The first event of the 2022 season has already highlighted Parolin Motorsport’s top performances on the international scene in the most hotly contested youth category, the Mini. A big win for Christian Costoya in the WSK Champions Cup and exciting results for the other drivers with the Italian brand based in Veneto is a very good start.
“We have a lot to be satisfied with after the first meeting of the season”, said Marco Parolin. “Parolin Racing Kart was the best represented brand in all categories in Lonato this weekend and we had 33 chassis out of 92 in the Mini class. We confirmed our competitiveness right from the start of the season with a top four in Qualifying, five chassis in the top 10 in the heats and six out of 10 in the Final, which represents a success rate twice as high as our presence in Mini. Our official team, Parolin Motorsport, was very successful. Christian Costoya shone all weekend and won the Mini Final while Dries van Langendonck reached 4th place. William Caleja finished 9th and Jack Illife progressed to 11th place. At the same time Bruno Gryc and Alessandro Truchot showed great potential.“
Moved at the last moment from Adria to Lonato, the WSK Champions Cup was marked by very cold temperatures, at the limit of what a winter karting competition can accept. Fog and then ice affected the timing of the first two days. It was therefore not an easy game to play for the youngest drivers who had to grit their teeth against the bite of the cold. As always, the Mini category saw a very close battle to the finish line among the 92 international participants.
WSK Champions Cup, 20th to 23rd January 2022, South Garda Karting, Lonato.
Parolin Motorsport, Mini category
Christian Costoya, Spain
2nd fastest in Qualifying, four heat wins with two fastest laps, 2nd in the heats, 2nd after the Prefinals and winner of the Final.
Dries van Langendonck, Belgium
4th fastest in Qualifying, 4th in Prefinal with fastest lap, moved up seven places to 4th in Final.
William Caleja, Australia
3rd fastest in Qualifying, a win and a fastest lap in the heats, 6th in the Prefinal, 9th in the Final.
Jack Illife, USA
13th fastest time, a top three in a heat, 9th after the heats and 11th in the Final.
Parolin Motorsport will continue to the first round of the WSK Super Master Series from 27th to 30th January in Lonato.
Parolin Racing Kart developed an innovative brake system for the MINI category. This technical solution equips the Opportunity chassis and is characterised by a monobloc rear caliper machined from a solid block with radial attachment.
INTRODUCTION
Thanks to the performances and successes of the Opportunity chassis in the past few years, Parolin Racing Kart has emerged as the benchmark for the MINI class. Parolin’s technicians took advantage of the 2020 homologation, which represents the first of the newly CIK-FIA “certified” versions for the 60 MINI category, to focus on creating a totally new brake system. The AP06 MINI marks an improvement compared to the previous MINI AP-Race model (CSAI homologation), as it features increased rigidity and decreased torsion during braking, while maintaining high levels of reliability.
CHARACTERISTICS
The AP06 MINI’s brake caliper derives directly from the front version of the KZ system. The primary characteristic of this technical innovation is the brake modulation, which represents a pivotal factor when the go-kart requires immediate braking while maintaining high speed throughout corners.
CNC machined from a solid block of material with extreme accuracy, the caliper is equipped with two 27 mm magnetic pistons in order to control the pads’ braking strength on the disc. Parolin technicians’ hard work also resulted in better cooling and in a decrease in the weight of the AP06 MINI caliper thanks to a significantly pronounced tapering. An additional improvement compared to the previous version regards the lower maintenance, achieved as a consequence of the absence of the half-shells’ fastening screws and of the sealing O-rings. Lastly, the total redesign of the oil channels inside the caliper has facilitated brake bleeding, which is now carried out only once, as it is a monobloc caliper.
Furthermore, the floating and self-ventilated brake disc has a 150 mm diameter and features holes on its surface to achieve greater heat dissipation capacity during braking.
FUNCTIONALITY
Parolin Racing Kart completely modified the master cylinder and introduced the model that is used in the higher classes. The outcome includes better reliability, as the different anodising adopted enables the reduction of possible leakages and therefore a lower maintenance of the component. A piston with a 22 mm diameter functions inside the master cylinder, which is machined from a solid aluminium block. Moreover, there are four possible anchoring positions for the lever on which the rod leading to the brake is fastened. This solution offers drivers a wider range of options in order to adapt to their braking preferences. As the rod is fastened lower, the force that needs to be exerted on the brake pedal increases because its stroke becomes shorter. Contrarily, as the lever is higher, the force that is necessary for braking decreases because the stroke becomes longer.
BENEFITS
In addition to the aforementioned advantages, the AP06 MINI benefits from great adaptability. Being aware that adapting braking to driving style is crucial for improving performance, the company’s technicians equipped the new MINI brake with three different types of brake pads: hard (black), medium (green) and soft (red). The degree of hardness of the friction material varies among the different pads, which are all smaller. In fact, Parolin’s experts believe that only the force exerted by the piston on the pad directly impacts on the disc. Consequently, the use of larger pads would represent a risk, as they could cause a lower thrust to the external areas, which is essentially not very useful.
MORE DETAILS
To know more about the AP06 MINI brake by Parolin Racing Kart and discover all its potential, read TKART’s article “AP06 Mini: the 2020 mini-kart brake system by Parolin Racing Kart“.