Parolin Motorsport’s energy since the beginning of the season was rewarded with a great podium finish for Rene Lammers in the opening race of the FIA Karting European Championship – OK in Valencia and his 2nd position in the provisional standings. Anatoly Khavalkin’s return to 9th place is also good news. In the Junior class, Zac Drummond put in a remarkable performance, regularly finishing in the top five in the heats, 8th in the Final and 6th in the championship.

“The work done by the team in the short time since the Champions of the Future Euro Series has paid off,” explained Marco Parolin. “Our equipment was much more competitive in Valencia during the European Championship. Four of our Junior drivers were able to shine. In addition to the success of Zac Drummond, who was 5th before the Junior Final, Christian Costoya made his presence felt in the top four of the heats and the Super Heat, but he lacked success in the Final. Vivek Kanthan put in the best performance of his career with a heat win and 18th Final position. Jack Iliffe was on his way to a great achievement when an accident broke his momentum after he too had won a heat. We wish him a speedy recovery.

“Rene Lammers has shown that he has the maturity to do great things in OK. We are proud to support him and to provide him with a kart that matches his ambitions. Two victories and two 2nd places in the heats, a victory in the Super Heat and the 3rd position in the final heat is something we can all be happy about. His 2nd position in the championship suggests a great season ahead. Anatoly Khavalkin made up a number of places in the heats before finishing with a four-position improvement in the Final and a promising 9th place. Maksim Orlov and Miguel Costa have a lot of potential to build on.”

Parolin Motorsport will now focus on the KZ category in which Francesco Celenta and Lorenzo Travisanutto will start their European Championship in Zuera in a fortnight’s time. The preparation for the second round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series and then of the FIA Karting European Championship – OK & Junior will monopolise attention for the month of May.

The weekend of 11th-12th March was a busy one for Parolin Motorsport, who had to split their ef-forts between Spain and Italy. The Champions of the Future Euro Series started at the Kartódromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero in Valencia in preparation for the FIA Karting European Championship – OK and OK-Junior. At the same time the WSK Open Series started in Lonato for the younger driv-ers. On both fronts Parolin was reaping the rewards of his work since the start of the season.

“The Valencia event was very important as we were learning a new circuit in OK and OK-Junior,” said Marco Parolin. “The Spanish track has enough specificities to justify a lot of work from the drivers and the technicians. In the end, it went well as the progression was notable with encourag-ing results from Rene Lammers in 9th and Anatoly Khavalkin in 11th in OK and good performances in OK-Junior from Zac Drummond in 6th and Jack Iliffe in 7th. We will take advantage of the short time between now and the start of the European Championship to fine-tune the equipment and to tackle the European challenge in the best possible conditions.

“The team was also mobilised in Lonato for the opening of the WSK Open Series. Alessandro Tru-chot was again very combative in the Mini U10 class with his pole position and his Final top five. Our Mini Gr.3 drivers continued their positive development in the wake of Dan Allemann, who achieved his best result in 22nd position. Billi Jordan Van Staveren was again in the Final while Bru-no Gryc made a strong comeback of 24 places.”

Champions of the Future Euro Series – Valencia (ESP)

OK
After l good progress during the heats (+9 places) with two top fives and a 2nd place, Rene Lam-mers regained three positions in the Super Heat and set the fastest lap in the race. He joined the Final top 10 thanks to his good 9th place. Anatoly Khavalkin was back on track after a few weeks away from the circuits. His last two heats proved to be convincing and he concluded with a seven-place climb in the Final to 11th position. Miguel Costa started from a distance in Qualifying, but re-covered 11 positions at the end of the heats and gained another eight places in the Super Heat.

OK-Junior
Zac Drummond was the best in the Super Heat and then in the Final where he made a six-place gain to reach 6th position. Jack Iliffe had two top fives and a P2 in the heats, but a retirement de-layed his progress. He was 5th in his Super Heat, and also gained six places in the Final and fin-ished 7th. Vivek Kanthan had an excellent run to 14th place in the heats, but a retirement in the Su-per Heat delayed him in the Final, which he finished 24th. Christian Costoya, P10 in the Super Heat, had to withdraw after a massive collision at the start of the Final.

