Extraordinary success this year too, for the ROK Cup Superfinal, now in its 22nd edition. The international final of the series by Vortex, once again the protagonist of the prestigious stage of the South Garda Karting of Lonato del Garda (Italy), records a total of 412 drivers, coming from 46 countries, in the 9 categories on track.
Thrills, adrenaline and twists marked the entire event, which started on the opening day of Tuesday 15th October with the official free practice sessions and ended on Saturday 19th October with the decisive finals for the awards ceremony.
The new champions entering the event’s roll of honour are: Jay Kostecki (Mini ROK U10), Achille Rea (Mini ROK), Melvin Kalousdian (Junior ROK), Danny Carenini (Senior ROK), Claudio Pagliarani (Expert ROK), Derek Wang (Expert ROK Plus), Davide Lombardo (ROK SVR), Brando Pozzi (Super ROK) and Karol Pasiewicz (Shifter ROK).
Substantial, as always, the prize money, worthy of the great event that the ROK Cup Superfinal represents at international level. The top five drivers of each category were rewarded with the unfailing trophies, with engines (for the winners) and spare parts vouchers (from second to fifth place), while in ROK SVR category the top three drivers received throphies and technical material. In addition, the champions of all classes (except Shifter ROK) received a free entry ticket to the ROK Cup Macau Invitational Race 2024.
Below are the details, category by category, of the various stages of the ROK Cup Superfinal 2024.
MINI ROK U10
Qualifying practices
For the first time ever, the ROK Cup Superfinal reserves a separate category to Under-10 Mini ROK drivers, limited to a maximum of 36 participants and with engines distributed by the Promoter by drawing lots. David Moscardi (Italy) led the single qualifying session, thanks to a best time of 1:13.935 seconds. Colton Schniegenberg (USA) came second, ahead of Jay Kostecki (Australia), third.
Qualifying heats
A practically perfect run by Jay Kostecki in the qualifying heats. The Australian driver scores three victories out of three races and takes the leadership among the Under 10s, overtaking poleman Moscardi, author of three second places, and Schniegenberg, in third position. Johannes Buchhammer (Austria) climbs from tenth to fourth place, while Giulio Manzoni (Italy) moves up from 22nd to fifth.
Prefinal
Kostecki gets the best of his pole position to run ahead of everyone after the first bend. However, the Australian driver has to watch his back against Moscardi but manages to overtake him a few steps before the finish line by 0.592 seconds. Schniegenberg ends the pre-final in third position, ahead of Maddox Mason (South Africa) and Aleksander Pelinkanski (Poland). The top-5 for the starting grid of the final is the following: Kostecki, Moscardi, Schniegenberg, Buchhammer and Platon Kovtunenko (Ukraine).
Final
The rain does not abandon the protagonists of the Mini ROK U10 class even in Saturday’s final. Kostecki jumps with a perfect start and leads the race in the early stages, with Schniegenberg in the role of first pursuer. With three minutes to go, however, the American overtakes the Australian thus becoming the new race leader. In the last two laps, Kostecki and Schniegenberg start a breathtaking duel for victory and the chequered flag gives the title into the hands of the Oceania driver, ahead of the American by just 0.205 seconds. Thanks to a good comeback of six positions, Robert Pulbere (Romania) finishes third, ahead of Mason and Carsten Soer (France), the latter starting from 23rd place.
MINI ROK
Qualifying practices
The Mini ROK category, also with engines drawn by lot and made available by the Promoter, sees 62 drivers at the starting grid. Achille Rea (Italy) jumps at the top of the combined qualifying standings with a best time of 1:13.622 seconds, set in Group 1, while Marco Sammut (USA), first in Group 1 with 1:13.849 seconds, gains the second position.
Qualifying heats
Rea remains unbeatable even in the qualifying heats, where he scores three wins out of three races scheduled. The Italian driver, first in the intermediate ranking, is ahead of Zack Zhu (France), who climbed from third to second position and signed a success in the heats, and Martin Bertolaccini (Argentina), who climbed from 14th to third place. Archie Bristow (Australia) steadily occupies fourth place, ahead of Blazej Kostrzewa (Poland), fifth. Sammut drops back to 15th place.
Prefinal
In Prefinal A, Rea is unreachable and, thanks to his victory, secures the pole position for the final. Behind him in the race there are Giuseppe Noviello (Italy), second, and Kostrzewa, third. In the B pre-final, Zhu precedes Julian Rivera (Ecuador), second, and Bristow, third, on the finish line. The starting grid therefore sees Rea first, Zhu second, Bertolaccini third and Bristow fourth.
