Parolin Motorsport continued to enable frontrunners in both OK and Mini categories to fulfil their potential in the last round of the WSK Super Master Series at Viterbo, despite constantly changing weather conditions on Friday and Sunday.
At Leopard Circuit Viterbo, the venue for a European Championship round for OK and OK-Junior later in the year, drivers with Parolin Motorsport and satellite teams got to sample a newly rebuilt and highly technical circuit.
Heartbreak for Costoya in OK
Christian Costoya was incredibly unlucky to miss out on the WSK Super Master Series win at Viterbo as changeable weather disrupted the event. The Spanish driver started on pole for the Final after three heat wins but dropped to the back of the field after a racing incident. A disappointing end to the series but it underlines the excellent performance of Costoya and his equipment, even if it did not result in the title.
Despite both gaining places in their Prefinals, Beau Lowette and Efim Derunov were unlucky not to qualify for the Final.
In OK-Junior Alessandro Truchot improved on his Qualifying position in the heats to start 7th on the grid for his Prefinal but was less fortunate on Sunday afternoon. Bruno Blanco made up 12 places in the wet Final but Qarrar Firhand didn’t complete the first lap.
Hedfors gaining in power in Mini Gr3
Elton Hedfors was one of the standout drivers of the meeting in Mini Gr3. He qualified 11th in his group on a drying track then moved up nine places after the heats with a peak result of 3rd. In Prefinal A he drove intelligently to hit the front at half distance and win the race, then in the Final finished 7th in the wet.
Another highlight was Nikita Dzalilov’s 3rd in his group in Qualifying while Mattis Brageot and Danila Verba gained places at each stage.
Modena Racing Kart and LA Motorsport drivers again held their own using Parolin chassis in OKN-Junior, led by Gioele Girardello and Albert Tamm, and Babyrace Driver Academy took podiums in both Mini classes.
“Of course we are disappointed not to take the OK title,” said Marco Parolin, “But we can be satisfied that Christian was extremely consistent across the whole series, and we are confident in the value of our development work on our new equipment for the main part of the season, starting at Campillos in under two weeks.”
The next race for Parolin Motorsport will be the first round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series at Campillos in Spain from 26th to 29th March, in preparation for the European Championship for OK and OK-Junior at the same venue.
Parolin Motorsport had a highly satisfying weekend at Franciacorta in the fourth round of the WSK Super Master Series where again over 400 drivers were competing. This weekend the weather was fine and podiums in three of the six classes were achieved, including two wins.
Costoya on top of the podium in OK
Christian Costoya dominated the OK category at Franciacorta to catch the leader up in the points table with one round to go. The Spanish driver qualified 9th out of 76 drivers but came through to win three of his four heats and take pole for Prefinal A. He drove a measured race in the Prefinal, taking no risks until the last lap where he cleanly passed the leader. In the Final Christian had no rivals, leading throughout the race while the other drivers battled behind him, and he crossed the line almost 1.8 seconds ahead.
Beau Lowette gained places in the heats and Prefinal but unfortunately fell slightly short of achieving a Final place while Efim Derunov lost all his chances in an accident at the start of the Prefinal.
Girardello takes maiden WSK win
In OKN-Junior, Gioele Girardello took his Parolin to the top of the podium for the first time with the Modena Kart Racing Team, after qualifying 12th, gaining places in the heats and winning Prefinal B. His team-mate Nojus Stasionis was a frontrunner all weekend and came home 6th. Zack Zhu of Parolin-equipped LA Motorsport won a heat and was faster than his 9th in the Final would suggest.
Big gains for Truchot and Travisanutto
Alessandro Truchot has quickly come up to speed in OK-Junior, finishing 12th in the Final in his second event after a strong qualifying phase while Bruno Blanco gained nine places in the Final and Giacomo Giusto 13 places! Qarrar Firhand was unfortunate in Qualifying but gained places throughout the weekend to finish just behind Giacomo.
Development work continues in KZ2 where Lorenzo Travisanutto gained 18 places to 17th, recovering from a DNF in a heat, in a class with 89 drivers preparing for the FIA Karting World Championship at the same venue.
As usual, Parolin was one of the top two chassis manufacturers overall at Franciacorta and was overwhelmingly the most popular in the two Mini categories where Stan Ratajski was on the podium after a highly successful weekend.
Marco Parolin delighted with his team’s performance
“We are very happy with Costoya’s first victory in OK, after several podiums he has thoroughly deserved this trophy and now we will play all our cards at Viterbo next weekend. Overall it was a great weekend for the Parolin brand, the second most represented in a weekend that counted over 400 drivers in five categories. The team was competitive on all fronts: in Mini Hedfors made an excellent comeback and set the fastest lap, in OKJ Truchot came close to the top 10 in his second race in the category, and in KZ we are carrying on ‘running-in’ for the European campaign that will start in a couple of months. In OKNJ we celebrate the victory of Girardello, a youngster who comes from our training scheme and won a very difficult race together with his Modena Kart team.”
As the final round takes place this coming weekend, Parolin Motorsport have no time to rest on their laurels before heading south to the newly refurbished Viterbo circuit, near Rome.