, Lena Pichler, Carlo Pongratz, Tommaso Scarato and Emma Boschetto.

Even in the qualifying heats on Sunday, Papafilippou is unbeatable: with two wins out of two races, the Greek maintains the top spot in the intermediate ranking, this time with Melis as the first contender. Brangero and Carrer take third and fourth positions, respectively, while Farfus and Xie drop to fifth and sixth. Lanza is seventh, ahead of an excellent Angelard, who climbs from 15th to eighth place. Proverbio and Secall complete the top 10.

In the final, Papafilippou holds tightly to the first position in the first few meters, but he is quickly chased by Brangero, Melis, and Carrer. During the third lap, Papafilippou yields to the pressure from Brangero, the new race leader, and Melis, then allows Carrer, who makes a brilliant overtaking move in the 'comb' section, Xie, and Farfus to pass as well. The victory soon becomes a matter reserved for Brangero and Melis exclusively: indeed, on the tenth lap, Melis tries to attack Brangero, with the two even making contact. Thanks to this overtaking, Melis wins for the third consecutive time in the championship, ahead of Brangero and Carrer in the standings, with the latter managing to defend himself from Xie, who finishes fourth. Papafilippou gets a fifth place, ahead of Farfus, who is sixth.

Senior ROK

After his absence in the previous Franciacorta round, Andrea Giudice is back in top form soon securing the pole position in the qualifyings. The reigning champion of the ROK Cup Italy stands out with a time of 45.922 seconds, ahead of Samuele Di Filippo, the winner of the ROK Cup Winter Trophy at the beginning of the year. Cristian Biasatti surprises with third place, ahead of Riccardo Salemi in fourth, and Davide Lombardo in fifth. Giuseppe Gaglianò, who won both finals in the previous two rounds, is sixth. The top 10 list is completed by Christian Romeo, Iwo Beszterda, Mattia Jentile, and Alberto Bernardi. At the finish line we also find, in order: Emilio Tedesco, Leonardo Monzani, Alessandro Giarratano, Andrea Barbieri, Mattia D'Erme, Giovanni Polato, Franciszek Czapla, Piotr Orzechowski, Anh Tu Ranghetti, Alessandro Cocchi, Nik Sculac, Marcin Dokucki, and Cristiano Gautier.

In Race 1, Giudice takes advantage of the starting from the inside line to get the lead at the first corner, while Di Filippo is forced to give way to Biasatti and Lombardo. In the following laps, Giudice uses the battle behind him to gain a fair gap: Lombardo and Di Filippo – at that moment second and third – 'come to blows,' aiding Romeo. In the central phases, however, Gaglianò shows off, capable of threatening Romeo's second place. Giudice easily obtains the victory, but behind him the fight for the remaining podium positions fires up: Romeo resists in every way against Gaglianò, who in turn is attacked by Di Filippo; Biasatti overtakes both drivers and gains the third position, behind Romeo in second. Gaglianò and Di Filippo finish fourth and fifth, ahead of Lombardo in sixth, Jentile in seventh, and Salemi in eighth.

In Race 2, the pole position start is good for Salemi, who takes the lead after the first corners. Lombardo runs in the second place in the early stages, but soon is fought by Gaglianò, Bernardi, Romeo, Di Filippo and Giudice. Salemi takes advantage of the about two-second gap over Gaglianò during the race, although the latter consistently reduces his disadvantage from his teammate. At the end of the scheduled 15 laps, the checkered flag confirms Salemi's victory, with Gaglianò gaining the second place and Giudice the lowest step of the podium, ahead of Romeo, Di Filippo, Barbieri, Bernardi, and Lombardo.

Expert ROK

The senators of Expert ROK are also the protagonists of the Jesolo event.

Second pole position of the season for Andrea Sorbello. The current championship leader, with a time of 46.820 seconds, precedes Tino Donadei, second, and Michele Zampieri, third, while his direct rival Alessandro Viganò ranks fourth. Marco Massironi achieves the fifth place, followed closely by Marco Beretta in seventh, and Mario Augusto Barrios Ferrero in eighth. Marco Nannavecchia and Gianluca Pietro Rubiolini are respectively ninth and tenth, with Gianluca Todeschini in eleventh, completing the ranking.

In Race 1, Sorbello makes no mistakes at the start and remains in first position, with Zampieri and Massironi able to secure second and third place respectively. However, both drivers must later deal with Viganò who, in just two laps, climbs to second place. During the race, Sorbello sets a series of fast laps that allow him to stretch his lead over Viganò, who is forced to watch his back from a threatening Zampieri. Sorbello crosses the finish line first alone, ahead of Viganò and Zampieri. Massironi finishes in fourth place, in front of Donadei, Galloni, Todeschini, and Beretta.

