CKN Euro Report: Canadians on the Podium at CSAI Italian Championships

The flurry of events to start the season in Europe has continued with yet another race at the La Conca Circuit near Muro Leccesse, Italy. This time it was the first round of the CSAI Italian Karting Championships taking place at the famous circuit in southern Italy, with three Canadians taking part among the four main categories of competition; Mini, KFJ, KF and KZ.

The format for the weekend had drivers Qualify on Friday, run two, or three, heats races on Saturday and complete the weekend with two Finals on Sunday. This format is unique, but for events similar to the size of the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship, it works very well.

In KFJ, Devlin Defrancesco was looking to add to his La Conca hardware collection while Kami Moreira-Laliberte was still seeking his first podium result in Europe. The third Canadian in attendance was Antonio Serravalle as he attacked the 60 MINI category looking for another win.

Defrancesco (l) and Laliberte (r) celebrate on the podium. (Photo Courtesy: CSAI Italian Championships)

KF Junior

Laliberte kicked off his weekend well, qualifying in fourth place, with Defrancesco eighth. After the two heats, in which both drivers remained up front, Defrancesco would line up for the first Final in third with Laliberte on the row behind him in sixth.

The two attacked in Final 1, where Defrancesco and Laliberte both managed to earn podium results finishing second and third place, respectively. Inverting the top-8 from Final 1 set the grid for Final 2, putting Laliberte sixth and Defrancesco seventh. Unfortunately the two couldn’t double-up their podium results from the morning as Defrancesco would finish fourth and Laliberte seventh.

60 MINI

A massive 52 karts entered the event in youngest division as 60 MINI continues to grow in Italy.

Canadian Antonio Serravalle was in attendance seeking another victory in the Italian Championships. He qualified tenth overall, but ranked 23rd overall after the heat races, with a DNF really hurting him.

With intense competition, Serravalle did all he could in Final 1, driving forward to a sixteenth place result. But he wasn’t done there, as in Final 2 Serravalle worked his way up to sixth place!