The ROK Cup Winter Trophy celebrates the Vortex single-brand new season in the best possible way, with 185 drivers - divided into the seven categories competing - at the South Garda Karting track in Lonato del Garda (Italy). At the end of the two competition days, the finals crowned the following winners: Vladimir Rebenciuc (Mini ROK U10), Filippo Frigerio (Mini ROK), Riccardo Brangero (Junior ROK), Samuele Di Filippo (Senior ROK), Claudio Pagliarani (Expert ROK), Nicolas Marchesi (Super ROK) and Nicola Rossini (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK U10

Absolute news in this ROK Cup Winter Trophy edition is the Mini ROK U10 category, reserved for the small Rokkers of the single-brand by Vortex.

Alessio Ottaviani officially opens the dances in the qualifyings with a pole position obtained with the time of 55.309 seconds, slightly better than the rival’s Ghazi Almekdad, second overall. Andreas Drugau and Vladimir Rebenciuc take the third and fourth places respectively, followed by Matteo Meni, fifth, and Edoardo Traina, sixth. Leon Giudicelli gains the seventh place and preceded Giovanni Ventorino, eighth, Natan Lukas, ninth, and Villarreal Iker Castro to complete the top-10. Also attending the race weekend are Giorgio Sapignoli, Radek Czernicki, Demir Halilovic, Leo Kralev, Filip Stec, Farel Dugat Beretta, Martin Antonio, Leon Lewczuk, Sebastiano Leone Cecchin, Nicolò Pacillo, Anna Makolm, James Grøndal-Eeles, Aleksander Ziebura, Nikita Bortov, Nicolaj Pietras, Liam Giulio Lavorini and Lucas Marx.

The subsequent qualifying heats completely overturn the overall category ranking. With a victory under his belt, Rebenciuc jumps at the lead, followed by Meni, also with a success in the heats. Excellent recovery of 11 positions for Kralev, third, ahead of Traina, fourth, and Lukas, fifth. Almekdad drops from second to sixth position and precedes in the ranking Bretta, from 16^th to seventh, and Ventorino, eighth. Stec enters the top-10, while Ottaviani slips from first to tenth.

The final immediately sees Rebenciuc and Meni pitted against each other in the first few metres: the Romanian took the lead after a few corners, while the Italian made a mistake due to the difficult track conditions and resumed the race from the back. In the meantime, Lukas and Kralev duel for second place and, just as Almekdad and Ventorino catch up with them, the yellow flag is waved all over the track for an incident at the back of the field, followed by the momentary suspension of the race. At the restart, with only one lap to go, Rebenciuc perfectly controlled the situation and won the race, accompanied on the podium by Lukas, second, and Kralev, third. Beretta took fourth place, ahead of Almekdad, Pacillo, Ventorino and Ottaviani.

Mini ROK

There are also many Mini ROK drivers aiming for the first title in the 2025 ROK Cup season.

Filippo Frigerio puts everyone in line in the qualifyings with a pole position of 53.913 seconds, leaving behind his rival Nathan Lotrionte, second. In third place we find Aleksander Pelikanski, with Nicolò Poli and Tommaso Pomoni, fourth and fifth respectively. Marco Verde, in sixth place, precedes Calin Costea, seventh, Dawid Tyndel, eighth, Serban Vizitiu, ninth, and Giulio Manzoni, tenth. Also at the starting grid there are Lucas Doillon, Paul Plattner-Geramb, Bryan Filippelli, Romain Lopez, Filip Babiarz, Daniel Hakkinen, Nicolas Yerly, Camilla Amarotti, Ilia Cotorobai, Dominic Wojcik, Mattia Pellin, Sebastian Schirripa, Stavros Tsotsos Francia, Marcus Randgaard, Wojciech Kosikiewicz and Tymon Parszewski.

The leader changes at the end of the qualifyings: with a haul of two victories and a fifth place, Poli climbs to the lead of the provisional classification preceding Pelikanski, second, and Doillon, the latter having climbed from 11^th to third. Verde occupies fourth place, ahead of the poleman Frigerio, author of a victory in the first heat, but penalised by the subsequent results. Yerly, Hakkinen, Lopez, Plattner-Geramb and Tsotsos perform remarkable comebacks and gain a place in the top-10, unlike Lotrionte who, from second, drops back to 17^th.

