The second round of the Italian ACI Karting Championship held at the International Circuit Napoli of Sarno has been another good event with 121 drivers on track in the 4 categories KZ2, KF, KF Junior and 60 Mini and an international presence featuring drivers from 11 countries (Italy, Lithuania, Russia, Switzerland, Great Britain, Norway, Czech Republic, Spain, Romania, Canada, United States).

The finals of all categories have been good, but KZ2 and 60 Mini have been really excellent due also to the high number of drivers on track in these two categories: 48 in KZ2 and 53 in 60 Mini, that produced an important selection in qualifying heats.

In the first KZ2 Final, the driver from Naples Ciro Mollo of team Taglienti on PCR-Tm did not have problems to take the win, as he has been protagonist since qualifying and heats. In the Final, Mollo crossed the line first on his home circuit, leading Riccardo Longhi (CRG-Tm) who was among the main protagonists of the round of Triscina. In Sarno, Longhi had to recover from the 10th position on the grid due to a 30 seconds penalty (handed to a lot of drivers) in the second qualifying heat due to a new international regulation that imposes a sanction when a driver ends up with the nose cone dropped due to a contact. The third place on the podium went to another CRG-Tm driver, Leonardo Fuoco, who also put in a good race. In Final-1 Mirko Torsellini, who is Ricciardo Racing's works driver, took a good P4 after a good comeback race started from P29 and being forced to run (winning) the second chance race due to two 30 seconds penalties for the front bumper rule.

In Final 2, run with top 8 grid inversion, the main protagonist was Mirko Torsellini, who managed to get some more ground back and completed several overtaking moves until the chequered flag. Torsellini repeated the victory he obtained in Sarno last year, being once again among the main protagonists of the Italian Championship. Behind Torsellini, Massimo Mazzali (CRG-Tm) was second, while Ciro Mollo was again on the podium in third. Among the quickest, Alessandro Giulietti (Intrepid-Tm), former Italian champion in 20112 and 2013, was fourth in the second final at the end of a troubled weekend. The protagonist of Triscina Massimiliano Santonocito (Tony kart-Vortex), experienced a series of problems in Sarno which prevented him to finish on top positions. Longhi got the lead of the charts with 92 points and is 30 points clear of Santocito. Mollo is third at 58.

The two Finals of 60 Mini reserved for children aged between 9 and 12 have been very tight as usual. The sting in the tail came from Giuseppe Fusco on Tony Kart-Tm run by Baby Race, as he completed the first lap of the first final on top but then he had a problem to the spark plug. Leonardo Marseglia (Zanardi-Tm) of AB Motorsport got the most of this and got the lead winning the duel with Mattia Michelotto (Energy-Parilla) of team Giugliano, who was second at the flag. Federico Cecchi (Tony Kart-Tm) of Morsicani Racing won the battle for P3 with the Norwegian Dennis Hauger on CRG-Tm of Team Gamoto. In the second Final, Michelotto claimed the victory in a tight sprint to the line as Hauger managed to get on the podium in P2, ahead of the other driver of Team Giugliano, Biagio Ruvolo. Marseglia was fourth, Fusco fifth at the end of a great comeback race. Michelotto got the lead of the classification at 94 points, while Hauger is now second at 80.

Adriano Albano (Tony Kart-Tm) dominated KF, taking a double victory with two identical podiums in the two Finals. He enjoyed a good advantage on Stefano Cucco (Energy-Tm) and on Pierluigi Lanza (Tony Kart-Tm) in both races. Cucco confirmed to be on top of the classification though as he stands at 57 points, Gheno (who scored two fifth places in Sarno) is second at 42 and Albano is third at 33.

KF Junior have been more lively instead. The first Final went Davide Lombardo's ways (Tony Kart-Vortex) ahead of Lorenzo Colombo (Tony Kart-Lke) and Alessandro Giardelli (Tony Kart-Tm). The second Final was won by the Russian Ivan Grigoriev (Kosmic-Vortex) who had finished 4th in Final-1. Behind Grigoriev, the Russian Dmitrii Bogdanov and Davide Lombardo completed the podium, both on Tony Kart-Vortex. Colombo is leading the classification with 48 points, Giardelli is second at 45, Lombardo third at 29.

The next round of the Championship is scheduled for 28 June at the Adria Karting Raceway.

RESULTS. All results will be available at www.acisportitalia.it.

TV RECORDED BROADCASTS. On AutoMotoTv (Sky 148) Race-1: Wednesday at 22.30, Friday at 14.00, Saturday at 24.00, Sunday 14/6 at 14; Race-2: Thursday at 23.00, Friday at 11.00, Saturday at 15.30, Sunday 14/6 at 21.

TV SPECIALS. TV specials will be shown within the ACI Magazine on Nuvolari, Sportitalia, RTV San Marino, Safedrive/Odeon, Sky Sport 2, On RaceTV/Odeon and Gazzetta TV, alongside the specials programmed by more than 50 local channels covering the Italian territory. Schedules are available on www.acisportitalia.it

GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT. A special commentary page including pictures of the round of Sarno will be published on Thursday 11 June on Gazzetta dello Sport.

ACI Sport S.p.A.
Press Office

In the pictures: 1) Ciro Mollo, KZ2; 2) Mirko Torsellini, KZ2; 3) Mattia Michelotto, 60 Mini.