Griffin Peebles managed a couple of top ten results in the Mini class at the WSK Super Master Series round 3 & 4 double header at Adria Raceway in Italy on the weekend.
Griffin won his “round 3” pre-final to line up P2 for the final. “After winning the Pre Final I started the Final from the outside front row which was always going to be tough on this track” he wrote on Facebook. “I didn’t do a great job and was pushed off track and dropped to 9th where I finished. Not the result I was hoping for but still a strong week.”
Meanwhile, James Wharton DNF’d his pre-final and was 23nd in the OK final having moved up 11 positions during the 20-lap race.
“Round 4” presented it challenges for Peebles. Another strong qualification run (5th) was followed by fifth and second in the opening two heats, but a 23rd (DNF) and 24th dropped him to 34th in the rankings. This was followed by strong recovery drives to 8th in his pre-final and 10th in the main Final.
For Wharton, his “round 4” final was over in a matter of laps, recording a DNF and 33rd place. He’d earlier qualified 20th, was ranked 29th after heats results of 12-15-17, followed by 13th in his pre-final.
WSK press
THE CHAMPIONS OF WSK SUPER MASTER SERIES 2020
The titles of WSK Super Master Series have been awarded to the Finn Simo Puhakka in KZ2, the Russian Nikita Bedrin in OK, the Brit Arvid Lindblad in OKJ and the other Russian Dmitry Matveev in MINI at the end of the closing round.
The International karting week after the Covid-19 emergency has been a good participation success and produced a lot of spectacle in the two final rounds of WSK Super Master Series held at the Adria Karting Raceway. The presence in this long week started on Monday, June 29th has been great in this event that followed a new format. A total of 182 drivers ran round three that ended on Saturday and 186 the closing round of the series on Sunday, July 5th. They came from 34 different countries to compete in the four categories KZ2, OK, OK-Junior and MINI.
The finals of the third round on Saturday defined the main protagonists of the WSK Super Master Series and the values shown were confirmed in the final round on Sunday. The 2020 titles went to Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) in KZ2, Nikita Bedrin (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) in OK, Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) in OKJ and Dmitry Matveev (Energy Corse/Energy-TM Racing-Vega) in MINI.
THE RACES – PREFINALS
In the first of the two KZ2 prefinals, the news regarded the retirement of some strong contenders like the Italian Matteo Viganò (Leclerc by Lennox/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega), who had claimed the podium on Saturday. Prefinal-A went to Riccardo Longhi (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega). Prefinal-B saw the Finn Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) winning again. In OK, the Russian Nikita Bedrin (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) won Prefinal-A again and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Bridgestone) alike in Prefinal-B. Prefinal-A of OK-Junior was won by the American Ugo Ugochukwu (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Bridgestone), Prefinal-B by the classification leader from Britain Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega). Mini’s Prefinal-A went to the Dutch Renè Lammers (Baby Race/Parolin-TM Racing-Vega), while the Japanese Kean Nakamura Berta (Team Driver Racing Kart/KR-Iame-Vega) won Prefinal-B from the Russian classification leader Dmitry Matveev (Energy Corse/Energy-TM Racing-Vega).
THE RACES – FINALS
KZ2 VICTORY AND TITLE TO SIMO PUHAKKA
The Finn Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) did not have too many problems to win the final races and secure the WSK Super Master Series 2020 title finding his way past the previous leader from Italy Giuseppe Palomba (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega), who closed the race in fourth place and was second in the Championship. On the podium next to Puhakka were the Italians Fabian Federer (SRP Racing Team/Maranello TM Racing-Vega) and Palomba’s teammate Riccardo Longhi (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega). The fifth place went to the other BirelArt driver Alex Irlando.
Race classification: 1. Puhakka; 2. Federer; 3. Longhi; 4. Palomba; 5. Irlando; 6. Renaudin; 7. Pex Stan; 8. Albanese; 9. Nomblot; 10. Gustafsson.
Championship classification: 1. Puhakka points 295; 2. Palomba 267; 3. Federer 195; 4. Longhi 176; 5. Irlando 169.