The final begins with an excellent jump of Poli from the pole position, but soon after a few metres it is Doillon who takes the lead. In a heated tussle in the following corners, Poli blows Doillon out of the lead and Frigerio takes advantage of this to move into second place. Even before the end of the opening lap, however, the situation is reversed, with Frigerio as the new race leader. If at the beginning it is Poli who plays the role of Frigerio's first pursuer, in the second part of the race it is Doillon who is more of a threat to the Italian. Keeping well concentrated, Frigerio keeps the first position and precedes the French driver at the finish line. Poli wins the sprint against Tommaso Pomoni, but in the post-race he receives a five-second penalty for having the front spoiler in the wrong position. Pomoni thus takes the lowest step on the podium, finishing ahead of Pelikanski, Hakkinen and Poli.

Junior ROK

38 are the Junior ROK drivers at the start of the weekend at Lonato del Garda.

The qualifyings see the German flag fly high, with Maxim Becker in pole position, thanks to a time of 48.325 seconds recorded in Group 2. In second position there is another German driver, Sebastian Riedel, the fastest in Group 1. Italians Cristian Blandino, Riccardo Brangero and Matteo Peruccio take the third, fourth and fifth places respectively, ahead of Iven Ammann, sixth, and Miosz Smuk, seventh. Also in the top ten we find Martina Rumlenova, eighth, Leonardo De Grandi, ninth, and Borys Blaszczyk, tenth. The ranking continues with Adrian Potepa, Mateusz Wal, Alexander Mrozik Olek, Augustin Feligioni, Julia Angelard, Leonardo Lanza, Enrico Pietro Villa, Natan Rybc Zynski, Alan Jakobiak, Odin Flora, Victoria Farfus, Lena Pichler, Michal Zajac, Samuel Del Gaudio, Jan Stencel, Alberto Masotto, Leon Larsen, Carlo Pongratz, Emma Boschetto, Mikolaj Gawlikowski, Oliver Rognmo-Hodge, Philip Slatlem, Emil Bakkejord Bråten, Sebastian Grøndal-Eeles, Jessica Calleja, Alexander Volkmer, Angelo Pecoraro and Thomas Maria Peditto.

At the end of the next qualifying heats, the ranking sees a new leader: in fact, with two victories and a second place, Blandino runs at the provisional lead. Same results are also for Brangero, however, placed second, while Becker slips to third place. Riedel and Peruccio, fourth and fifth respectively, remain in the top-5, while Mrozik, sixth, and Jakobiak, seventh, climb up the rankings. Smuk, Wal and Stencel complete the top-10.

In the final, Blandino burns everyone at the start and keeps the first place after the first few corners, with Brangero, Becker, Jakobiak and Pecoraro forming the group of the first pursuers. In the middle stages, however, only Brangero is able to hold Blandino's pace, until the latter makes a mistake and ends up spinning. Brangero takes advantage of this and takes the lead and, with a considerable gain over his rivals, arrives alone at the finish line. Becker wins the place of honour, while Pecoraro steals the third place to Jakobiak. Blandino manages to finish fifth, ahead of Stencel, Wal and Smuk.

Senior ROK

Many overtakings and breathtaking duels mark the Senior ROK weekend, with 39 drivers at the starting grid.

Among the two qualifying groups, it is Filippo Pola gaining the pole position. The Italian driver sets a time of 47.218 seconds in Group 1 and leaves the second place in the hands of Cristian Romeo, the fastest driver of Group 2. Giuseppe Gaglianò and Andrea Giudice chase the leading pair, occupying third and fourth position respectively, while Mattia D'Erme and Lyuboslav Ruykov are fifth and sixth, respectively. Seventh place goes to Samuele Di Filippo, ahead of Oskar Hildebranski, eighth, Andrea Barbieri, ninth, and Franciszek Lassota, tenth. The category also sees the participation of Ahn Tu Ranghetti, Colin Wazny, Alberto Bernardi, Iwo Beszterda, Alex Laghezza, Davide Lombardo, Leonardo Monzani, Thomas Grøndal- Eeles, Vaclav Prochazka, Gabriel Volpe, Alessandro Giarratano, Riccardo Salemi, and Nik Sculac, Piotr Orzechowski, Franciszek Czapla, Antoni Kosiba, Alexandre Lopez, Ayse Cebi, Giovanni Polato, Riccardo Chiodo, Giorgio Molinari, Kyle Ducoli, Pietro Santese, Jordin Mulungi Andersen, Jeziewski Lukasz, Leon Lenartowicz, Ewa Banach, Lukas Lehnert and Kian Gauci.

