Castelnuovo Berardenga, September 3, 2017.
The fifth and final round of the ACI Karting Italian Championship concluded with a series of thrilling Finals at the Siena Circuit, which saw 221 drivers competing in 9 categories for the event, all vying for titles, bringing the total number of participants to 1,170 including the first 4 rounds in Lonato, Sarno, Battipaglia, and Adria.
It was a truly positive day for Italian karting, with intense competition on the track and closely fought races throughout the day, with 18 Finals held between Race-1 and Race-2 in the categories KZ2, 60 Mini, OK-Junior, ACI Kart, ACI Kart Junior, KZ3 Junior, KZ3 Under, KZ3 Over, KZ4.
KZ2 CHAMPION MARCO ZANCHETTA. In the highest performance category, KZ2, Marco Zanchetta on Maranello-Tm secured the title after leading the Championship since the first round in Lonato. A third place in Race-1 was enough for Zanchetta to definitively win the category Championship, in a Final that saw Giacomo Pollini (Formula K-Tm) take the victory ahead of Danilo Albanese (Tony Kart-Vortex), while the other major Championship protagonist, Francesco Celenta (Praga-Tm), encountered an issue at the last corner due to a slight rear-ending of Albanese caused by a lapped driver while in the leading group. The other Championship protagonist, Giuseppe Palomba on Intrepid-Tm, finished eighth, preceded by Flavio Sani (Maranello-Tm), Daniele Vezzelli (CRG-Modena), Marco Pastacaldi (Maranello-Tm) and Kristijan Habulin (TB Kart-Tm). In Race-2, Flavio Sani took the lead and won the race, this time ahead of Celenta who climbed from tenth position, with Albanese third and on the podium again. Pastacaldi finished fourth, Zanchetta fifth, Pollini sixth.
60 MINI CHAMPION GABRIELE MINI’. In the 60 Mini, American Ugo Ugochukwu (Energy-Tm) was the star of the smallest category, but the title went to Gabriele Minì (Parolin-Tm) who skillfully managed his lead in the standings and this first final where his third place was enough to secure the Championship in his favor, thus repeating the title he won last year. In Race-1, Ugochukwu took the victory over Danish Conrad Laursen (Tony Kart-Tm) with Gabriele Minì third and champion. In Race-2, Ugochukwu repeated with another win, this time over Minì and the two Formula K Junior drivers, Raffaele Gulizia and Michael Paparo, who were also among the main contenders for the category title before this final round.
KZ4 CHAMPION LINO DI SIMPLICIO. In KZ4, Lino Di Simplicio (EKS-Tm) won the category title with second place in Race-1 behind Paolo Gagliardini (Sodikart-Tm) and ahead of Cosimo Damiano Antoniello (Oberon-Tm), and then in Race-2 with fourth place just off the podium composed in this second final by Claudio Cusumano (CRG-Tm), Antoniello and Maurizio Giberti (Maranello-Tm). Di Simplicio thus won the title by just one point over Antoniello.
KZ3 UNDER CHAMPION LUIGI DI LORENZO. The title in KZ3 Under was decided in a “photo finish”, where Luigi Di Lorenzo (CRG-Tm) ultimately prevailed over Emanuele Simonetti (Tony Kart-Tm), both finishing with 100 points but with the tiebreaker favoring Di Lorenzo for the greater number of best results: two wins for Di Lorenzo in the Championship against one for Simonetti. In Race-1, Riccardo Nalon (Formula K-Tm) won ahead of Simonetti and Di Lorenzo, while in Race-2 Di Lorenzo secured his second win of the year in the last meters of the race over an excellent Francesca Cifola (Maranello-Tm) who had led throughout the second final. The third step of the podium in Race-2 went to Alessio Zanotti (Maranello-Tm), while Simonetti finished fourth.
