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onsidered as a series in itself as well as preparation for the FIA Karting European Championship, the Champions of the Future Euro Series started on the last weekend of March on the Portimao circuit in the south of Portugal. Enzo Deligny just missed out on the OK top three, valiantly finishing 3rd on the line and was then penalised, while Anatoly Khavalkin came 7th in the OK-Junior Final and René Lammers finished 9th.

“The Parolin Motorsport team achieved its goal in this first meeting in Portimão,” said Marco Parolin. “We have been working hard for the FIA Karting European Championship – OK and OK-Junior which will start here in a fortnight. The Portuguese track requires good preparation after an exclusively Italian start to the season. The drivers also need to familiarise themselves with this fast track. To be able to fight for 3rd position in the OK Final with Enzo Deligny is a very encouraging result. This is only the second time this year that we have used MG tyres in this category. In OK-Junior, Anatoly Khavalkin and René Lammers also showed good potential with a 5th place in Qualifying and a double top 10. We will continue our efforts in order to arrive at the European Championship running at full capacity.”

The track was wet in the middle of the week and dried out for Qualifying, but the grip was not very high. The weather remained quite good, but not warm because of the constant wind. René Lammers started with 5th position in the OK-Junior Qualifying and continued with four top fives in the heats, including two fastest laps in the race. Meanwhile, Anatoly Khavalkin made good progress from his 23rd place in Qualifying. He had a great Final race, quickly moving up to the front group and fighting for 7th position with a gain of eight positions and some very fast laps. Lammers increased the pace after a more complicated start and finally finished in 9th position. Zac Drummond made a strong comeback of 26 places from Qualifying and just missed out on the Final by finishing 37th.

In OK, Enzo Deligny had some very good heats finishing between 5th and 2nd place, but his Super Heat was not so good and he had to start down in 12th for the Final. He came back into the top five shortly after the halfway point and was back in the top three two laps before the finish with nine places gained. A penalty of 5” applied during the race dropped him back to 8th place. Maksim Orlov recovered from his 31st position in Qualifying, setting a fastest lap in one heat. Despite a turbulent race, he finished 22nd in the Final with good consistency.

The WSK Super Masters Series has just finished at the Circuito Internazionale Napoli with an intense fourth round with a large number of participants. The Parolin Racing Kart chassis put in top performances in all four categories and Parolin Motorsport recorded several outstanding successes at the end of the series. Enzo Deligny achieved a fantastic victory in OK, while Anatoly Khavalkin won in OK-Junior. Christian Costoya finished 4th in a Mini Final that went down to the wire. For his return to competition, Francesco Celenta was extremely fast in KZ2.

“We have many reasons to be happy after the competition in Sarno,” declared Marco Parolin. “Christian Costoya and Dries van Langendonck finished on the championship podium in Mini and we placed three drivers in the top 10 of the Final while the performance level of the whole team improved again. Anatoly Khavalkin managed to win in OK-Junior after a long battle and Enzo Deligny was able to get his first victory in OK with a high performance kart. Finally, Francesco Celenta’s three fastest laps in KZ2 are indicative of our competitiveness in KZ2. The team’s work has definitely paid off in terms of performance and our successes are very positive indicators less than a month before the start of the FIA Karting European Championships.”

The weather was sunny throughout the Sarno meeting, but temperatures remained cool for the region. A large field of 271 drivers entered this final round of the WSK Super Master Series. As always on the Neapolitan track, the races were exciting and hectic. Parolin was well established in the leading group in 3rd place among chassis manufacturers with strong numerical domination in the Mini class where four Parolins finished in the Final top five. The OK and OK-Junior victories were a reminder of the competitiveness of the Bassano del Grappa-based brand in the other categories.

Extended performance in Mini

The increase of the general standard of the Parolin Motorsport Mini drivers was particularly visible in Sarno. Jack Illife set the 3rd fastest time in the Qualifying session and the very young Alessandro Truchot was 6th among the 79 best specialists of the category. Bruno Gryc set two fastest laps in the heats and in the Final he gained 10 more places to 16th place. Dries Langendonck was regularly in the top two of the heats until a retirement delayed him. He still managed to finish 9th in the Final and was able to take 3rd place in the championship. William Calleja was 19th in the Qualifying Heats, but he continued to improve and reached 7th place at the end of the Final. Finally, Christian Costoya shone in the heats and fought for the Final victory. He was the leader for a long time, but then secured 4th place to finish 2nd in the championship.

Khavalkin victorious in OK-Junior

Anatoly Khavalkin had a superb meeting, regularly in the top five since Qualifying. But it was during the Final that he gave his best. After a waiting race in 2nd position, he went on the attack with three laps to go to finally take his first success of the year. He secured 4th place in the championship. Zac Drummond confirmed his very positive progress by making a superb Final climb of 11 places to finish in the top 10. It was a difficult weekend for René Lammers after qualification in 28th position as he had to retire in the Final.

OK: Deligny at the top

We hadn’t seen Enzo Deligny on track since his 6th place in Lonato in February. Very solid in Qualifying and in the Sarno heats, he was imperial in the Final. He started 9th, climbed relentlessly and took the lead after seven laps and increased his lead to celebrate his first victory at this level. On the podium, he praised the work of the team who had provided him with a perfect machine to win.

KZ2: Celenta comes back in force

Away from the circuits since his injury in Lonato at the end of January, Francesco Celenta was fast and consistent in his comeback from 29th place in Qualifying. With a total gain of 22 places, he finished 7th in the Final (+6 places) with a new fastest lap in the race.

