Good start for the ROK Cup Italy at the Franciacorta Karting Track in Castrezzato (BS), on the occasion of the first round of the championship, with an exceptional number of 241 participants in the seven categories of the event. At the end of Sunday, the following championship leaders emerge: Kralev Leo (Mini ROK U10), Frigerio Filippo (Mini ROK), Potepa Adrian (Junior ROK), Giudice Andrea (Senior ROK), Sorbello Andrea (Expert ROK), Ferrari Riccardo (Super ROK) and Pozzi Brando (Shifter ROK).

Mini ROK U10

The young protagonists of the Mini Rok U10 class are more than 30, which met at the  Franciacorta karting track.

Sunday begins with Leo Kralev's pole position. The Bulgarian driver sets a time of 58.088 seconds, beating Vladimir Rebenciuc, second, by just 0.044 seconds, and Natan Lukas, third, by 0.091 seconds. Giovanni Ventorino takes the fourth place, ahead of Leon Bialais Giudicelli, fifth, Amine Pantoli, sixth, Alessio Ottaviani, seventh, and Edoardo Traina, eighth. Filip Stec and Matteo Meni complete the top-10, while behind them are Nikita Bortov, Nico Fardin, Ghazi Almekdad, Iker Javier Castro Villarreal, Miguel Spina, Farel Beretta Dugat, Francesco Lisignoli, Nicolaj Pietras, Radek Czernicki, Elias Boullier, Phillip Bakkegaard, Antonio Martin, Giorgio Sapignoli, Anna Makolm, Samuel Dal Pozzo, Sebastiano Leone Cecchin, James Grøndal-Eeles, Piotr Mikolajczyk, Ilmen Yilmaz,  Demir Halilovic and Giovanni Pasini.

In Race 1, starting ahead of everyone, Kralev can take advantage of the starting position and takes the lead, followed by Lukas, Rebenciuc and Bialais Giudicelli. On the second lap, Venturini becomes the Bulgarian's first chaser starting a tough duel with him. The Italian driver, however, also has to deal with Stec: the two get into collision and withdraw from the race. Bialais Giudicelli and Pantoli, as a result, inherit the second and third place, but are too far from Kralev who, undisturbed, runs straight to victory. Pantoli overtakes Bialais Giudicelli and wins the place of honor, relegating his teammate to the lowest step of the podium. Rebenciuc and Almekdad are fourth and fifth, respectively.

In Race 2, Lukas wastes the pole position – obtained thanks to the grid swap of the first eight drivers of Race 1 – with a slow start and Bortov who takes advantage of it to take the lead, even though for a brief time, as he is overtaken by Almekdad and Kralev. Between the two drivers, Almekdad has a better pace and stretches on his pursuers, while Kralev focuses all his attention on the attacks of Pantoli and Lukas. On the fifth lap, Kralev and Pantoli put each other offside, leaving the way open to Lukas, Fardin and Stec. Meanwhile, Almekdad is alone in the lead and passes undisturbed under the chequered flag. Lukas grabbed second place, ahead of Stec (who started 30th, finished third) and Fardin, fourth. Traina recovers 26 positions and ranks fifth.

Mini ROK

The Mini ROK drivers attended two hard-fought and exciting races.

With a time of 57.111 seconds, Nathan Lotrionte won in front of everyone in Sunday morning's qualifying. Aleksander Pelikanski was the second fastest of the session, followed by Mathias Drexler, third, and Nicolas Yerly, fourth. Ayrton Jon Tonna and Jan Gardzielik occupy fifth and sixth position respectively, while Sebastian Schirripa and Filippo Frigerio are seventh and eighth. Among the top ten we also find Lorenzo Zucchetto and Patrick Bissa. The category also sees the participation of Ilia Cotorobai, Thomas Ometto, Mattia Pellin, Marco Verde, Daniel Hakkinen, Dominik Wojcik, Romain Lopez, Giulio Manzoni, Serban Vizitiu, Lola Mukjammadiyev, Aleksander Czub, Bryan Filippelli, Nicolò Poli, Andrea Screpis, Nicholas Bertolani, Tommaso Pomoni, Camilla Amarotti, Shelley Sande and Alex Dal Maso.

In Race 1, Lotrionte made the most of the pole position to take the lead from the first meters, while Drexler and Tonna were able to gain second and third place respectively: the latter, however, ended up off the track and retired from the race. In the meantime, Frigerio quickly emerged in the top positions: starting ninth, the Italian climbed to second place in just two laps and managed to steal the lead from Lotrionte in the following laps. Only Pelikanski keeps up with the new race leader and even manages to take the lead of the race; The Pole, however, receives a three-second penalty for not respecting the starting procedure and, virtually, is relegated to seventh place in the standings. The race ends with the victory of Frigerio and a spectacular final sprint that assigns the two remaining steps of the podium to Bissa and Drexler. Lotrionte is fourth, Wojcik is fifth, Zucchetto is sixth, Pelikanski is seventh and Ometto is eighth.

