The champions of the WSK Final Cup 2022 are Zulfikari (MINI), Olivieri (OKJ), Turney (OK) and Van Walstijn (KZ2)

Lonato del Garda (ITA), 13.11.2022

500 drivers competed in the final two rounds of the 11th WSK Final Cup at Sarno and Lonato, with the latter awarding today's winners the titles of MINI, OKJ, OK, and KZ2.

The 11th WSK Final Cup's closing moments have been magnificent and exciting in Lonato. The season finale took place one week after the series premiere, which took place last week in Sarno. 304 drivers from 48 different nations came together at the South Garda Karting on this occasion to compete for the MINI, OKJ, OK, and KZ2 crowns.

The pleasant weather that prevailed over the Lonato weekend brought out the speed of many young, up-and-coming karting competitors who were able to perform at their peak throughout the competition. The program for the final stages on Sunday scheduled the usual Prefinals (that awarded useful points) and the Finals, which handed the remaining crucial points for determining the WSK Final Cup 2022 Champions of each category. After the first two days that included 43 qualifying heats, which were difficult but necessary to define the finalists of this round.

THE PREFINALS
MINI. Due to an event, Prefinal A came to a tardy conclusion. The winner was the Dutchman Dean Hoogendoorn (Alonso Kart by Kidix/Alonso-Iame-Vega), who outran the Australian William Calleja (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing) and the Romanian Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (BabyRace Driver Academy/Parolin-Iame). Gianmatteo Rousseau (Alonso Kart by Kidix/Alonso-Iame), the winner of the first round at Sarno, finished fourth instead.
Iskender Zulfikari (BabyRace Driver Academy/Parolin-Iame), a Turkish driver, dominated prefinal-B. Riven Esteves, a colleague from Switzerland, came in second, and Noah Baglin, a British driver for Ikart/KR-Iame, took third ahead of Filippo Sala, an Italian, who was driving for Team Driver/KR-Iame.

OKJ. The Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers (VDK Racing/KR-Iame-Vega) and the Colombian Salim's epic battle in the Prefinal-A was the highlight of the race. Hanna Hernandez (LN-Vortex/Ricky Flynn). Christian Costoya, a Spanish driver for Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing, also slid during the struggle. Costoya and Zac Drummond, a Scottish teammate who finished second in the round of Sarno, followed Ramaekers, who was able to maintain the lead until the finish line. Hanna Hernandez finished in fourth place.
Italian Emanuele Olivieri (IPK Official Racing Team/IPK-TM Racing), who had already won the opening race in Sarno, dominated the prefinal-B. The Brazilian Miguel Costa (Sauber Academy/KR-Iame) and the Thai Enzo Tarnvanichkul (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) were in front of Olivieri.

OK. Joe Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont) won the prefinal-A race from Maksim Orlov (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing) to the Swede Oscar Pedersen (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex). Turney recovered strongly from a rough start. Yuanpu Cui, a Chinese driver with KR Motorsport/KR-Iame, finished P11 here after winning the opening race at Sarno.
In Prefinal-B, Anatoly Khavalkin (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing), who finished second in Sarno, and Dmitry Matveev (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame) were beaten by the Dane David Walther (Koski Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex).

KZ2. The Frenchman Thomas Imbourg (CPB Sport/Sodikart-TM Racing) lost the Prefinal-A to the Dutch driver Senna Van Walstijn (Sodikart/Sodikart-TM Racing-Vega), who had earlier won the opener in Sarno. Senna Van Walstijn recovered strongly. Alex Maragliano, an Italian driver for Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Racing, established himself at the front of the field early on, but ultimately fell behind Tom Leuillet for P3 (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex).
The outcome of Prefinal-B was rather unexpected, with the Swedish driver Noah Milell (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) taking the win over Giuseppe Palomba (BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Racing). Cristian Bertuca, who had been leading for the majority of the race, came in third. Matteo Vigan of Leclerc by Lennox/BirelART-TM Racing took fourth. Alexander Schmitz of Germany (Tony Kart-Vortex) had to drop out of the competition.