Weather conditions shuffle the cards during the qualifying heats which see Di Filippo, author of a second place on Saturday and two victories on Sunday, at the top of the intermediate ranking. From the 14^th place, Beszterda climbs up to second place, putting Pola, third, and Romeo, fourth, behind him. Wazny, from 12^th to fifth, and Giarratano, from 21^st to sixth, make two excellent recoveries, while Ruykov remains at the top, more precisely in seventh position. Lassota, Lombardo and Gaglianò complete the top-10.

The final starts with Di Filippo immediately in first position ahead of Pola, although he is affected, during the first lap, by the attacks of Wazny and Ruykov. Keeping the pace with Di Filippo is only Wazny, although the Polish driver begins to lose ground when the race leader sets a series of fast laps. Behind them, Lombardo runs in the top positions and launches himself behind Pola, who meanwhile moved up to third. The race ends with a solid victory for Di Filippo, followed in second place by Wazny. Lombardo is third at the finish line, but a five-second penalty for an incorrectly positioned front spoiler relegates him to fourth place, behind Pola. The ranking continues with Giarratano, Beszterda, Lassota and Romeo in the top eight positions. Ruykov retires.

Expert ROK

Unfailing protagonist of the weekend in Lonato del Garda is the Expert ROK, the category reserved for the most “experienced” drivers of the ROK Cup.

As for the last edition, Claudio Pagliarani soon shows off in the qualifyings. The reigning ROK Cup Winter Trophy champion takes the pole position with a time of 47.979 seconds and wins the fight with Alessandro Viganò, second, and Andrea Sorbello, third. Paolo Baselli finishes fourth, while behind him are Daniel Zajic, fifth, Tino Donadei, sixth, and Mario Augusto Barrios Ferrero, seventh. Marco Nannavecchia, Gianfranco Spallarossa and Marcin Wnuk complete the line-up of the drivers attending the event.

Pagliarani also sets the pace in the qualifying heats: the poleman, in fact, wins all three races scheduled and consolidates his leadership in the category. The first chaser in the intermediate ranking is Sorbello, with a haul of three top-3s in the heats, followed by Zajic, in third place. A solid comeback is the one set by Nannavecchia, who climbs from eighth to fourth position. Viganò, on the other hand, drops from second to fifth and precedes Barrios Ferrero, sixth, Spallarossa, seventh, and Donadei, eighth. Wnuk and Baselli take the last two starting boxes in the final.

In the last race of the weekend, Pagliarani once again proves his supremacy. The Italian driver jumps with a perfect start and runs to the lead, despite a rushing Sorbello in the first few metres. It is the latter who, during the first lap, has to give up his position to a faster Zajic, who thus becomes Pagliarani's main rival. Throughout the race, Pagliarani significantly improves his times and performs a solo under the chequered flag. Zajic finishes second at the finish line, preceding Sorbello on the podium in third position. After a difficult start, Nannavecchia finishes fourth, while Baselli recovers six positions and is fifth. The final ranking therefore sees Barrios Ferrero, Viganò, Spallarossa, Donadei and Wnuk in the final positions.