In Race 2, Omette started well from the first position on the grid, but before the end of the opening lap he was overtaken by Lotrionte and, on the next lap, also by Pelikanski and Bissa. With Pelikanski taking the lead on the third lap, the leading quartet remained compact for some time, until Lotrionte tried to steal the leadership from the Pole, but, on the contrary, he was overtaken by Bissa, Ometto, Frigerio and Wojcik. In the last lap, Bissa conquers the first position and defends himself very well in the final sprint, beating his compatriot Ometto, classified second, by 0.070. Frigerio climbs this time on the lowest step of the podium, ahead of Wojcik, Lotrionte, Zucchetto and Pelikanski.

Junior ROK

The Junior ROK welcomes an extraordinary number of 54 participants at the start of the first round of the championship.

In Saturday's qualifying, influenced by the rain, Cristian Blandino is the author of the best time of 1:05.301 in group 1. Riccardo Brangero, first in group 2, came close to pole position by just 0.011 seconds and finished second. Angelo Pecoraro finished third, ahead of Tomasz Cichoracki, fourth, Faidon Papafilippou, fifth, and Adrian Potepa, sixth. Francesco Koci, Mikolaj Gawlikowski, Mateusz Wal and Lena Pichler completed the top-10. At the start we also find, in order: Julia Angelard, Jan Stencel, Nikodem Osiecki, Natan Rybczynski, Olek Mrozik, Leonardo Lanza, Matteo Peruccio, Stefano Zamponi, Samuel Gabriele Del Gaudio, Francesco Iannuzzo, Borys Blaszczyk, Enrico Pietro Villa, Oliver Rognmo-Hodge, Adrian Anachkov, Kacper Kluk, Leon Larsen, Oguz Marangoz, Sebastian Riedel, Valerio Santini, Mariachiara Nardelli, Alberto Masotto, Emil Bakkejord, Selina Baum, Victoria Farfus,  Shae Shield, Leonardo De Grandi, Carlo Pongratz, Pietro Chesini, Odin Flora, Andrea Proverbio, Sebastian Grøndal-Eeles, Alessandro Gorini, Michal Zajac, Francesca Pietrini, Ilias Mitaki, Michal Czyzewicz, Stanislaw Grabowski, Liam Aarsbaek Secall, Marek Lagan, Manuel Ranica, Jessica Calleja, Vasco De Vito, Nikola Nikolic and Ismet Yilmaz.

The subsequent qualifying heats completely mess up the general classification. With a victory and a second place to his credit, Cichoracki becomes the new leader of the category, ahead of his compatriots Potepa (also with two identical results in the heats), Wal and Mrozik. Koci and Peruccio chase the Polish patrol from fifth and sixth place, but chased in seventh by Stencel. Pecoraro slips from third to eighth, while Brangero goes from second to 11th. A retirement compromises Blandino's path, even 32nd in the standings.

The final is agitated from the first meters. From pole position, Cichoracki maintains the first position, ahead of Wal and Koci, while Potepa drops to fourth place. Initially, Cichoracki and Wal duel for the lead, with Potepa focused on battling with Koci for third position, but things change quickly with the arrival of Brangero who, in a few laps, even manages to take the lead of the race. In the following passages of the fight for the victory, Pecoraro is also added who, however, is the victim of a contact that sends him on the grass. In the final three laps, the trio of Potepa, Brangero and Cichoracki fought for the victory and Potepa prevailed, with an advantage of 0.043 seconds over Brangero, second, and 0.153 seconds over Cichoracki, third. Mrozik, Stencel and Koci occupy the next three positions, while Wal ranks eighth behind Francesco Iannuzzo. Pecoraro closes 23rd. Blandino withdrew.

Senior ROK

Important numbers also for the Senior ROK, with 47 drivers at the starting line in Franciacorta.

Qualifying saw two Polish drivers stand out in the standings: Colin Wazny recorded pole position, thanks to a time of 1:03.319 in group 1, while Iwo Beszterda placed second, thanks to the fastest lap in group 2. The two teammates Davide Lombardo and Andrea Giudice occupy third and fourth place respectively, ahead of Vaclav Prochazka, fifth, and Giuseppe Gaglianò, sixth. Alessandro Giarratano is seventh, followed by Filippo Pola, eighth, Piotr Orzechowski, ninth, and Andrea Barbieri, tenth. The ranking continues with Franek Lassota, Mattia D'Erme, Riccardo Leone Cirelli, Anh Tu Ranghetti, Riccardo Salemi, Giorgio Molinari, Luca Perelli, Giovanni Polato, Thomas Grøndal-Eeles, Nik Sculac, Leonardo Monzani, Marek Horr, Federico Zanetti, Simone Taccola, Alexandre Lopez, Cristian Romeo, Pietro Santese, Samuele Di Filippo, Christos Chatzis, Thompson Edward, Riccardo Chiodo, Alberto Bernardi, Antoni Makuch, Marlon Di Salvo,  Alessandro Merigo, Kaan Ballik, Marek Lipkowski, Ewa Banach, Kyle Ducoli, Nassim Bouarfa, Rikardo Bakaj, Ludovica Miceli, Lukasz Jezierski, Omar Locarini, Erik Baracco, Cristiano Gautier and Isa Huseynov.