NIKITA BEDRIN WINS OK
In OK the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Bridgestone) and the Spaniard Pedro Hiltbrand (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) were among the front runners, but the Russian Nikita Bedrin (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) slid in among them and soon after the start he had clear way. Antonelli was involved in an incident that made him lose several positions, while Hiltbrand suffered from rib pain and retired early on. Bedrin did not have too many problems to dominate the race and this victory earned him the title. Behind him, United Arab Emirates’ driver Jamie Day (Leclerc by Lennox/BirelArt-TM Racing-Bridgestone) secured P2 in the closing stages overtaking the Brazilian Rafa Camara (Forza Racing/Exprit-TM Racing-Bridgestone). The Brazilian Matheus Morgatto (Parolin/Parolin-TM Racing-Bridgestone) was fourth and led the Brit Joe Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) and the Italian Luigi Coluccio (Kosmic Racing Dep/Kosmic-Vortex-Bridgestone).
Race classification: 1. Bedrin; 2. Day; 3. Camara; 4. Morgatto; 5. Turney; 6. Coluccio; 7. Ten Brinke; 8. Barnard; 9. Gray; 10. Vant Hoff.
Championship classification: 1. Bedrin points 311; 2. Antonelli 280; 3. Hiltbrand 254; 4. Turney 243; 5. Bernard 222.
UGOCHUKWU WINS THE OKJ RACE, LINDBLAD THE TITLE
The American Ugo Ugochukwu (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) won the closing final of the long week of OKJ in Adria. He always kept the lead and was followed by his teammate Alfio Andrea Spina. The championship was won by the other KR Motorsport driver, the Brit Arvid Lindblad, who was third in the race and confirmed his place on top of the classification since the second round in Lonato. Behind the three KR Motorsport drivers, the Pole Tymoteusz Kucharczyk (BirelArt/RK-TM Racing-Vega) was fourth and led the other KR driver from Russia Miron Pingasov and the British driver Maxwell Dodds (Parolin Racing Kart/Parolin-TM Racing-Vega).
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Race classification: 1. Ugochukwu; 2. Spina; 3. Lindblad; 4. Kucharczyk; 5. Pingasov; 6. Dodds; 7. Slater; 8. Badoer; 9. Pasiewicz; 10. Cepil.
Championship classification: 1. Lindblad points 398; 2. Pasiewicz 260; 3. Badoer 248; 4. Spina 246; 5. Ugochukwu 243.
GOOD WIN FOR NAKAMURA IN MINI, AS MATVEEV TAKES THE TITLE
The young Japanese Kean Nakamura Berta (Team Driver/KR-Iame-Vega) won the closing final of WSK Super Master Series in MINI after shining in several occasions. Nakamura secured a strong win at the end of a nice race in which he found his way past the Russian Dmitry Matveev (Energy Corse/Energy-TM Racing-Vega) at the last lap. The second place of the latter was anyway enough for taking the title. The third place went to the Pole Maciej Gladysz (Parolin Racing Kart/Parolin-TM Racing-Vega). The American James Egozi (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) was fourth and the Slovenian Mark Kastelic (Team Driver/KR-TM Racing-Vega) fifth.
Race classification: 1. Nakamura; 2. Matveev; 3. Gladysz; 4. Egozi; 5. Kastelic; 6. Hideg; 7. Apicella; 8. Saeter; 9. Lammers; 10. Peebles.
Championship classification: 1. Matveev; 2. Nakamura; 3. Gladysz; 4. Skulanov; 5. Lammers.
Next round: the opener of WSK Euro Series from July 8th to 12th at the International Circuit Napoli in Sarno.
- Complete results are available at www.wskarting.it.
THE WINNERS OF THE THIRD ROUND OF WSK SUPER MASTER SERIES IN ADRIA
The Final stages of this exciting WSK Super Master Series has started after the restart post Covid-19 emergency at the Adria Karting Raceway. This event spanned a whole week dedicated to the third and fourth round that will end this WSK Promotion’s championship.
Prefinals and Finals for the third round of the series of KZ2, OK, OKJ and MINI took place on Saturday, July 4th. These finals awarded big points valid for the classification ahead of the final act of the 2020 WSK Super Master Series on Sunday.