Final
The Mini ROK also faces the final under a pouring rain. Once again, Rea jumps very well from pole position and, after just a few minutes, has a gap of almost a second over the rest of the group. Bertolaccini, Noviello and Kostrzewa fight for the place of honour, but are unable to keep up the same pace as the race leader. At the end of eight minutes plus one lap, Rea can celebrate his success at the finish line, while Noviello takes the second place ahead of Kostrzewa in third. Zhu and Bertolaccini complete the top-5 list. Sixth is Alessandro Nanni (Italy) and seventh Bristow.
JUNIOR ROK
Qualifying practices
More than a hundred drivers are attending the Junior ROK category in Lonato del Garda. At the end of the three timed practice sessions, it is Lyuboslav Ruykov (Bulgaria) who takes the pole position, with a time of 1:07.850 set in Group 2. Kacper Rajpold (Poland) is the fastest in Group 3 (1:08.431) and finishes second, while Tomasz Cichoracki (Poland) leads Group 1 (1:08.727) and finishes third.
Qualifying heats
The qualifying heats shake up the situation in the standings. Guido Bruno Bidoli (Italy) becomes the new leader of the category, after taking two victories and three third places. Ruykov wins three heats and obtains a second place, but a trouble in the A-D heat prevents him from keeping the lead in the ranking. Cichoracki (Poland), Arnaudo Fausto (Argentina) and Rajpold take the next positions.
Prefinals
Prefinal A sees Ethan Lennon (South Africa) triumph, able to overtake Bidoli on the last lap. The prefinal B, on the other hand, sees an intense battle between Ruykov and Melvin Kalousdian (Sweden): the Bulgarian driver wins over the Swedish by just 0.650 seconds. The general ranking is as follow: Ruykov first, Bidoli second, Cichoracki third and Arnaudo fourth. Kalousdian is fifth, having qualified 31st in the chrono practice session.
Final
Excellent start for Ruykov from the pole position, soon able to gain a second and a half of gap over Bidoli in second place. The latter has to deal with Kalousdian in the first few minutes and, on lap four, is forced to give way to him. Kalousdian begins to perform a series of fast laps that quickly allows him to close the gap on Ruykov. On the last lap, Kalousdian manages to overtake Ruykov, but the latter tries to counter-attack immediately: the two come into contact, but Kalousdian remains in front and goes straight to victory. Rajpold and Ruykov are second and third, but both are penalised by three seconds (the Polish driver for his front spoiler in the wrong position, and the Bulgarian for the incident with Kalousdian). The final podium therefore sees Lennon second, Rajpold third, Bidoli fourth and Lyuboslav fifth.
SENIOR ROK
Qualifying practices
The Senior ROK welcomes 90 drivers in the ROK Cup Superfinal paddock. Danny Carenini (Italy) is the fastest driver in all three qualifying sessions: the Italian sets a time of 1:05.372 seconds in Group 1, better than Franciszek Czapla (Poland), first in Group 3 with 1:07.049 seconds, and Nicolas Fuca (Argentina), leading Group 2 with a time of 1:08.059 seconds.
Qualifying heats
At the end of the qualifying heats, it is still Carenini at the top of the category: the Italian driver gains four victories and a second place. Czapla remains the first pursuer, with one win in the heats, while Samuele Di Filippo (Italy) is third. They are followed by Morgan Knudsen (Poland), fourth, and Vaclav Prochazka (Czech Republic), fifth. Fuca drops back to 11th place.
Prefinals
Carenini makes no mistake in Prefinal A and takes the victory with authority, ahead of Guy Albag (Israel), who starts fourth, and Di Filippo, author of the fastest lap in the race. Kacper Turoboyski (Poland) is the author of an excellent start from ninth position and wins the pre-final B, ahead of Knudsen, second at +0.594 seconds, and Fuca, third with the best lap. The starting grid for the final is the following: Carenini, Di Filippo, Knudsen, Czapla, Albag and Colin Wazny (Poland).
Final
Due to the heavy rain, the final starts in ‘slow’ mode and, after three laps, the green flag is waved. Carenini beats everyone from the pole position and, after a few laps, has a gap of over three seconds over his pursuers. Behind him, Di Filippo and Albag fight for the second position: the Israeli has the best over the others and, in the remaining minutes of the race, tries to close the gap on Carenini. However, the Italian perfectly manages the gap separating him from Albag and secures the title. Di Filippo is third, ahead of Knudsen and Wazny.
