OK-Junior Prefinals: Lehtimaki and Sala win

Sunshine and cool temperatures, 5°, were the order of the day this Sunday morning in Lonato for the OK-Junior Prefinals of the first round of the WSK Super Master Series 2023.

Prefinal A
Oleksandr Bondarev (KR/Iame) finished the first lap as leader against Sebastian Lehtimaki (Tony Kart/Vortex). Dries van Langendonck (Energy/TM) passed Kian Fardin (KR/Iame) for P3. Scott Lindblom (Tony Kart/Vortex) moved up to 5th. Lethimaki was back in the lead on the sixth of the 17 laps ahead of Van Langendonck. Andy Consani (Parolin/TM) was 13th and Louis Cochet (Sodi/TM) 20th. Tiziano Monza (Parolin/TM) and Salim Hanna Hernandez (LN/Vortex) were fighting for 6th place. Bondarev remained the fastest, a tenth behind Van Langendonck. Consani retired on the 10th lap. Lehtimaki distanced himself from his two rivals in the middle of the battle. The Finn from Koski Motorsport won Prefinal A 6 tenths ahead of Bondarev. Van Langendonck finished 3rd by 8 tenths. Fardin and Lindblom completed the top five. Cochet regained several places in the last laps and finished 17th.

Prefinal B
Several false starts preceded the actual start of the race. Elliot Kaczynski (Tony Kart/Vortex) was leading against Christian Costoya (Parolin/TM) and Gerasim Skulanov (Birel ART/TM). Filippo Sala (Sodi/TM) took P1 on the second lap ahead of Skulanov, Costoya, Simon Rechenmacher (KR/Iame) and Stepan Antonov (KR/Iame). Sala continued to make the difference and broke away while Costoya and Skulanov had a close duel. Jindrich Pesl (IPK/TM) came back to 4th ahead of Antonov. Arata Endo (Tony Kart/Vortex) then moved up to 4th. Fast and steady, Sala ensured a fine victory for Sodi 1,8” ahead of Skulanov and Costoya. Endo finished 4th and Antonov 5th followed by Kaczynski. Lacking speed, Lisa Billard (Exprit/Vortex) had to be content with 27th place.

Provisional results pending publication of the final rankings.

Info Kartcom with Kartlink / Photo © KSP