On Sunday, the riders face the qualifying heats: at the end of them, it is Prochazka who occupies the first position in the standings, with a haul consisting of a victory and a second place. Wazny chases in second place, ahead of a remarkable group of Italians made up of Giudice, Gaglianò, Barbieri, Cirelli, Salemi, Monzani and Di Filippo. Beszterda slipped to 12th, but worse went to Lombardo who found himself 30th.

The final begins in the sign of Prochazka, good at maintaining the lead ahead of Giudice, Barbieri and Wazny, the latter passed shortly after by Gaglianò. However, the Pole did not last long in the lead because, during the second lap, he suffered the attack of Giudice. Barbieri, too, with a decisive move at the first hairpin, manages to overtake Prochazka, who is also forced to give way to Wazny, Di Filippo and Gaglianò. Only a few corners later, however, Wazny and Di Filippo touched, sinking back in the standings. With Giudice firmly in the lead, Barbieri focuses solely on Gaglianò who, on the eighth lap, overtakes him, but on the 12th he slows down his pace so much that he relegates to seventh place. Giudice wins in front of Barbieri and Porochazka followed by Salemi, fourth, Bernardi, fifth, Taccola, sixth, and Gaglianò.

Expert ROK

The Expert ROK, the category reserved for the most experienced drivers of the ROK Cup Italia, sees only one winner in the two scheduled races.

Qualifying crowns the reigning champion Andrea Sorbello, able to hit a time of 1:04.692 which earns him the pole position. Daniel Zajac chases the Italian driver and finishes second, while behind him we find Marco Massironi, third, Alessandro Viganò, fourth, Tino Donadei, fifth, and Nicola Galloni, sixth. Paolo Baselli and Adrian Marcinkiewicz occupy seventh and eighth position respectively, finishing ahead of Gianluca Rubiolini, ninth, and Marco Nannavecchia, tenth. The results of the timed trials continue with Filippo Repetto, Gianfranco Spallarossa, Mario Barrios Ferrero, Riccardo Pini, Gianluca Todeschini, Marco Beretta, Marcin Wnuk, Luca Davì, Ivo Cicognini, Eitam Turchin and Paolo Zotta.

In Race 1, Sorbello remains in the lead after the start and keeps Zajac at bay, while Massironi climbs to third position and precedes Donadei who, however, slips shortly after to sixth place behind Galloni and Viganò. Already from the first laps, Sorbello and Zajac stage an intense duel for first place, thus allowing Massironi to join the battle in the second part of the race. With Zajac forced to watch his back from Massironi, Sorbello took advantage of it to increase his advantage and secure the victory at the end of the 16 laps scheduled. However, a three-second penalty – for not respecting the starting procedure – drops Zajac, second on the finish line, to third place, behind Viganò, promoted to the intermediate step of the podium. Massironi is classified fourth, also penalized by five seconds for the front spoiler in the wrong position, and Repetto, fifth, records the best time.

In Race 2, Donadei was perfect when the lights went out and preceded the chasing group formed by Repetto, Barrios Ferrero and Marcinkiewicz. On the fourth lap comes the first twist: Repetto tries to lunge on Donadei, but touches the rear of his compatriot's kart and ends up on the grass. In the meantime, Sorbello quickly climbs the standings and, on the ninth lap, finds himself in the lead, chased by the usual Zajac, who is also able to move to second place. Sorbello thus obtained the second victory of the weekend, with Zajac second, Marcinkiewicz third and Donadei fourth, then sanctioned with three seconds (for causing the accident with Repetto) and relegated to fifth place, behind Riccardo Pini. Barrios Ferrero sixth, Viganò seventh.

Super ROK

Numerous battles characterize the Super ROK weekend.

