Sant’Egidio alla Vibrata (Teramo), June 23rd, 2024.The third round of the Italian ACI Karting Championship at the Val Vibrata circuit concluded with another great success of participation. This midpoint event of the Italian Championship saw 238 drivers from 30 nations competing in the KZ2, MINI, OKN Junior, and OKN categories, making it a crucial event for the championship standings before the final rush on July 21st in Sarno and September 22nd in Lonato.

The Val Vibrata weekend experienced contrasting weather conditions, with intense heat until Saturday, and then on Sunday during the race 2 finals, a few raindrops fell, requiring all drivers to exercise a bit more caution.

KZ2 - Albanese wins race1, Orlov race2. Bertuca pulls away in the championship.
In KZ2, the first applause went to Danilo Albanese (#187 King Racing Team/KR-Iame-Vega), the 2022 Italian champion, who was competitive in the qualifying sessions and heats. In the first final, Albanese quickly took the lead, finishing ahead of the championship leader, Cristian Bertuca (#102 LG Motorsport/BirelART-TM Kart), while the Sicilian Angelo Lombardo (#123 KCS/BirelART-TM Kart) finished in third after a great comeback. The fourth place went to one of the weekend's main protagonists, the Frenchman Adrien Renaudin (#194 DR/DR-Modena Engines), followed by the multi-champion Davide Forè (#184 GRS Team/BirelART-TM Kart), who was first among the Masters. In the Under 18 category, the victory went to Bertuca, with Maksim Orlov (#804 Modena Kart/Parolin-TM Kart) coming back to second place, and the Finn Kimi Tani (#165 LA Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) in third, although he was later penalized. Third place went to Dion Van Werven (#192 CRG Holland/CRG-TM Kart).

In race 2, Maksim Orlov took the lead and remained unchallenged until he crossed the finish line in first place. Danilo Albanese, the winner of race 1, was forced to retire. Kimi Tani finished second, Cristian Bertuca third and this order also composed the Under 18 podium. The Master category was again won by Davide Forè, with Mirko Mizzoni (#167 Italcorse/Italcorse-TM Kart) in second place. In the championship, Bertuca increased his lead with second and third place.

MINI GR.3 - Truchot and Gorski share the victories.
A great battle has been fought in the MINI Gr.3, where the American Alessandro Truchot (#36 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame-MG) prevailed in race 1, while his teammate and championship leader Julian Frasnelli was forced to retire immediately due to a contact after dominating the heats. Truchot secured a fine victory over another BabyRace driver, the Swiss Albert Tamm, and the Polish Leonardo Gorski (#56 Tony Kart Racing Team/Tony Kart-Vortex). Gioele Girardello (#26 Parolin Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) finished fourth ahead of the Ukrainian Oleksandr Legenkyi (#5 Team Driver/KR-Iame). In race 2, with the grid reversed for the top 8 positions, Leonardo Gorski emerged victorious at the end of a lively race, followed by his teammate, the Indian Oliver Sini, and the Spaniard Daniel Miron Lorente (#4 Team Driver/KR-Iame)."

MINI GR.3 Under 10 – Twist in race1: Iannone wins, while Loomets has the upper hand in race2.
A great duel for victory in race 1 involved the two Energy Corse drivers, concluding with a final overtaking manoeuvre by the championship leader Niccolò Perico (#213 Energy Corse/Energy-TM Kart-MG) on Andrea Iannone (#221 Spinoproject/Energy-TM Kart). However, at the start of the race, Perico made an overtake under yellow flags and was penalized 5 seconds, causing the Bergamo driver to drop to fourth place. The victory thus went to Andrea Iannone, with Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio (#218 BabyRace/Parolin-Iame) in second and the American Lucas Palacio (#225 Kidix/KR-Iame) in third. In race 2, another Energy Corse driver, the young Estonian Mark Martin Loomets, prevailed, with Leopoldo Cannizzaro from the Gamoto team in second and Nathan Lotrionte (#227 Lotrionte/KR-Iame) in third, but later penalized. The Georgian Leon Chelidze (#207 Team Driver/KR-Iame) moved up to third place. Perico was caught in an early skirmish and finished only 22nd.

OK-N Junior - Tonalini and Bagutti are the two winners.
In race 1, Cristian Tonalini (#302 Tona Racing/Tony Kart-TM Kart-MG) took the lead in the OKNJ race from the front row and resisted pressure from the Brazilian Neto Pizzonia (#310 Team Driver/KR-Iame), while Bruno Blanco (#340 LA Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) placed third. Cristian Blandino (#304 Kalì-Kart/TM Kart), who was the best after the heats, lost positions and finished sixth. In race 2, Pietro Bagutti (#306 Gamoto/Tony Kart-TM Kart) took advantage of the inverted grid and sped towards victory, followed by Cristian Tonalini and the Australian Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi (#348 Ward Racing/Tony Kart-Vortex). Blandino finished in fourth position, with the American Travis Teoh (#362 LA Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart) in fifth.

OK-N - Rocchio confirms his speed as Rossi pulls away.
Gino Rocchio (#422 Monster K Factory/CRG-TM Kart-MG) confirmed himself as one of the top contenders in OK-N. After leading in qualifying and heats, he also won the first final ahead of championship leader Federico Rossi (#436 PRK/Tony Kart-TM Kart) and the Polish driver Juliuz Ociepa (#410 Novalux/Lenzokart-LKE). Another Polish driver, Bartosz Grzywacz (#455 LA Motorsport/Parolin-TM Kart), and Niccolò Coppotelli (#415 KGT Motorsport/Tony Kart-Vortex) recovered to fourth and fifth place, respectively. In race 2, the leader Federico Rossi took control after a strong recovery from the inverted grid and secured the victory, increasing his championship lead. Francesco Marenghi (#420 MLG Racing Team/Parolin-TM Kart) finished second, and Antonio Apicella (#418 GSR Team/LN Kart-Iame) third after climbing eight positions. The reigning Italian champion Federico Albanese (#401 Italcorse/Italcorse-TM Kart) finished fourth, with Niccolò Coppotelli in fifth. Gino Rocchio ended up in the back positions.

Complete results:
https://www.acisport.it/it/CIK/homePhotogallery: https://archiviofotografico.acisport.it/Campionato-Italiano-ACI-Karting/2024/VAL-VIBRATA

The next round:
21/07/24 - SARNO - Mini Gr.3 Under, Mini Gr. 3, OKNJ, OKN, KZ2.

Media coverage.
A television special will be broadcast the following week on ACI Sport TV, RAI Sport, and other national and regional channels throughout the country.
On Wednesday, June 26th, Gazzetta dello Sport will have a special page with photos and comments about the event.

The calendar of the Italian ACI Karting 2024 Championship.
21/04/24 - TRISCINA - Mini Gr.3 Under, Mini Gr. 3, OKNJ, OKN, KZ2.
19/05/24 - LA CONCA - Mini Gr.3 Under, Mini Gr. 3, OKNJ, OKN, KZ2.
23/06/24 - VAL VIBRATA - Mini Gr.3 Under, Mini Gr. 3, OKNJ, OKN, KZ2.
21/07/24 - SARNO - Mini Gr.3 Under, Mini Gr. 3, OKNJ, OKN, KZ2.
08/09/24 - FRANCIACORTA - KZN Under, KZN Over.
22/09/24 - LONATO - Mini Gr.3 Under, Mini Gr. 3, OKNJ, OKN, KZ2, 100/125 Legend.

In the pictures: 1) The start of KZ2 race1; 2) The KZ2 podium of race1; 3) The OKN podium of race1.
Ph. Print H24.

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