The 4th and last Round of the WSK Super Master Series took place on the Cremona track on the weekend of April 30th and saw the CRG Racing Team competing in all categories. The Factory Team’s presence in this series has not been constant as it has been used in particular, to prepare for the FIA races. For this reason, for example, the KZ drivers got behind the wheel in the Sarno Round, because on that same track they will have a race of the European Championship, while in the last Round in Cremona, the drivers of the direct drive classes (OK and OK Junior) were the ones competing on the track in view of the European Championship appointment scheduled there for July.
In OK Junior Klara Kowalczyk had an excellent weekend, completing an intense work plan, despite missing out on Qualifying for the Final by a few points, due to the penalty received for the front spoiler. Louis Iglesias had a solid weekend in OK, continuing his apprenticeship in the Senior class and most probably will make his debut in the European Championship as a wild card in Cremona in the final Round in July. The French driver obtained the 3rd place in the general classification of the Qualifying Practices and then continued with brilliant performances also in the Heats, gaining P4 on the starting grid of the Final. During the race he also confirmed his speed, immediately taking P2, before losing some positions from mid-race onwards, closing the race in P6. Simone Bianco was more unlucky, delayed by a problem in the Qualifying Practice that forced him to start from the last place on the grid in the Heats, races through which he qualified for the Final anyway, showing excellent speed. Unfortunately, however, in the Final he was then forced to retire due to a race contact. In his debut in OK, Michael Ider also qualified for the Final, finishing the race in P24, gaining a lot of experience and showing high potential. The Polish brothers Filip and Jakub Wojcik made their debut with the CRG colors in the KZ2 category, finishing the Final respectively in P22 and P24, constantly improving their performances over the weekend. On the other hand, the MINI team was more substantial, lining up 10 drivers between Under 10 and Gr.3, obtaining yet another excellent 11th place with Asher Ochstein in Gr. 3, while the other potential protagonists of the race in both MINI classes were delayed by some unfortunate episodes that compromised the result, despite the speed shown throughout the weekend.
CRG drivers’ post-race reactions:
Louis Iglesias (OK): “I’m very happy with the overall balance of the weekend, even if we could have achieved more in the Final. We have always been fast right from Free Practice and after coming close to Pole in the Qualifying stages, we worked to prepare for the Final, always showing excellent race pace. At the start of the race the feeling was perfect and I moved up to get P2, but after the first 6-7 laps I gave up a couple of positions and got the tires a little dirty before resuming my rhythm. In the end I finished in P6 by setting the same lap times as the winner several times. A very intense weekend where perhaps I also paid for a bit of physical tiredness at the end. Our chassis-engine package was perfect in all track conditions and I want to thank all the team and my mechanic for the excellent work done these days. I think the appointment with the podium is only a matter of time”.
Klara Kowalczyk (OK Junior): “My performances over the weekend have improved steadily thanks to the work done with the team and above all we have completed all the work program that had been planned in view of the European Championship race scheduled for July. In the Qualifying Practice I made some mistakes failing to find the right lap, but in the Heats I always had solid performances and without the penalty for the spoiler in the Prefinal I would have gone to the Final easily. The work done with Natalia Balbo, who followed me this weekend, was also very constructive, both as a mechanic and as coaching. Overall it was a good weekend for me”.
