The Canadian flag was proudly displayed on the top of the podium in an international karting competition today as Ilie Tristan Crisan drove to an impressive victory in the final round of the WSK Final Cup, held at the Franciacorte Circuit in Italy.
Crisan has competed this season with the Official Tony Kart Racing Team in the Mini division and he started this race weekend off with the pole position in Qualifying. After a flurry of heat races, Crisan lined up on the outside of the front row for the Final.
It was a pack race up front and Crisan fell as low as seventh at one point but he charged back to gain the lead with four laps to go and he fought off the pack from there to the finish.
Following a tough run in the first half of the WSK Final Cup, the victory vaulted Crisan to finish fourth overall in the championship race.
There were a bunch of Canadian drivers in Italy for the WSK Final Cup weekend as a trio of drivers from HM Propela jumped at the opportunity to stay active. Lucas Deslongchamps, Lucas Nanji and William Bouthillier all joined the Kart Republic official team for the weekend and while the three were unable to advance to Sunday’s Finals, valuable experience was gained.
Rocco Simone completed his first European venture this weekend, successfully running in both WSK Final Cup weekends in the Mini GR3 U10 division. His event was highlighted by winning the Sunday morning PreFinal A to give him a top-five starting spot for the Final, but he slipped back to eighteenth in the Final after having to avoid a crash early in the race.
Finally, Justin Di Lucia made his debut in OK-J with the Intrepid Racing Team but he struggled throughout the weekend and was unable to advance to the main event.
From Italy to Bahrain, Crisan and Deslongchamps will compete in the upcoming Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals.
