The world meeting at PFI proved to be as difficult as expected. With a record number of participants and a formidable track, the battles were fierce, not to mention the rain for the Finals. For Parolin Motorsport, the highlights were Zac Drummond’s comeback in the OK Final, Christian Costoya’s retirement in the Junior class and Heitor Dall Agnol Farias’s 3rd place in the OK-N World Cup. 

The team’s top qualifier, Zac Drummond seized the opportunity to score two top 10s and a 2nd place in the OK heats of the World Championship. He continued to make progress in the Super Heat, but he managed his best race in the rain of the Final, making up 13 places to finish 6th on the finishing line. A long way off the pace in Qualifying, Anatoly Khavalkin made a series of incredible comebacks during the heats. He made up another 13 places in the Super Heat, taking his total gain to 38 places, but narrowly failed to qualify for the Final. A retirement in a heat and another in the Super Heat also deprived Vivek Kanthan of a place in the Final, although he was capable of running in the top five. 

Christian Costoya was on course for a very good result in the Junior World Championship. He came close to the top 10 in the heats after two 2nd places and three top sixes, then took 6th place in the Super Heat. He was fighting for the top 10 when he was forced to retire at the start of the Final. Mariano Lopez managed to qualify among the finalists after improving by 22 places in the heats and eight positions in the Super Heat. He continued his good form by moving up 12 places to 20th place. 

Brazilian Heitor Dall Agnol Farias created a surprise in the OK-N World Cup with his magnificent 12-place recovery in the Final and 2nd fastest time of the race. His skill in the rain earned him a podium finish in the first edition of this competition, in which Parolin / TM karts were the most popular models. 

“We were expecting a tough race on the Paul Fletcher International circuit,” said Marco Parolin. “Christian Costoya’s retirement at the start of the Final was a blow, but Mariano Lopez showed a very good level of performance. Zac Drummond put in an excellent performance in OK to finish 7th, while Anatoly Khavalkin showed his prowess to come back from a bad Qualifying. A big congratulations to Heitor Dall Agnol Farias for his 3rd place in the OK-N World Cup!”

The next event is the second round of the WSK Euro Series at Sarno and the Champions of the Future Euro Series at Portimao in a fortnight’s time in preparation for the World KZ / KZ2 event.

Christian Costoya in the OK-Junior class and Zac Drummond in the OK class both put in strong performances in Qualifying and the heats of the fifth round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series on the difficult English track of PF International. Unfortunately, retirements ruined their chances of a result on Sunday. In the end, it was Qarrar Firhand who came out on top after a very convincing run. 

The battles were incredibly tough in England for the final round of the RGMMC series, but the Parolin / TMs put in remarkable performances in both categories in preparation for the forthcoming World Championships. The rain that soaked the track all day on Saturday added to the difficulty of the competition, but the return of dry conditions on Sunday did nothing to detract from the fierceness of the races. 

In OK, Gabriel Koenigkan scored two top sixes and two top nines in the Qualifying Heats, while Vivek Kanthan scored two top eights. Zac Drummond was well placed in 7th place out of the 101 qualifiers, and went on to post four fine heats, including a win and three top four finishes. Unfortunately, he retired twice in the Super Heat and then in the Final. 

In the OK-Junior class, Christian Costoya started by finishing 9th out of the 114 competitors in Qualifying Practice and went on to score two wins and three top five finishes in the heats. 8th in the Super Heat, he was involved in a collision which eliminated him from the start of the Final. Qarrar Firhand showed great consistency in the top 10 of the heats and secured his best result in 21st position in the Final. 

“The competition proved to be a testing one for the whole team,” said Marco Parolin. “The PFI track is very demanding and the rainy conditions on Saturday didn’t help matters. Most of our drivers put in a decent performance, but in the end the success rate was disappointing. We’re going to have to find technical and human solutions in the short time we have before the World Championship.”

Parolin Motorsport and its satellite teams won at the second round of the European Championship at Val Vibrata where Lorenzo Travisanutto came 2nd in the KZ Final to clinch the title in a thrilling finale, while Maksim Orlov, Team Modena Kart, dominated the KZ2 category from start to finish. Riccardo Nalon, Erre Esse Motorsport, won the Final and the KZ2 Masters title.

Parolin / TM Kart put in historic performances on the classic Val Vibrata track this weekend in all three categories on the programme. Lorenzo Travisanutto won the European KZ Championship thanks to the fastest lap point in the Final after an exceptional run at the front. 5th in Timed Qualifying, he came back to lead the heats and secured a magnificent 2nd position in the Final to climb from 5th to 1st place in the Championship. 

The Modena Kart ASD team put in a string of great performances in KZ2. Maksim Orlov made the most of the competitiveness of his equipment to put in a perfect performance. After qualifying 3rd fastest, he went on to win every race, culminating in his victory in the Final with the fastest lap of the race. As a result, he climbed from 6th to 3rd place in the Championship. 

Pole-sitter and 5th in the heats, Alessio Piccini unfortunately dropped from 4th to 34th place on the third lap of the Final before climbing back up to 18th. Miguel Costa, who started the Final from 11th on the grid, was unable to reach the finish, as was Anatoly Khavalkin, who was stopped in the middle of his comeback.

Kimi Tani, from the La Motorsport team, had several good Qualifying Heats before making up 12 places in the Final to finish just outside the top 10. 

Finally, Riccardo Nalon created a surprise in the KZ2 Masters with the Erre Esse Motorsport team, taking advantage of the various ups and downs of the race to take a masterly victory with the fastest lap and thus win the European Championship. 

“We had a rare success at Val Vibrata, making our mark in all three categories,”said Marco Parolin. “Winning two European Championship titles and the Final in the other category is a feat that doesn’t happen every day. I think we’ve shown that our chassis works and is capable of winning at every level, from Mini to KZ. This has been our objective for several seasons and we can consider that the mission has been accomplished today. We’re going to keep working hard to stay at the top level”.

For Parolin Motorsport, there’s no break in sight, as the team has already headed for England and the PF International circuit to prepare for the upcoming Champions of the Future Euro Series and the OK & OK-Junior World Championship.