EXPERT ROK
Qualifying practices
Nobody is able to get the best over Claudio Pagliarani (Italy) in the qualifying practices, author of the pole position with 1:07.627 seconds. Andrea Sorbello (Italy) chases his compatriot in second position, with Ondrej Kocka (Czech Republic) and Daniel Zajac (Poland) immediately behind him, third and fourth respectively.
Qualifying heats
With three wins and a second place gained, Pagliarani also leads the category at the end of the qualifying heats, this time ahead of Kocka, winner in the second heat. Andrea Moretti (Italy) gains the third place in the intermediate ranking, putting himself behind Sorbello, who slips from second to fourth. Fifth place for Zajac.
Prefinal
At the start, Pagliarani fights with Moretti, but the Italian driver is the victim of an off-track and subsequently spins out, involving other drivers. At the end of the first lap the leader is Kocka, while Pagliarani drops back to fifth: in a few laps, the poleman regains the leadership and flies straight to victory, ahead of Kocka, second, and Zajac, third. Moretti finishes seventh. Sorbello does not attend the pre-final. The starting grid for the final therefore sees Pagliarani, Kocka, Moretti and Zajac in the first two rows.
Final
The race director, due to the heavy rain falling on the circuit, forces the Expert ROK drivers to start in ‘slow’ regime. As soon as the green flags waves, the race soon sees Pagliarani put under pressure by Kocka and Moretti. On lap five, Kocka tries to make a move on Pagliarani, Moretti tries to overtake both, but the poleman closes the door on both his rivals and stays ahead. At the finish line, Pagliarani wins ahead of Kocka and Moretti, although in the post-race phase the latter two exchange their positions due to a three-second penalty given to the Czech for having the front spoiler in the wrong position. Sorbello is fourth, Zajac fifth.
EXPERT ROK PLUS
Qualifying practices
As in the last edition, the Expert ROK Plus competes without sharing the track with the Expert ROK. Paolo Baselli beats the competition and gains the pole position with 1:10.012 seconds. Paolo Zotta takes the second place, followed by Marco Beretta (Italy), third, and Cristiano Leone Mantovani (Brazil), fourth.
Qualifying heats
At the top of the intermediate ranking at the end of the qualifying heats we find Derek Wang (USA), able to put together three victories and a sixth place. Zotta, steady in second position, wins the first heat scheduled and finishes the last one in second place. Tino Donadei (Italy) and Filippo Repetto (Italy) gain the third and fourth position respectively while Baselli goes back from first to fifth place.
Prefinal
Donadei wins the Friday night’s pre-final and, with this result, secures the third starting box for the final. Wang finishes second, 0.433 seconds behind Donadei, but remains firmly at the top of the overall standings. Zotta, third, finishes second behind Wang. Repetto is fourth in both the pre-final and the category standings.
Final
The heavy rain forces the race director to also start the Expert ROK Plus final in ‘slow’ regime. As soon as he receives the green light, Wang jumps from the pole position and immediately reaches Zotta, while Donadei and Repetto fight for the third position. Zotta cannot bear the pace of Wang who, at the end of 14 minutes plus one lap, performs a solo under the chequered flag, relegating the Italian driver to second place. Repetto overtakes Donadei in the final lap and secures the third place. Cristiano Leone Mantovani (Brazil) is fifth.
ROK SVR
Qualifying practices
The main novelty of the 2024 edition of the ROK Cup Superfinal is the ROK SVR category, established in honour of the newborn ROK SVR engine, the latest entry to the ROK range, conceived by Vortex Engines to combine reliability and high performance. The 28 drivers at the start, chosen by official dealers from all over the world, compete with the format engine drawing lots, distributed by the Promoter. Jacob Micallef (Malta) signs the pole position with a time of 1:07.102 seconds, ahead of Elia Galvanin (Italy), second, and Thomas Grøndal-Eeles (Norway), third.
Qualifying heats
Tough performance by Micallef in the qualifying heats. The Maltese driver puts together a victory, two second places and a fifth, enough to reconfirm himself at the top of the category at the end of Friday. Mike Parhiala (Finland) performs a remarkable comeback, from 14th to second place, thanks also to two victories in the last two heats scheduled. Davide Lombardo (Italy) is third, followed by Sergio Koch (Switzerland), fourth, and Galvanin, fifth, despite a victory in the first heat. Grøndal-Eeles drops from third to 13th.