Parolin Motorsport travelled to southern Italy to participate in the penultimate round of the WSK Super Masters Series at La Conca with 13 young drivers. The wet conditions in the Qualifying Heats and the lack of grip in the Finals made for some very special racing on a track that is usually known for its strong grip. The Parolin chassis proved to be competitive in these unusual conditions. Anatoly Khavalkin came close to the top five in OK-Junior, while Christian Costoya finished on the Mini podium just ahead of Qualifying poleman Dries van Langendonck, both of whom impressed the meeting with their speed.

“The weekend in La Conca started well, both in Mini and Junior“, said Marco Parolin. “In both categories we had good results in the dry on Friday, when the track was grippy and fast, and in the wet on Saturday, when we won the heats with four different drivers in both categories. Unfortunately the conditions on Sunday made it more difficult than expected. Compared to the previous dry conditions, the track was about four seconds slower in Mini and seven seconds slower in OKJ. Our drivers tried to maximise their results despite the difficult situation. We didn’t get the results we expected at the beginning of the weekend, but it was certainly an important learning experience for the whole team.

Dries van Langendonck and Christian Costoya performed very well in the rain with eight heat wins in total, including five fastest times. Costoya made a great comeback in the Final to finish 3rd ahead of van Langendonck and both confirmed their presence in the top three of the Super Master Series. Bruno Gryc continued to make progress with a top three in a heat and a 16th place in the Final, while Jack Illife came close to the top 10 in the heats.

Parolin chassis were once again well represented with almost 40% of the Mini field, pole position and half of the top 10 in Qualifying and the top four places in the Final with eight Parolin karts in the top 13. Parolin was the leader in terms of number of chassis in all categories and also achieved good results in OK-Junior. René Lammers was very convincing in the heats and was in the top three at the beginning of the race, but he gradually lost places. Anatoly Khavalkin had solid heats despite a retirement and continued his effort with success by reaching 6th position in the Final. Zac Drummond confirmed his potential with a win and a 2nd place in a heat. We will now head to the Naples region for the final round of the WSK Super Master Series next weekend in Sarno.“

The detailed performances of the Parolin Motorsport drivers at La Conca allow a better appreciation of the competitiveness of the team.

OK-Junior
René Lammers remained well placed in the provisional Super Master standings with his 4th position. He had moved up 10 places during the heats with a win and a 2nd position with two fastest laps in the race. 2nd on the starting grid of the Final, he lost a few places as the laps went by. Anatoly Khavalkin, who had been in the top four until then, was delayed by a retirement in the last heat. He drove a good Final where a gain of three places brought him to the 6th position. Zac Drummond’s great comeback after the heats was affected by a retirement and a penalty, but he still secured 16th place in the Final.

Mini
Dries van Langendonck had dominated the Mini category from Qualifying to the heats, making a faultless run in the lead and setting three fastest times. The start of the Final did not go in his favour, but he attacked relentlessly to come back to 4th place. Christian Costoya started at the same pace. A problem in his third heat thwarted his progress. 9th on the starting grid of the Final, he drove a very good race to take 3rd position on the podium. Bruno Gryc performed well and climbed 21 places to 16th in the Final, as did Jack Illife in 17th place after a difficult Final.

The Champions of the Future by RGMMC Winter Series has just taken place on the new Italian circuit of Franciacorta near Milan with tyres identical to those of the forthcoming FIA Karting Championships: MG in OK and Vega in OK-Junior. Anatoly Khavalkin dominated the Junior class before finishing on the podium in a very competitive Final, while René Lammers also proved to be very competitive in adversity. Parolin Motorsport’s level of performance was confirmed by Maksim Orlov’s top three in OK in Qualifying and in the heats.

Marco Parolin summed up the meeting:
“FIA Karting competitions are the main focus of the season for the international categories. Therefore it was interesting for us to get to know the particularities of the Franciacorta track where the European OK and OK-Junior Championship will finish in July. It was also an opportunity to drive on FIA Karting tyres, even though we did not have Prime tyres in KZ2. So there was a lot of work to do this weekend. The 1300m circuit is fast and contact often results in crashes and retirements. The races are very competitive right up to the finish line. These are very demanding conditions for the young drivers who still have to find their bearings. We can be satisfied with the work done by the technical team. Maksim Orlov was very competitive in OK with his 3rd place in Qualifying and two top three finishes in the heats. Unfortunately, he was not able to do so on Sunday, probably because of different grip parameters in an area we cannot control. Anatoly Khavalkin was on top throughout the weekend in OK-Junior. The Final was very lively and he finished 3rd after having completed 14 of the 19 laps in the lead. René Lammers was delayed by a retirement in the first race and had to withdraw again after he had come back to 9th place in the Final. I would like to salute the perseverance of Zac Drummond who regained 27 places between Qualifying and the Final. Overall it was an interesting experience with lessons to be learnt, but our Parolin / TM Racing teams confirmed their top performances.“

OK-Junior
Anatoly Khavalkin:
pole position in Qualifying, three heat wins and a fastest lap, leader of the Super Heats, 3rd in the Final, leading 14 of the 19 laps.

René Lammers:
9th in Qualifying, retirement in Heat 1, 2nd in Heat 3, 5th in Super Heat 1 (+5 pl), retirement in Final (P9 +10 pl).

Zac Drummond:
53rd in Qualifying, 29th (+24 pl) in heats, 26th in Final (+8 pl).

OK
Maksim Orlov:
3rd in Qualifying, two top threes in heats, 10th after Super Heats, 22nd in Final with a penalty for badly positioned spoiler.