ACI KART CHAMPION FRANCESCO PAGANO. In ACI Kart, Francesco Pagano (Lenzokart-Iame) came out on top. After finishing fourth in Race-1, he managed to secure another crucial result in Race-2 with a second place that allowed him to win the title. Cristian Comanducci (Tony kart-Iame) won both Finals, in Race-1 ahead of Mario Martucci (Tony Kart-Iame) and Marco Settimo (Birel-Iame), and in Race-2 ahead of Pagano, while Settimo finished third. In the Championship, Pagano won with 219 points, Settimo and Comanducci finished second and third with 214 and 210 points respectively.
ACI KART JUNIOR CHAMPION ALEKSANDER BARDAS. For the Italian-Polish driver Aleksander Bardas (DR-Iame), the third place in Race-1 was important to secure the category title for the second consecutive year. In the first of the two finals, the victory went to Federico Albanese (Tony Kart-Iame) ahead of Alessandro Balzarotti (Zanardi-Iame), with Bardas third. In Race-2, Leonardo Fornaroli (Zanardi-Iame) won ahead of Tommaso Chiappini (Tony Kart-Iame) and Balzarotti in a dramatic finale. Bardas finished fifth, preceded also by Albanese, but with the certainty of the title.
KZ3 JUNIOR CHAMPION LUCA BOMBARDELLI. In KZ3 Junior, the second Final was necessary to see the category title awarded. Luca Bombardelli on Maranello-Tm won the Championship, who after narrowly missing the podium in Race-1 with fourth place behind Alessio Mordini (Energy-Tm), Roberto Cesari (Oberon-Tm) and Mattia Giannini (Maranello-Tm), in Race-2 Bombardelli secured third place and gained the necessary points to win the Championship. In this second final, Giannini took the victory while Mordini finished second. In the Championship, Bombardelli won with just 8 points ahead of Giannini.
KZ3 OVER CHAMPION CLAUDIO TEMPESTI. A truly surprising conclusion in KZ3 Over, where Roberto Profico (Sodi-Tm), leader throughout the season, was overtaken by Claudio Tempesti (CRG-Tm) who proved to be the main protagonist in this round. Tempesti’s victory in the first final was decisive, ahead of Andrea Tonoli (Maranello-Tm) who made a great comeback, while Profico had to settle for third position after a lively exchange of positions at the front of the race. In Race-2, this time the victory went to Profico, with Tonoli again second and Simone Torsellini (Zanardi-Tm) in third place, while Tempesti finished fourth but already sure of winning the Championship, with a 2-point lead over Profico.
OK-JUNIOR CHAMPION ALEXEY BRIZHAN. Russian Alexey Brizhan (Tony Kart-Vortex) could only claim the category title in OK-Junior at the end of the second final, with second place behind the winner Francesco Raffaele Pizzi (Luxor-Vortex) and ahead of Luigi Coluccio (Birel-Tm). In Race-1, after a series of surprising race phases, the victory went to Luca Bosco (Tony Kart-Vortex) ahead of Leonardo Caglioni (Birel-Tm), with Brizhan in third place. In the end, Brizhan won the Championship with an 11-point lead over Bosco.
DELAYED TV BROADCASTS AND SPECIAL FEATURES. Delayed TV broadcasts are shown on RAI Sport1 and AutoMotoTV, television features within the ACI Magazine on national broadcasters and about 50 local broadcasters across the country. The complete Media schedule is published on the website www.acisportitalia.it.
GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT. A special page with commentary and photos on the Siena event will be published on Wednesday, September 6th in the sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport.
FINAL PRIZE POOL. The prize pool provided by ACI Sport for 2017 is €50,000.00, divided as follows: KZ2, OK, OK-Junior, ACI Kart, ACI Kart Junior, 60 Mini: for each category €3,000.00 for first place, €2,000.00 for second, and €1,000.00 for third; KZ3 Junior, KZ3 Under, KZ3 Over, KZ4: for each category €2,000.00 for first place, €1,000.00 for second, and €500.00 for third.
Press Office
ACI Sport S.p.A.
In the photos: 1) The Race 1 podium, KZ2; 2) The Race 1 podium, 60 Mini.