Prefinal
Micallef leads the early stages of the pre-final, but after a few minutes it is Lombardo at the the lead and winning the event. The second position goes to Parhiala, who finishes ahead of Micallef, third, Galvanin, fourth, and Simone Taccola (Italy), fifth. With this result, Micallef is first in the general classification, followed by Parhiala, Lombardo Koch and Galvanini.
Final
At the start, Micallef is able to keep his first position, Lombardo jumps well from the third and immediately launches himself at the chase the Maltese driver, while Parhiala, Koch and Galvanini spin after the first bend. At the end of the first lap, Lombardo leads the race, chased by Micallef and Taccola, and manages to build a good gap, lap after lap. Thanks to a clever and error-free race, Lombardo wins the final, with Micallef in second place and Taccola in third. Théau Keryjaouen (France) and Piotr Borowczyk (Poland) are fourth and fifth, respectively.
SUPER ROK
Qualifying practices
The qualifying practice awards the pole position to Aleksandar Bogunović (Slovenia), who is able to stop the chrono timings at 1:06.325 seconds. Riccardo Ferrari (Italy) is second with a gap of 0.106 seconds, ahead of Brando Pozzi (Italy), third, and Christian Canonica (Switzerland), fourth.
Qualifying heats
In the qualifying heats there are many twists and turns. Pozzi runs at the top of the intermediate ranking, after scoring a victory and three top-3 places, while Bartosz Grzywacz (Poland) goes from ninth to second, managing to win the last heat scheduled. Jakub Rajski (Poland) climbs from 12th to third, finishing ahead of Maksymilian Rafalik (Poland), fourth, and the poleman Bogunović, who drops to fifth. Ferrari occupies the ninth position.
Prefinal
Pozzi holds the first position at the start and, thanks to a better race pace than his rivals, takes the victory in the pre-final. Rajski gains the second place at the start and crosses the finish line in the same position. Bogunovic finished third, ahead of Bartosz, fourth, and Wally Muhammad (South Africa) fifth. The general classification before the final is as follows: Pozzi first, Rajski second, Grzywacz third, Rafalik fourth, Bogunovic fifth.
Final
Pozzi makes no mistakes at the start and holds the lead, with Grzywacz and Bogunovic tussling for being the first pursuer. Pozzi takes advantage of the fight between the Polish and the Slovenian driver to gain a good advantage that steadily increases over the course of the race. The chequered flag confirm Pozzi’s supremacy, who takes the top step of the podium ahead of Bogunovic, second, and Grzywacz, third. Rajski and Rafalik, fourth and fifth, preceded Cicognini, author of the fastest lap in the final.
SHIFTER ROK
Qualifying practices
The winner of the ROK Cup Superfinal gearbox category qualifying was Marco Tormen (Italy) with a time of 1:05.061 seconds. Adrian Labuda (Poland) took second place, 0.102 seconds behind the polesitter, while Samuele Leopardi (Italy) was third. Fourth place went to Karol Pasiewicz (Poland).
Qualifying heats
A victory, two second places and a fourth place in the heats allows Mattia Limena (Italy) to take the top of the intermediate ranking. Pasiewicz, second, scores one win and three top-3 places. Tormen records two victories, however he drops to third position. Labuda gains the fourth place, ahead of Federico Squaranti (Italy) in fifth. Unlucky qualifying heats for Leopardi, 16th.
Prefinal
Excellent start for Limena from the pole position, leader of the pre-final during the first laps, however the Italian driver is soon caught and overtaken by Pasiewicz who wins the heat. Labuda and Tormen try to overtake Limena, but the two finish third and fourth respectively. With the victory in the pre-final, Pasiewicz also takes the first place on the grid for the final, with Limena second, Tormen third and Labuda fourth.
Final
There is no standard ‘standing start’ for the Shifter ROK in the final, due to the heavy rain pouring in Lonato del Garda, forcing the race director to start drivers in ‘slow’ regime. As soon as the green flags wave, Pasiewicz defends himself against Limena, while Labuda overtakes Tormen for the third place. After a few minutes, Labuda moves up to second place and Pasiewicz takes advantage of this to gain precious metres on his pursuers. In the next stages, it is Tormen who moves up to second place, but by then he is too far from Pasiewicz: so, the winner is the Polish driver, with the Italian second, Labuda third and Henry Cubides (Colombia) fourth. Limena finishes fifth.