In Race 2, Beretta jumps well from the pole position, but in the second lap already he has to give way to Galloni at the top of the ranking, along with Todeschini, Donadei, and Massironi. Sorbello, who started from eighth place due to the inversion of the top eight from Race 1, climbs to fifth place after two laps and, in just four laps, gains the second position. Sorbello then runs at the chase of Galloni, who is however good at managing the gap gained in the early stages. The race ends with Galloni first, Sorbello second, and Donadei third, while Viganò narrowly misses the podium. Massironi finishes fifth, ahead of Zampieri and Todeschini. Due to a collision, Beretta slips back to a final tenth place.

Super ROK

There are also many drivers in Jesolo attending the Super ROK, the most competitive category of the ROK Cup Italy.

Strongly positioned in first place in the championship, Riccardo Ferrari climbs to the top of the ranking. The Italian driver records a time of 45.977 seconds and beats Alessandro Cocozza, who is in second place. At the top ranking positions, we also find Nicolas Marchesi, in third place, while behind him are Edoardo Prioglio in fourth, Vittorio Maria Russo in fifth, and Matteo Favero in sixth. Simone Donchi is seventh, Elliot Shaw is eighth, Martinez Saenz Amador is ninth, and Alex Desario tenth. The ranking goes on with Alex Laghezza, Alessandro Zini, Pietro Camerlengo, Guido Bruno Bidoli, Gionna Pascoal, Mattia D’Abramo, Manuel Giovanni Gritti, Nicholas Giuseppe Reino, Nicola Marini, Matteo Lazzarotto, Pietro Mondin, Luca Fiorenti, Samuele Sottile, Lorenzo Poletti, Matilde Seregni, and Giuseppe Palladino.

In Race 1, the start sees Ferrari at the lead, ahead of Marchesi, Russo, and Cocozza, but behind them, an incident occurs forcing the race director to impose a "slow" regime in the entire track. At the restart, Ferrari maintains the lead, always pursued by Marchesi. In the following laps, with a smart double overtaking of Cocozza and Russo, Shaw gains the temporary third position. Meanwhile, with an unsustainable pace of his rivals, Ferrari crosses the finish line first, ahead of Marchesi. Shaw is able to defend himself from Russo’s attack, obliged at the last lap to give way to Cocozza, finishing third; however, due to a overtake in the “Slow” regime, the Swiss driver receives a three-second penalty and slips to sixth place. Cocozza thus inherits the last step on the podium, with Russo and Prioglio promoted to fourth and fifth places, respectively.

In Race 2, Bidoli gets the better of Pascoal at the start and takes the lead, with Shaw, Prioglio, and Cocozza following. However, during the second lap, Shaw and Pascoal collide, causing the Swiss driver to lose positions. Shortly after, Cocozza manages to get the better of Pascoal and conquers second place, but throughout the race, he cannot challenge Bidoli, who crosses the finish line first with a three-second gap. Proglio gains the third step of the podium, while Ferrari, who finishes fourth in the race, receives a three-second penalty for causing an incident subsequently ceasing his position to Pascoal.

Shifter ROK

The paddock of the ROK Cup Italy in Jesolo is enriched by the presence of the Shifter ROK class, the category reserved to shifter karts.

With a perfect lap in 45.522 seconds, Marco Chiarello obtains the pole position at the end of the qualifyings. William Lanzeni, always on the podium in the two races held in the previous round in Franciacorta, is in second place, with Marco Acquarella in third, and Philippe Ehrensberger in fourth, immediately behind him. Luca Bettoni and Davide Cominazzini take the fourth row, while the fifth row features Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Prandelli.

In Race 1, Chiarello does not have a brilliant start when the lights go out, unlike Lanzeni who immediately takes the lead of the race. Behind the two, is Acquarella running ahead of the rest of the group. In the following laps, Lanzeni and Chiarello significantly distance themselves from their pursuers and run a race of their own: Chiarello remains glued to Lanzeni, able to contain his rival in all the track segments. On the penultimate lap, however, Chiarello launches his attack and overtakes Lanzeni, thus obtaining the victory. Starting from fifth place, Bettoni beats Ehrensberger and takes the lowest step of the podium, while Acquarella, hardly running in the second part of the race, finishes fifth. Rossi and Prandelli are sixth and seventh, while Cominazzini retires after a few laps.

In Race 2, having obtained the pole position due to the inversion of the first eight classified in Race 1, Cominazzini burns everyone at the start and leads the race, ahead of Prandelli and Acquarella. Behind them, Chiarello and Lanzeni are once again applying for the role of main leaders of the category, but on the fourth lap the twist occurs: Chiarello, who in the meantime has moved up to third position, attempts an overtaking valid for the second place as does Lanzeni who takes advantage of this. Due to the collision, however, Chiarello ends up off track and loses ground. Lanzeni, on the other hand, obtains the leadership of the race in the subsequent laps and is able to succeed, gaining a noteworthy advantage over Prandelli, second. Acquarella, on the other hand, is forced to defend himself from Chiarello, who has restarted from the back, and obtains the podium by just 0.046 seconds. Ehrensberger, Bettoni, Cominazzini and Rossi complete the ranking.