Super ROK

The Super ROK category, the highest performing single-gear category of the ROK Cup, blazes the paddock in Lonato del Garda with the presence of 29 drivers.
Among them, the pole position goes to Bartosz Grzywacz. The champion of the ROK Cup Italia 2023 sets the best time of 46.639 seconds, only five thousandths of a second better than Guido Bidoli, second place. At 0.026 seconds behind the poleman we find Riccardo Ferrari, third, while in fourth place is Nicolas Marchesi. Matteo Berruti is in fifth place, followed by Alessandro Cocozza, sixth, Mattia D'Abramo, seventh, and Tommaso Curione, eighth. Alex Desario, champion in force of the ROK Cup Winter Trophy, is ninth, while Vittorio Maria Russo completes the top-10. Just behind we find are Simone Donchi, Nicolò Coppotelli, Edoardo Prioglio, Maksymilian Rafalik, Zachary Taylor, Gaia Cardinali, Roberto Manduchi, Alessandro Zini, Cristian Tonalini, Sergio Koch, Emanuele Romanelli, Giuseppe Palladino, Riccardo Cocozza, Nicola Marini, Mattia Bernardi, Owen Speight, Daniele Galbiati, Lorenzo Poletti and Krzysztof Dudek.

The qualifying heats, as in the other categories, upset the situation in the standings. With a perfect run, made up of three victories out of three races, Riccardo Ferrari provisionally flies at the top of the category, followed by Marchesi in second and poleman Grzywacz in third place. From the tenth position, Russo moves up to fourth, while Bidoli drops back to second. Excellent comebacks for Koch, from 20th to sixth, for Taylor, from 15th to seventh, and for Manduchi, from 17th to eighth. Coppotelli, from 12th to ninth, and Proglio, from 13th to tenth, also do well.

In the warm-up laps of the final comes the twist: a technical problem forces Ferrari, who was ready to start from the pole position, to retire. Marchesi then has the go-ahead from the front row, but soon comes Grzywacz, who immediately takes the lead at the first corner. Taylor and Coppotelli chase in third and fourth place, while an accident at the start puts an end to Bidoli's race. On the second lap Coppotelli goes off the track, followed over the course of the next few laps by other top drivers such as Russo, Romanelli and Marini. In the meantime, Grzywacz receives a three-second penalty for not respecting the starting procedure and Marchesi, sticking to his Polish rival, secures the victory, his first in the Super ROK class. Grzywacz, despite everything, takes the honour place and Taylor climbs on the lowest step of the podium. Berruti and Desario both recover 16 positions from the start and are fourth and fifth, respectively.

Shifter ROK

The fight for the championship title in the Shifter ROK class is thrilling, despite the difficult weather conditions.

In the chrono practices, Nicola Rossini takes the pole position. The champion of the ROK Cup Superfinal 2022, with a time of 46.090 seconds, beats his rival Marco Chiarello, second with a 0.027 second gap, and Brando Pozzi, third at +0.031 seconds. Very close to the first three driver is Lorenzo Bedetti who runs in the fourth position and precedes Davide Cordera, fifth, Mattia Sergio Limena, sixth, and Pietro Fioravanti, seventh. Marco Acquarella is eighth, Massimiliano Pezzucchi is ninth and Leonardo Principalli is tenth. The ranking continues with Nicolò Zin, Philippe Ehrensberger, Davide Cominazzini, Riccardo Franciosi, Marcin Wojcik and Tymoteusz Ksiaz.

The ranking order at the end of the qualifying heats completely changes. Two wins out of three heats allow Cordera to take the lead, with Rossini in second place and Limena in third. Pozzi wins the second heat, but occupies the fourth position. Chiarello is able to climb from second to fifth place, while Zin and Cominazzini take the sixth and seventh places, respectively. Immediately behind there are Bedetti, eighth, Pezzucchi, ninth, and Ksiadz, tenth. Franciosi, Acquarella, Fioravanti, Ehrensberger, Wojcik and Principalli complete the starting grid of the last race of the weekend.

In the final, Rossini as soon as the lights are off, performs an excellent jump and takes the lead, unlike Cordera who is overtaken by Zin and Pozzi, before regaining the second place at the end of the opening lap. Soon the games for victory become an exclusive affair for Rossini and Cordera, with the former driver trying hard to keep the latter at a distance. At the end of the time plus one lap, the chequered flag sanctions Rossini's triumph ahead of Cordera, by just half a second. Behind them, Limena takes the third place, but in the subsequent scrutineering he receives a five-second penalty for having his front spoiler in the wrong position. As a result, Zin is promoted to the lowest step of the podium, ahead of Limena in the standings. Pezzucchi, Chiarello and Pozzi retire from the event.