Canadians Standing Out at WSK in Italy

A pair of Canadians are turning heads in European karting as the season starts to heat up, scoring podium results in back-to-back WSK Super Master Series events.

Burnett Shines on a Damp Day at Viterbo

Jensen Burnett came away with a sensational pole position and podium performance in the final round of the WSK Super Masters Series at Viterbo International Circuit in Italy.

Coming off an eventful first half of a winter season making a strong senior debut in both SKUSA Winter Series and RMC Winter Trophy in Orlando. Burnett set his sights on the WSK Super Master Series with Forza Racing to close out his winter campaign.  

No stranger to the European karting scene, competing in OK-J and other categories.  This would be Burnett’s first attempt at taking on the ruthlessly competitive OK class at the WSK Super Masters Series. After solid performances in both Round 3 and 4, it was Round 5, the final race at Circuit Viterbo where all his hard work paid off.

Burnett had a perfect start to his weekend. On Friday, he took pole position, beating out stiff competition from Roland Kuklane, Filippo Sala, and Kenzo Craigie. This set him up in the best situation possible to tackle each of the three heat races. After hard-fought heats, Burnett was set to start 2nd for his prefinal on Sunday.   

Starting out in the Pre-Final on Sunday, Burnett lost a position right off the start putting him back to third place, however, this didn’t last long as he swiftly retook his second place half a lap later. He then followed this up by quickly putting some space between him and the karts behind resulting in a comfortable second place and earning himself an overall fourth place start for the Final.

The Final gave the drivers some tricky conditions as they needed to navigate a damp track for the following 18 laps. Like being shot out of a cannon Burnett immediately launched himself from 4th to a short-lived second place. However, this didn’t slow down Burnett, as once fallen to fifth he began moving back up the field to third looking comfortable on the damp surface compared to his competitors. Putting in fast laps he managed to pull away from the pack behind and almost caught Kenzo Cragie for second place.

Jensen Burnett completed his fantastic drive finishing second after post-race penalties. We’re excited to see what kind of magic Jensen can cook up for the rest of this season!

Closing out a Strong Super Masters Championship

Freshly minted Alpine Academy driver Illie Tristan Crisan was also in attendance at the Final round of the WSK Super Masters Series. Coming hot off a win in Round 4 at Franciacorta he kept himself in the running for the WSK Super Masters Series overall championship in the OK-J division.

The 2023 Canadian Open Mini Max Champion and current Tony Kart Racing Team driver had a solid start to his 2025 Super Masters Series championship, continuously fighting at the front while grabbing multiple top results throughout the first three rounds of the championship. Demonstrating that consistency is key to maintaining a championship run.     

Round 5 at Viterbo International Circuit threw some challenges Crisan’s way with a tough qualifying and suffering a flat tire in heat two which set him up for an uphill battle on Sunday. Even with the adversity, Crisan was neck and neck with rivals Dean Hoogendoorn and Noah Baglin, keeping his championship hopes alive. After a hard-fought pre-final Crisan found himself starting the final in 11th and close behind his rivals.

The unpredictable weather threw a wrench into his final, as the tough conditions proved challenging to navigate. Still, once settled into the race Crisan managed to put in some fast times crossing the line in 12th and securing a well-deserved third in the championship!

With a successful WSK Super Masters Series campaign behind him, Illie Tristan Crisan is now shifting his focus to Champions Karting and the FIA Karting Championship, where he’ll be tested against some of the best world karting has to offer. 

Ilie Tristan Crisan representing the Canadian Flag on top of the WSK podium (Photo by WSK Promotion)