At the beginning of November the FIA Karting OK and Junior World Championship concluded a 2020 season disrupted by serious health problems on a global scale. Everyone worked hard to try to make up for the time lost away from the circuits. Well prepared, the Parolin Racing Team approached the major world meeting with serenity, but the Portuguese weather conditions upset its plans. Tranvisanutto held his place among the best in OK, whereas Wharton ensured a nice comeback in the Final. Al Dhaheri made magnificent progress by finishing on the track in 8th position in the OK-Junior category.
“We are not fully satisfied with the outcome of this World Championship,” said Marco Parolin. “After the great performances of the previous weekend in the Champions of the Future series, we were ready to confirm our strong potential in both categories, but we had to face totally different weather conditions that forced us to fight harder than expected. In the end we managed to place two drivers in the top 10 after the chequered flag in OKJ and OK, but I can’t deny that we were hoping for a better result in this competition. After bittersweet races like this one, the only thing we want is to get back on the track as soon as possible to work on the next event.”
Travisanutto at the forefront in OK
Ranked 7th in Qualifying, Lorenzo Travisanutto completed three good races on Saturday, including one victory, and he was able to secure 3rd place at the start of the Final. The wet track wasn’t really favourable for him, but he nevertheless ensured a solid performance in the leading group by finishing in 6th position. James Wharton wasn’t able to defend his chances as he would have liked during the Qualifying Practice and he had to settle down afterwards with a place in the middle of the pack. He didn’t have many chances in the heats, but he managed two good races, including a convincing 6th place in the last one, in the rain. He was in last place on the second lap of the Final and he started a superb comeback on slippery ground and regained 16 places in 15 laps to finish 17th. Portuguese driver Miguel Silva didn’t have an easy task after his 53rd Qualifying time and he couldn’t join the 36 finalists at the end of the heats.
Al Dhaheri confirms his ascent in OK-Junior
In continuity with the previous weekend, Rashid Al Dhaheri has achieved good results during this World Championship. Only 44th in the Timed Practice sessions, the Emirati driver completed five strong Qualifying Heats, even setting a fastest lap, and he made a spectacular gain of 26 places to qualify 18th. He built his Final on the same pattern. He made a very good start in the rain and was in 10th position from the first lap. He attacked again as soon as the slow procedure was over and kept fighting for 8th position. Unfortunately, a mispositioned spoiler dropped him back to 13th after the finish.
Maxwell Dodds showed his usual determination to regain no less than 21 places during the heats and narrowly qualified in 33rd position. The British driver came back even stronger in the Final race, reaching 11th place with four laps to go, a gain of 22 places in 11 laps of the race. He then dropped back down before being heavily sanctioned. The other drivers of the team had different fortunes in the heats and didn’t manage to join the list of finalists. Valerio Rinicella had nevertheless set the second fastest time in his third race, taking 11 places. Giovanni Trentin was consistent, but was penalised in the rain. Guillaume Bouzar still regained 16 places, Maksim Orlov 15 and Jesse Carrasquedo 10.
A week before the World Championship, the second event in the Champions of the Future series was set to be a dress rehearsal on the Kartodromo do Algarve in Portimao. The Parolin Racing Kart team confirmed a high level of performance in both categories with Travisanutto’s return to the forefront in OK and a well-deserved podium for Al Dhaheri in OK-Junior. The best drivers in the world were among the 164 entered and the confrontation between the contenders was fierce.
“It has been an excellent opportunity from RGMMC to be able to take part in a preparation race just before the World Championship“, said Marco Parolin. “We can be very satisfied with the performance of our equipment. The work has paid off. In OK, Travisanutto found his feet and Wharton was very competitive. They were both in a position to fight for victory. Al Dhaheri made superb progress in Junior with a very nice 2nd place in the Final as a well deserved reward. Rinicella also had a strong card to play, whereas Dodds’ problem in Qualifying prevented him from shining. That said, we are aware that there are still some things that need to be improved and we will work hard on them before the start of the world meeting.”
Everybody was happy to see Lorenzo Travisanutto back to his best for the first time this year. His collaboration with Parolin was very effective during the whole competition. After setting the 6th fastest time, he came back to 2nd position after the heats. It is a pity that he was penalised for his start in the Prefinal. 4th on the finish line, he was ranked 23rd. His comeback of 15 places in the Final proved that he was able to aim for victory. James Wharton did a great job during the heats by taking 4th place out of the 75 participants. Unfortunately, he was forced to retire twice in the Final stages. Miguel Silva started too far back to qualify, but his last two heats revealed interesting potential.
Rashid Al Dhaheri took an important step in OK-Junior. By lining up a fastest time and four results in the top five of the heats, including two 2nd places, he was able to fight at the front of the Final stages and his combativeness allowed him to finish on the second step of the podium. Valerio Rinicella also had a very good start during the weekend, but the Final stages didn’t go as well for him. Deprived of Qualifying Practice, Maxwell Dodds was able to make some good comebacks in the heats, but the challenge was too big for him to qualify. Guillaume Bouzar and Jesse Alejandro Carrasquedo gave their all to come back from their distant lap times in solid heats and regained 12 and 13 positions respectively, but this wasn’t enough.