The 1st Round of the WSK Euro Series which took place in Lonato from 14th to 17th July ended with a positive balance from the performance point of view. In the KZ top class Jeremy Iglesias won the Pre-Final and started from pole for the Final, finishing the race in P2 after an unlucky start in which he lost 2 positions. On the podium with him was also Viktor Gustafsson, P3 at the finish line in front of Alex Irlando and Jorge Pescador, who finished the race in P4 and P5 completing the parade of CRG drivers in the top positions.
The CRG colors were great protagonists also in OK Junior with Scott Lindblom, who clinched the overall pole position in qualifying practice, then confirmed also after the Heat for the Pre-Final. Unfortunately, after starting from the front row in the Final, the Swedish driver went out during the first lap due to a slight contact on the dirty part of the track, giving up many positions in the following laps before regaining the pace and the fastest lap of the race. His race was also conditioned by a penalty for having crossed the white line at the start of the race and he closed out of the top ten, but his performances showed in any case the great potential of CRG technical material and ambitions will be very high for the next races in Sarno.
Simone Bianco‘s return to the CRG team was also positive in OK, P12 in qualifying practice and then P15 in the Final where he achieved less than what was shown in the Heats, but he certainly regained confidence with the team and started his preparation for the World Championship scheduled in Sarno in the best possible way.
Such bad luck for Oliver Rasmussen in the MINI class, who was involved in an accident in the first Heat on Friday, which then forced him to miss the second race as well, thus missing the qualification for the Final, despite excellent positions in the following Heats on Saturday.
The 2nd and final Round of the WSK Euro Series will take place in Sarno on the last weekend of July.
Drivers’ post-race reactions
Jeremy Iglesias (KZ): “The 2nd place is a positive result arrived after being competitive in every phase of the race weekend, even if the victory was within our reach and the race was essentially decided at the start, where I didn’t have a good one. In any case, it was important for us to check the degree of efficiency of some new features on the chassis and on the engine and we are satisfied from this point of view. I also believe that the fact that we have been competitive with all the drivers is very positive and looking at the next important commitment of the World Championship this aspect gives us a lot of motivation and charge. As always, I have to thank all the technical staff for the great work done with these very high temperatures and Galiffa for the supply and the work done with TM engines”.
Scott Lindblom (OK Junior): “My weekend was perfect until the Final: P1 in Qualifying and then I confirmed the pole even after the Heat for the Pre-Final. Unfortunately, on the first lap of the Final I was pushed into the dirty part of the track and I lost grip compared to the other drivers, having to give up many positions. Perhaps a bit of experience was lacking at this stage of the race, considering I am only in my third race in OK Junior, but the balance obviously remains very positive and I think we can do very well in the next few races. I want to thank the team and Machac for the very competitive TM engines provided to us”.