WSK Open Series – Lonato (ITA)

Parolin Racing Kart was again the most represented chassis brand in Lonato with almost 20% of the karts present at the first round of the WSK Open Series with 202 drivers in its five categories.

Mini U10
Alessandro Truchot opened the hostilities in pole position. Always very fast, he remained in the top three of the rankings despite some problems in the Prefinal. He finished with a very rewarding 5th position in the Final. John Han confirmed his progression in the top 20, but lost ground in the Final with a penalty for a badly positioned front fairing.

Mini Gr.3
Despite a big improvement of 24 places during the Qualifying Heats, Bruno Gryc just missed his qualification for the Final. Billi Jordan Van Staveren also made up 20 places in the heats and was again in the Final. Dan Allemann took advantage of his good time to finish 15th in the heats, 27th on the second lap of the Final and finished 22nd after a good effort.

Parolin Racing Kart was the best-represented chassis brand in Sarno with almost 50 karts participating in the third round of the WSK Super Master Series with 255 drivers from 45 nations in its five categories. Parolin was 1st in Mini and Mini U10 and 2nd in OK-Junior. After a tough competition Parolin Motorsport had a very positive result with Rene Lammers finishing 2nd in OK, Zac Drummond finishing in the top five in Junior and Lorenzo Travisanutto and Francesco Celenta coming back in the KZ2 Final.

“Our competitiveness is definitely improving in several categories,” said Marco Parolin. “As a manufacturer, we are delighted to be able to satisfy a growing number of drivers and teams. It may not be the most spectacular aspect of our commitment to competition, but it is an essential point that requires daily efforts at the factory and is a source of great pride for our brand. Our competitiveness in the direct-drive kart categories has been confirmed since the beginning of the season. Rene Lammers reached the second step of the OK podium this time, while Zac Drummond obtained his best result in the OK-Junior top five, closely followed by Christian Costoya and Jack Iliffe. We can count on a solid base before starting the European programme next week in Spain with the Champions of the Future Euro Series in preparation for the FIA Karting European Championship. I would also like to highlight the performances of the Parolin chassis operated by other teams: double podium in Mini U10 and Mini podium with Babyrace Driver Academy, as well as the OK-Junior podium for Shamick Europe”.

Very encouraging Final in KZ2
Francesco Celenta and Lorenzo Travisanutto were delayed by a retirement each during the Qualifying Heats which had a direct impact on their Final result. Travisanutto made the biggest improvement in the Final, gaining 14 places to finish 14th. Celenta gained seven positions from the 16th row on the grid.

Lammers confirms in OK
2nd in Qualifying, Rene Lammers had a solid run in the top three and took a win in the Qualifying Heat. He put in a superb Final performance, setting the fastest lap of the race to take 2nd place on the podium, his best result to date, after his 5th place in Franciacorta. He was now in the top three of the provisional championship standings. Miguel Costa made up ground in the heats and crossed the finish line in 18th position with a total gain of 10 places before being penalised for his wrongly-positioned front fairing.

OK-Junior: Drummond ups the pace
Like Lammers in OK, Zac Drummond was 2nd in his session during the OK-Junior Qualifying. After dropping out in the first heat, he took two wins and a 2nd place before regaining 10 places in the Final and finishing in the top five. Christian Costoya followed him in 7th place, while Jack Iliffe was close to the top 10 thanks to his 12 positions gained in the Final, a total gain of 35 places during the meeting. Kosei Oguma followed the trend in 24th position (+10 places) after an overall progression of 26 places.

Mini: Truchot fights bravely in the under 10s
Ranked 4th in his last heat and in his Prefinal, the very young Alessandro Truchot continued to enrich his experience by fighting for 13th position in the Mini Under 10 Final. John Han qualified in the Final in his first participation. In the Mini Gr3 Final, Bruno Gryc did not have the best of luck and was demoted after a penalty for a wrongly-positioned front fairing. Billi Jordan Van Staveren qualified for the Final for the first time.