The third round of the Italian ACI Karting Championship underway in Battipaglia is producing a good spectacle, with some interesting surprise and several underdogs ready to slide in among the main protagonists of the series.

At the Circuit of Sele in Battipaglia, qualifying heats took place after practice held on Friday to define the starting grid of the finals one scheduled for Sunday morning from 9:50 with live TV coverage on AutoMotoTV (Sky 148) and Live Streaming, while Race-2s (with top 8 grid inversion) will start at 13.50 with Live Streaming at www.sportube.tv and www.acisportitalia.it.

KZ2 has been exciting as usual. On Friday Pasquale Tellone put in a surprising pole position on EKS chassis run by Team Taglienti and the new engine Iame, that is being very competitive also in the shifter category. The first heat on Saturday recorded a sudden stop for Tellone due to a technical problem, which gave way to the surprisingly quick home hero Giuseppe Palomba (Intrepid-Tm), who was chased by a “re-born” Massimiliano Santonocito (Tony Kart-Vortex) who led the first part of the Italian Championship a few years back thanks to the victory of the opener in Triscina. Simone Cunati has also been very quick in Battipaglia. He had moved to Formula 4 last year and now he is back to karting on Top Kart pushed by Iame engine. Today he secured a good third place in Race-1. Italian Champion of 2016 Francesco Celenta put in a strong comeback from the qualifying on Praga-Tm, as he was fourth in Race-1, while classification leader Marco Zanchetta climbed up to P9 on Maranello-Tm after starting from the 15th spot of the grid.

The second heat of KZ2 went Giacomo Pollini’s ways on Formula K-Tm. He led Gianni Vigorito (BirelArt-Tm), who proceeded Palomba, Celenta, Santonocito, Zanchetta and Lonato’s Race-2 winner Fabrizio Rosati (CRG-Tm). Tellone put in a great race recovering from the back of the grid to P9. Palomba secured therefore the a pole position start. Pollini will side him, proceeding Santonocito and Vigorito, Celenta and Zanchetta, Cunati and Mollo. A good number of drivers ready for claiming the win.

 

Another interesting result came from 60 Mini, that had once again a great participation of 65 young drivers. On Friday, the pole position was taken by Gabriele Minì, on Parolin Tm, but the Dane Conrad Laursen (Tony Kart-Tm), Leonardo Bertini Colla (CRG-Tm), Alfio Spina (CRG-Tm) and Raffaele Gulizia (IPK-Tm) claimed the wins in the heats, but in the end Minì took the pole position for the first final thanks to two wins. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Tony Kart-Vortex) and the American Ugo Ugochukwu (Energy-Tm) are also strong contenders for the victory on Sunday.

In OK-Junior, Giuseppe Fusco won both heats on Parolin-Lke earning the pole position. Behind Fusco, the Russian Alexey Brizhan (Tony Kart-Vortex), while his team mate Luca Bosco, who was on pole in qualifying, will start from the second row following Leonardo Papalia (Zanardi-Tm). 

The quickest so far in ACI Kart was Francesco Pagano on Luxor-Iame. He claimed a double win leading pole sitter Vittorio Maria Russo (Tony Kart) who also took a second and third place today. Rocco Tancredi (Top Kart) is third proceeding Gennaro Auriemma (Tony Kart). 

In ACI Kart Junior, a double win in the heats was secured by 2016 Italian Champion Alexander Bardas (DR), who dominated both finals of Sarno. Alongside Bardas, Federico Albanese (Tony Kart) completed the first row. Francesco Sgobba (Energy) who claimed the pole position in qualifying, will start final 1 from the seventh position.

In KZ4, Antoniello Cosimo Damiano (Oberon-Tm) and Lino Di Simplicio (EKS-Tm) shared the victory of the two heats. Antoniello will start on pole position.

The double finals of all categories will take place on Sunday June 4th. Race-1 will start from 9.50 with live TV coverage on AutoMotoTV (Sky 148) and Live Streaming. Race-2 will follow at 13.50 with live streaming feed on www.sportube.tv and www.acisportitalia.it.

Classifications of the Italian ACI Karting Championship after two rounds:
KZ2 1. Zanchetta points 92; 2.Celenta 61; 3. Pastacaldi 47; 4. Mollo 44; 5. Pollini.
60 Mini 1. Minì punti 98; 2. Gulizia 78; 3. Ugochukwu 76; 4. Paparo 70; 5. Eyckmans 47.
OK-Junior 1. Brizhan points 89; 2. Bosco 65; 3. Cuman 48; 4. Al Habsi 34; 5. Fusco 32.
ACI Kart 1. Carenini points 100; 2. Pagano 84; 3. Morricone and Brigatti 60; 5. Settimo 51.

ACI Kart Junior 1. Cecchi points 94; 2. Bardas 66; 3. Barzarotti 55; 4. Chiappini 54; 5. Sgobba 52.
KZ3 Junior 1. Bombardelli points 58; 2. Genisi and Cesari 42; 4. Bartolini 35; 5. Tuia 30.
KZ3 Under 1. Di Lorenzo points 50; 2. Melas e Ragno 46; 4. Simonetti 44; 5. Fortuna 28.
KZ3 Over 1. Profico points 62; 2. Tonoli 48; 3. Tempesti 42; 4. Loddo 28; 5. Giannecchini 26.
KZ4 1. Antoniello points 27; 2. Guidetti 24; 3. Giberti 23; 4. Di Simplicio 17,5; 5. Malagnini 14.
Women 1. Prantl Selina ponts 20; 2. Cifola Francesca 17; 3. Balbo Natalia 2.

ACI Sport S.p.A.

Press office

In the pictures: 1) Giuseppe Palomba (Intrepid-Tm); 2) Gabriele Minì, 60 Mini; 3) Giuseppe Fusco, OK-Junior.