Australia Wins Nations Cup In Italy
Tweet| from Dennis Sandrone | 14 October 2012 |
Australia has won the Nations Cup at the ROK International Cup at the South Garda circuit in Italy.
Each nation was required to nominate two entrants towards the coveted Nations Cup. Andrew Khal and Cody Gillis were the chosen two and they secured the silverware!
This was an exceptional effort and means Australia won the Nations Cup at the Rok International at its first attempt.
Above: The Australian lineup of drivers and pit crew at Lonato
It was around 22 degress and cloudy for the Aussie team’s final day of racing. They all fronted the early morning 5-minute warm up, with the exception of Chris Sandrone who opted to sit the session out to rest a niggling rib injury.
In the first remaining two Junior Rok heats, Andrew Kahl came home 3rd with the fastest time in the heat by well over 0.1 of a second. Kurt Kosteki unfortunately DNF’d the heat which meant he would miss out in the Rok Cup final by a single point.
Next up was Chris Sandrone’s last heat in which he managed to come home 5th after being up as high as 2nd.
First up in the finals was Jack Bell starting the T-Kart Mini Rok final in 11th. Jack quickly set about working his way through the field to battle for the lead for the remaining 4 laps to come home second, missing out on first by just 0.33sec.
Next up was Kurt Kosteki starting from pole in the Bridgestone final. Kurt quickly took a comanding lead to win by over 2.8 secs.
Above: Nation parade with the boys standing just near the 2012 sign.
In the Junior Rok final, Andrew Kahl started of 4th with Chris Sandrone off 8th and Cody Gillis off 22nd. Andrew recovered from some kart contact at the start that set him back several positions. Despite this, he worked his way back to come home 4th setting the second fastest time just .020 seconds behind winner Italian Leonnardo Pulcini.
Chris Sandrone had a luckless race, relegated back after a first corner incident to eventualy DNF after a late race incident. Cody Gillis had a barn storming run from 22nd to finish 8th which was the final podium position.
Travis Millar started the Super Rok class final 17th, only to have another kart drive over his kart on the first corner. Fortunately, apart from some cuts on his hands, Travis escaped injury, however kart damage meant his campaign ended early.
Finally, the “Australian” Team at the Rok International Final wish to thank again Greg Smith from Tonykart Australia, Mark Rottenbury and Adam Hunter from Karting World, Matt Greenbury from G Force Karting and all the Mum’s and Dad’s.
