Luigi d'Ascoli and Modena Kart impress at Lonato

Having already finished 2nd twice at South Garda Karting in the WSK this season, Luigi d'Ascoli celebrated another podium finish in Lombardy in style: P1 in his group in Friday morning's Free Practice, P1 in both warm-ups on Saturday and Sunday, P1 in his group in Qualifying, P1 in three out of four Qualifying Heats with two fastest laps, and P1 in Super Heat B. He was just 5 hundredths of a second off winning the Final and 2 thousandths off the fastest lap. However, his 2nd place represents an excellent result in the Italian Championship, which includes five rounds in 2026.

Top eight for Verba and Basescu-Pricop

The brilliant performances of Danila Verba and Radu Basescu-Pricop come as no real surprise, given that both drivers had demonstrated their competitiveness in the WSK Promotion events over recent weeks. Finishing P3 in two Qualifying Heats and P4 in Super Heat B, Verba put in a solid Final performance, finishing in 7th place. Radu Basescu-Pricop drove at a fast pace to gain nine places in the Final and finish 8th, just behind his team-mate. He had already finished P4 three times in the Qualifying Heats.

A strong showing on the Final starting grid

Five other Modena Kart Racing Team drivers took part in the Final, including Federico Mirabella. Having already moved up from 25th to 13th place during the Qualifying Heats, he continued his efforts to secure points with an 11th-place finish.

Nikita Dzhalilov is also among the drivers who have made significant progress at the start of the season. As well as finishing 2nd twice in the Qualifying Heats, he set the fastest lap on two occasions. He was holding his place in the top 10 before being penalised and dropping to 16th.

Unlucky in the heats, Ioannis Kolovos caused a sensation in Super Heat A with a 19-place climb. His 3rd-place finish secured him a place in the Final. By the halfway point of the race, he had already gained 18 places, but unfortunately had to retire.

Raffaele Mini's 46th place in Qualifying did not put the Italian driver in an ideal position. That did not stop him from making his mark with a 5th place in a heat (+14) and qualifying for the Final, though sadly he did not see the chequered flag.

Analysis by Gabriele Finocchi, team principal of Modena Kart

"A week after Elton Hedfors' victory at the WSK Euro Series in Lonato, South Garda Karting confirmed that the Modena Kart Racing Team possesses both talented drivers and ultra-competitive equipment. The Parolin chassis is currently one of the most prominent on the international and national scenes across all categories, whilst MA Engines continues its meticulous preparation work with consummate skill. We can only be optimistic about the rest of the season."

Comment from Alessandro Palloni, team manager of Modena Kart

"We welcomed many drivers to our team at Lonato across several categories, and the work carried out has proved fruitful in this highly competitive Italian Championship. I congratulate all our drivers for their commitment and all our technicians for the performance achieved. Luigi D'Ascoli made it onto the podium and three other drivers finished in the top 12. Racing incidents prevented some of them from achieving an even better result, but I'm pleased to start the Italian Championship in this way."