Pollini Pounces as Russians Rule the Margutti Trophy
| press release | 16 March 2016 |
| Tweet | |
- Australian Marcos Flack ranked 32nd out of 55 in the 60 Mini class after heat results of 13, 19, 15 (he had earlier qualified 24th). After failing to start the pre-final, Flack started dead last and came home 22nd in the final, registering a best lap quicker than the winning driver.
The 27th Andrea Margutti Trophy at South Garda Karting of Lonato produced yet again a great spectacle, with about 160 drivers coming from 25 countries and a lot of emotions in the four categories of this edition, as the new two categories OK and OK Junior got on track alongside KZ2 and 60 Mini.
Together with the patron of the event, Umberto Pellegrini, ACI Sport President of the Karting Commission and five times winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Emanuele Pirro, who has always been a fan of the Andrea Margutti Trophy, has been present to event that has been celebrating for 27 years the memory of the driver from Rome Andrea Margutti, who passed away early on the 14th of October 1989 in Parma.
Above: In the sprint to the line of the KZ2 Final, Giacomo Pollini beats Alexander Schmitz
pic - FM Press
KZ2
The “queen” category awarded the highest emotions. KZ2 had 49 drivers at the start and the victory was decided at the last lap with a spectacular overtaking move completed by the young Italian Giacomo Pollini, on CRG-Tm run by Renda Motorsport, that had the best of the German Alexander Schmitz, Tony Kart-Vortex run by team KSM of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher. The latter won the 2015 German Championship, was third last year at the Margutti Trophy and this year has been among the main interpreters of this edition, after winning qualifying heats and Prefinal. The sprint to the line of the Final has been the icing on the cake of this 27th Andrea Margutti Trophy, confirming the speed of Pollini who managed to secure his first international win.
A great duel also inflamed the fight for the third step of the podium, but an incident involved the main contenders at the last corner. The two Italians Tommaso Mosca on Maranello-Tm and Leonardo Lorandi on Tony Kart-Vortex, who had put in a great comeback after running the second chance race due to a series of problems in the heats, had in fact a contact and Alberto Cavalieri, at the debut on Maranello-Modena, got the most out of it taking P3 at the end of a good race.
Above: KZ2 podium and prizes
pic - FM Press
Among the excellent retirements, Massimo Dante on Maranello-Tm, was stopped by a technical problem. The fourth and fifth positions went to Douglas Lundberg (Mach1-Tm), who had obtained the pole position in qualifying, and the American Gary Carlton (Formula K-Parilla).
OK
The new category OK saw only 6 drivers at the start. The victory went to the Russian Alexander Smolyar (Tony Kart-Vortex) of Ward Racing, who dominated qualifying, heats and Prefinal. The second place went to the Danish driver Emil Dose (Kosmic-Vortex), who led the Swede Simon Ohlin (Tony Kart-Vortex).
Above: OK winner Alexander Smolyar
pic - FM Press
Above: OK podium
pic - FM Press
OK JUNIOR
Category OK Junior has been quite lively and had 45 drivers at the start. The Russian Ivan Shvetsov (Tony Kart-Vortex) of Ward Racing managed to better them all, proceeding at the flag his fellow countryman and team mate Pavel Bulantsev. An all Russian podium was rounded up by Bogdan Fetisov, on Tony Kart-Tm of team Komarov, who proceeded the Danish driver Noah Watt, as the latter came to the fore in qualifying with the quickest time. Alessandro Giardelli on Tony Kart-Lke, was the best of the Italians in fifth place after being always among the leading group. The OK Junior classification is still sub-judice though, as Watt filed an appeal regarding a penalty he was handed in the Prefinal.
Above: Ivan Shvetsov wins OK Junior
pic - FM Press
Above: OK-J podium
pic - FM Press
60 MINI
The smallest of the categories, 60 Mini, had 55 drivers at the start. A Russian driver, Rusian Fomin of Baby Race on Tony Kart-Tm, managed to take the victory also in this category at the end of a good Final, where he battled the victory out with the French of Gamoto Racing on CRG-Tm Evann Mallett. The two have been challenging each other until the flag, when Fomin took the victory. The third place went to another young Russian, Kirill Smail of team Giugliano on Energy-Parilla. Federico Cecchi (CRG-Tm, Morsicani), Francesco Miotto (IP-Tm, Formula K), Riccardo Camplese (CRG-Tm, Gamoto), Francesca Raffaele (Evokart-Iame, AB Motorsport), Alfio Andrea Spina (Evokart-Lke), Leonardo Caglioni (Evokart-Tm) and Alex Kattoulas (Tony Kart-Tm, Baby Race) ended close to the top three.
Above: Russian Rusian Fomin beat 54 other 60Mini drivers
pic - FM Press
Above: 60 Mini podium
pic - FM Press
All results are available at www.trofeomargutti.com and www.southgardakarting.it