In the single qualifying session, Riccardo Ferrari prevailed over the rest of the group, in pole position with a time of 1:03.669. The second place goes to Daniele Galbiati, ahead of Guido Bruno Bidoli, third, Alex Desario, fourth, Simone Donchi, fifth, and Christian Canonica, sixth. In seventh position is Alessandro Cocozza, followed by Alessandro Zini in eighth, Mattia D'Abramo in ninth and Matteo Berruti in tenth. Following, in order, we find Nicola Marini, Zach Taylor, Edoardo Proglio, Nicolas Marchesi, Alex Laghezza, Vittorio Maria Russo, Fabio Silvestri, Manuel Gritti, Sarp Kayol, Emanuele Romanelli, Tommaso Curione, Sergio Koch, Lorenzo Poletti, Gaia Cardinali, Riccardo Cocozza, Erika Lavazza, Rafael Kamal, Owen Speight, Andrea Saporiti, Giuseppe Palladino, Pietro Mondin, Matteo Bellandi, Chiara Bolognini and Matilde Seregni.

In Race 1, Ferrari made a perfect start and preceded Bidoli in the first corners, who moved up to second place, Galbiati, who dropped to third, and Desario. With Ferrari already on the run and with more than a second of advantage after a few laps, the focus is on Taylor who, starting 15th, occupies fourth place already at the end of the fourth lap and is subsequently able to overtake Galbiati and Bidoli as well. However, Ferrari was too far away to catch and the Italian won by more than three seconds over the Canadian, second, and Canonica, third. However, due to a three-second penalty for not respecting the starting procedure, Taylor relegated to third place and gave the place of honor to Canonica. From 14th place on the grid, Marchesi recovers fourth place. Zini is fifth, Cocozza is sixth and Galbiati is seventh. A contact in the last laps sent Desario into a spin, then restarted and finished 26th at the finish line.

In Race 2, from the first position on the grid, Donchi shone at the start and contained Alessandro Cocozza and Galbiati, while Taylor and Zini touched: the Canadian resumed the race from the back, unlike the Italian who was forced to retire. From the fourth row, Ferrari and Canonica moved up to third and fourth place respectively, but between the two it was the Swiss who went wild: in fact, on lap six, he gained the lead of the race and did not leave it until the chequered flag. Second place is a three-way affair between Marchesi, Ferrari and Alessandro Cocozza, who close in this order in the standings. Kayol snatches a positive fifth place, ahead of Prioglio, sixth, and Donchi, who dropped to seventh position.

Shifter ROK

It's a red-hot weekend for Shifter, the shifter category of the ROK Cup Italia.

Marco Chiarello is the fastest driver of Saturday's qualifying, author of the pole position in 1:02.746, and leaves behind Brando Pozzi, second in 1:02.883. Davide Cordera chases the two compatriots in third position, with the Polish Tymoteusz Ksiadz occupying fourth place. Roberto Manduchi and Manuel Daziano form the third row, with the pair Nicola Rossini-Leonardo Principalli in fourth and Davide Cominazzini-Paolo Fracasso in fifth. The category also sees the participation of Boris Cutaia, Mateo Moni, Matteo Orengo, Philippe Ehrensberger, Marcin Wojcik, Karol Pasiewicz, Nikolaos Fragkakis, Marco Acquarella, Valentino Rossi, Victor Jimenez, Alfio Messina, Giacomo Prandelli, Riccardo Franciosi, Hugo Silva and Reis Pedro.

In Race 1, Chiarello does not have a great start from pole position, unlike Pozzi who, from the front row, immediately takes the lead, followed by an equally excellent Daziano. Manduchi, on the other hand, occupies the momentary fourth position, before being forced to retire during the third lap due to a technical problem. With Daziano struggling with Chiarello, Pozzi tries to escape and significantly increases his advantage in the following laps. With Pozzi now distant, Chiarello tries to attack Daziano, but Karol Pasiewicz puts a spoke in his wheels, starting 16th and able to move into third position. Pozzi wins with more than three seconds ahead of Daziano, second after containing Pasiewicz in every way, third, Chiarello, fourth, and the pair Boris Cutaia-Davide Cordera, who joined the battle in the second part of the race. Leonardo Principalli, before the start, and Nicola Rossini, during the first lap, retired.

In Race 2, Pasiewicz stunned everyone when the lights went out who, from the third row, immediately jumped into the lead, also taking advantage of a slow start by Fracasso, Cordera and Cominazzini from the first spots. Pozzi, who started eighth, also made an excellent start and took fourth place after two laps. However, the race was interrupted on the fourth lap due to an accident at the back, forcing the drivers to restart in a "slow" mode. At the restart it is always Pasiewicz who plays the role of leader, but this time it is Fracasso and Pozzi who occupy the two positions immediately following. With Pasiewicz now on the run, the action was all focused on the battle for the place of honor: the decisive moment came on lap 11, with Pozzi – in the meantime down to fourth place again – able to overtake Cutaia and Fracasso. The weekend ended with Pasiewicz's victory ahead of Pozzi, second, Fracasso, third and Cordera, fourth. Rossini recovers 19 positions and finishes fifth, while Cutaia is relegated to ninth place due to a three-second penalty, awarded for overtaking during the presence of the "slow" on the track.