After its recent WSK Super Master Series successes, Parolin Racing Kart has fully confirmed its place among the top international karting teams at the opening of the CIK-FIA European Junior Championship. In particular, Gabriele Mini has completed a very progressive event with top performances and a superb 2nd place finish as a reward.

“The European Championship is a particularly difficult competition”, said Marco Parolin. “The OK-Junior class was the debut for the new Vega tyres which forced us to review the equipment development. I am very happy to see that our chassis have adapted very well to this new situation. The battle was tough at the Sarno track during the many Qualifying Heats, and you had to be fast without making any mistakes to rank well. Our Parolin / Parilla karts have once again demonstrated their excellent competitiveness.”

Already in the top 10 in Qualifying Practice with around 80 OK-Junior drivers, Gabriele Mini progressively ramped up the performance during the heats before exploiting the full potential of his Parolin in the Final. Starting very well, he quickly joined the leading group in 5th position and watched for his opportunity. Five laps from the finish, he took the lead over his opponents and climbed to 2nd position, the leader being out of reach. Gabriele’s second fastest time of the Final gave even more credit to his performance.

“I often drove with some reserve to limit the risk of incidents,” said the driver. “I knew that we were not necessarily favourites at the Sarno event and that it was better to secure points than to look for victory at all costs. It was very difficult to manage on the track, but I had confidence in my equipment. Whenever I needed to raise the pace, the Parolin / Parilla responded.”

Alessandro Cenedese was noticed several times during the heats by twice moving up into the top five. A penalty for overtaking under the yellow flag caused him to lose a dozen places on the starting grid of the Final while complicating his race. He still managed to regain ground in the pack.

At the wheel of a Parolin chassis, the Baby Race driver Nikita Bedrin, also a rookie in OK-Junior, was among the fastest, with his 10th in Qualifying and his 7th place after the heats before retiring at the start of the Final after a collision.

Thanks to Gabriele Mini, Parolin has started the European Championship well in 3rd position of the provisional classification. Three more events await the Italian team, as motivated as ever in the pursuit of the title in OK-Junior.

At the Sarno circuit, the last event of the WSK Super Master reaped a harvest of success for the Parolin Racing Kart team. The victorious double in the 60 Mini Final was accompanied by a double in the Championship, won by Martinius Stenshorne, while Gabriele Mini won in the OK-Junior ranking. Parolin Racing Kart’s orientation towards the young drivers’ categories since the beginning of the 2018 season is already bearing fruit.

“It brings a great deal of satisfaction for our brand to win the WSK Super Master Series in two categories at once,” declared Marco Parolin, not hiding his joy. “This series is one of the toughest and the standard was very high during all four events. The conditions proved to be very varied from the cold of Adria to the heat of this weekend in Sarno. Whatever the weather, we have been very good at each track. It is a great success that reinforces our ambitions for the future. In less than two weeks, the CIK-FIA Junior European Championship will start here at Sarno.”

The winner the week before, Gabriele Mini handled the situation perfectly during this last WSK Super Master event without taking unnecessary risks. For his first season in OK-Junior, he has progressively ramped up his performance throughout the weekend to give his best in a decisive Final. He was 3rd in two laps and then managed to stay in the top five despite the intensity of the battle. He was able to get the better of his rivals to reach the top of the overall rankings ahead of more than 120 competitors.

“The competition was difficult,” said the young champion. “I was tense because I knew I could win the Championship, but my opponents would not give anything away. I constantly thought about not making mistakes and finally, everything went well. This title bodes well for the rest of the season, as it demonstrates the quality of the work by Parolin Racing Kart.”

In 60 Mini, Martinius Stenshorne took revenge for his disappointment of the previous week where a deserved victory escaped him on the last lap. After a modest 17th in Qualifying, he put in a good performance, including two fastest laps in the heats, before winning his Prefinal with a lot of determination. He finished his impeccable course with a well-deserved victory in the Final where he also set the fastest time. Martinius won the general classification while Tymoteusz Kucharczyk completed Parolin’s triumph in 2nd place in the race as well as in the championship.

This success owes nothing to chance as evidenced by the qualification for the Final of all the other drivers in the team, Nikita Andreas Johnson, Maksimilian Popov, Akshay Arjun Bohra and Brando Badoer, among the 14 Parolin chassis present among the 34 finalists, including almost half of the top 20.

Thanks to Gabriele Mini and Tymoteusz Kucharczyk, Parolin Racing Kart was able to twice climb to the highest step of the podium of the WSK Super Master Series at Sarno, in OK-Junior and 60 Mini. This double success, which follows a series of exceptional performances since the beginning of the season, demonstrates once again the quality of the Parolin chassis within a very competitive environment.

The Sarno circuit brought a new configuration compared to the events already contested in 2018. Parolin Racing Kart showed that its first-class results did not depend on the track nor on the grip conditions.

“The win for Gabriele Mini in Junior really makes us very happy for several reasons,” said Marco Parolin. “First of all, this driver has great potential and deserves to succeed. We were right to trust him last season. We are very proud to be able to provide him with equipment that will give him the means to achieve his ambitions in OK-Junior this year. In 60 Mini, our chassis continue to succeed. We are slightly disappointed that Martinius Stenshorne did not get the success he deserved, but that’s racing. Tymoteusz Kucharczyk was there at the right time to secure the win and Stenshorne still leads the WSK Super Master Series.”

Kucharczyk had started by taking pole position in 60 Mini in front of 75 opponents. Stenshorne beat him in the Qualifying Heats before taking the Final victory. He had taken the lead on the last lap when he was when he was overtaken. A record holder at the Sarno event, Kucharczyk made a magnificent comeback from 7th place and took his chance on the last lap to win against formidable opposition. The presence of four Parolin chassis in the top 10 of the category reinforced the technical demonstration by Parolin. The team’s other drivers, Brando Badoer, Nikita Andreas Johnson and Maksimilian Popov also qualified for the Final, only Akshay Arjun Bohra failed due to a penalty.

The progress of Gabriele Mini in OK-Junior has something to dream about. He began by taking 2nd place in Qualifying Practice among more than 80 drivers before making his mark with three wins in the heats. Starting from the third row on the starting grid of the Final, Gabriele was quick to take control on lap 4 and progressively distanced each rival. He thus won a brilliant victory with more than 1.8” ahead of his pursuers. He kept the record of this event to the end and returned to just one point away from the provisional leader of the championship. Alessandro Cenedese continues to progress among the many OK-Junior drivers. He had quickly reached 16th in the Final when a collision forced him to give up.

With greater determination, Parolin Racing Kart is preparing to compete in the last event of the WSK Super Master Series next weekend on the same circuit of Sarno. In addition to the hunt for the OK-Junior and 60 Mini titles, this event will actively prepare for the upcoming opening of the CIK-FIA European Junior Championship, which will take place on the Neapolitan route two weeks later.