PREFINALS
In the two Prefinals of each category, the victories went respectively to the Italian Matteo Viganò (Leclerc by Lennox/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega) and to the Finn Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) in KZ2, to the Russian Nikita Bedrin (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) and the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Bridgestone) in OK, to the other Italian Brando Badoer (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) and to the Brit Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) in OK-Junior, to the Dutch Rene Lammers (Baby Race Driver Academy/Parolin-TM Racing-Vega) and the Australian Griffin Peebles (AV Racing/Parolin-TM Racing-Vega) in MINI.
FINALS
PUHAKKA WINS ROUND 3 IN KZ2 AND ATTACKS PALOMBA
In KZ2, the Finn Simo Puhakka (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega) dominated the scene after overtaking Paolo Ippolito (CRG-TM Racing-Vega), who managed to climb on top. Puhakka did not leave the top of the race since lap 4 and was chased at the flag after 20 laps by a charging Stan Pex (KR Motorsport/KR-TM Racing-Vega) and by a strong Matteo Viganò (Leclerc by Lennox/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega) that completed the podium. Ippolito was fourth and led Giuseppe Palomba (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega), who is still on top of the classification and 40 points clear of Puhakka. Riccardo Longhi (BirelArt Racing/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega) run a strong race and ended sixth leading the Swede Vikctor Gustafsson (Leclerc by Lennox/BirelArt-TM Racing-Vega) and the French Adrien Renaudin, who was the first of Sodikart drivers.
KZ2 classification: 1. Palomba points 183; 2. Puhakka 143; 3. Viganò 102; 4. Irlando 96; 5. Pex Stan 85.
ANTONELLI IS THE NEW LEADER OF OK
In OK, the Russian Nikita Bedrin (Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) confirmed to be the strongest driver of the category and won the final after winning Prefinal-A. A good step forward in the classification was made by the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Bridgestone), the other brilliant protagonist of this category that, after winning Prefinal-B, claimed up to a great P2 in the Final taking the second place of the championship’s classification. The Brit Taylor Barnard (Rosberg Racing Academy/KR-Iame-Bridgestone) was also among the best and confirmed his speed taking the third step of the podium. The Spaniard Pedro Hiltbrand (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) had to settle for the fourth place despite a good comeback in qualifying, but this results confirmed him as the runner-up in the championship campaign, as he stands 8 points short of Antonelli. The Brit Joe Turney (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Bridgestone) had an unlucky final as a contact relegated him to P29 and made him lose the lead of the classification. He is now third at 27 points.
OK classification: 1. Antonelli points 203; 2. Hiltbrand 195; 3. Turney 176; 4. Barnard 171; 5. Bedrin 158.
STRONG LEAD FOR LINDBLAD IN OKJ
In OK-Junior the British driver Arvid Lindblad (KR Motorsport/KR-Iame-Vega) confirmed himself on top of the classification thanks to a strong win from an as quick teammate Brando Badoer, who has always kept himself in the slipstream of the leader and ended second. The podium was rounded off by Karol Pasiewicz (Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex-Vega), while the other Pole Tymoteusz Kucharczyk (BirelArt Racing/RK-TM Racing-Vega) was fourth. Alfio Andrea Spina was hit by bad luck and could not improve his classification, as he had to retire early from the race after shining in Prefinal with P4.
OKJ classification: 1. Lindblad points 276; 2. Badoer 198; 3. Pasiewicz 186; 4. Kucharczyk 143; 5. Spina 135.
MATVEEV HEADING TO THE TITLE IN MINI
The podium of this final of MINI was decided at the last lap in a three-way sprint to the line. The Russian Dmitry Matveev (Energy Corse/Energy-TM Racing-Vega) kept the lead early on, but the Pole Jan Przyrowsky (AV Racing/Parolin-TM Racing-Vega) found his way past him later on. Matveev managed to get back on top in the closing lap and the quick Japanese Kean Nakamura Berta (Team Driver Racing Kart/KR-Iame-Vega) made the most of the closing battle overtaking Przyrowsky for P2. Przrowsky ended in fact third leading Antonio Apicella (Apicella/Energy-Iame-Vega) and the Pole Maciej Gladysz (Parolin/Parolin-TM Racing-Vega). Matveev kept the lead of the classification thanks to this win.
MINI classification: 1. Matveev points 227; 2. Skulanov 188; 3. Nakamura 118; 4. Przyrowsky 107; 5. Khavalkin 101.
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