THE FINALS

MINI – The Turk Zulfikari claims the victory of the final and the title

The conclusion of MINI has been really thrilling. Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (BabyRace Driver Academy/Parolin-Iame-Vega), a Romanian, initially appeared to be in control of the race. However, Iskender Zulfikari, a Turkish teammate, eventually took the lead and held off Dutch driver Dean Hoogendoorn (Alonso Kart by Kidix/Alonso-Iame) and Italian driver Filippo Sala (Team Driver/KR-Iame) all the way Italian Lorenzo D'Amico (IPK Official Racing Team/IPK-TM Racing), who gained ten positions, finished in fourth place. Vladimir Ivannikov (Gamoto/EKS-TM Racing), who gained 8 positions, behind him as he finished his effort. Augustus Toniolo came after seventh-place finisher Bogdan Cosma Cristofor (Team DriverKR-Iame).
Iskender Zulfikari won the championship thanks to his victory in the Final, moving ahead of Dean Hoogendoorn and Filippo Sala in the standings.

MINI Final
1. Iskender Zulfikari (TUR)
2. Dean Hoogendoorn (NLD)
3. Filippo Sala (ITA)
MINI, WSK Final Cup final standings
1. Iskender Zulfikari (TUR) points 194
2. Dean Hoogendoorn (NLD) points 151
3. Filippo Sala (ITA) points 128.

OKJ – Tarnvanichkul wins the final, but Olivieri takes the title.

The OK-Junior Final has been fiercely contested, particularly at the top of the race. The Italian Emanuele Olivieri (IPK Official Racing Team/IPK-TM Racing-Vega) and the Thai Enzo Tarnvanichkul (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex) frequently traded positions. From the halfway point of the race, Tarnvanichkul had the upper hand, and focus moved to the competition for the remaining podium spots. These involved the third-place finisher Olivieri being passed by Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers (VDK Racing/KR-Iame). In fourth place, ahead of Zhenrui Chi (Beyond Racing Team/KR-TM Racing) and Miguel Costa (Sauber Academy/KR-Iame), was the Scotsman Zac Drummond (Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Racing).Olivieri was able to celebrate the championship win due to his win in Sarno and third place finish in Lonato. Enzo Tarnvanichkul and Zac Drummond, respectively, took second and third place.

OKJ Final
1. Enzo Tarnvanichkul (THA)
2. Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL)
3. Emanuele Olivieri (ITA)
OKJ, WSK Final Cup final standings
1. Emanuele Olivieri (ITA) points 191
2. Enzo Tarnvanichkul (THA) points 153
3. Zac Drummond (SCO) points 150

OK – Matveev wins the Final, Turney the Championship.

Joe Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-LeCont) of Great Britain drove aggressively throughout the Final in an effort to win, but young Dmitry Matveev (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame), despite having no prior experience in the class, was very determined and took the lead, holding it until the checkered flag. Turney nevertheless took home the title thanks to his second-place finish. At the conclusion of a race featuring the British Nathan Tye (Sodikart/Sodikart-TM Racing) and the Swede Oscar Pedersen (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex), the third position in the Final went to the Frenchman Evan Giltaire (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame). Turney behind Matveev and Khavalkin in the championship's final standings.

OK Final
1. Dmitry Matveev
2. Joe Turney (GBR)
3. Evan Giltaire (FRA)
OK, WSK Final Cup final standings
1. Joe Turney (GBR) points 179
2. Dmitry Matveev points 139
3. Anatoly Khavalkin points 110

KZ2 – Maragliano dominates the final, but Van Walstijn wins the championship.

While the Italian Alex Maragliano (Maranello SRP/Maranello-TM Racing-Vega) surged away early on and was pursued by the Czech Marek Skrivan (Sumako IPK Racing/IPK-TM Racing), the battle for the other positions in the KZ2 Final has been fairly heated. Giuseppe Palomba (BirelART Racing/BirelART-TM Racing), who later received a 5s time penalty for the dropped front fairing and was demoted to P9, was eventually beaten by the Italian William Lanzeni (EKS-TM Racing).

KZ2 Final
1. Alex Maragliano (ITA)
2. Marek Skrivan (CZE)
3. William Lanzeni (ITA)
KZ2, WSK Final Cup final standings
1. Senna Van Walstijn (NLD) points 149
2. Noah Milell (SWE) points 134
3. Alex Maragliano (ITA) points 123

Complete results and final classifications are available at www.wskarting.it/index.asp

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This is a summary of an article on the WSK website, the original can be found here.