KZ2 World Cup and KZ World Championship: Tröger and Ippolito secure the win in Wackersdorf

Last weekend we witnessed one of the most awaited appointments of the year: KZ World Championship and KZ2 World Cup.

The races were held in the German town of Wackersdorf, a few kilometers away from Munich, where the most experienced karting drivers gave their all for a spot in the hall of fame. The ones that secured the top step of the podium were the German Niels Tröger and the Italian Paolo Ippolito, in the KZ2 and KZ categories respectively.

Photo credits: Fia Karting Championship

KZ2 World Cup: Niels Tröger wins at home

Niels Tröger secured the win keeping the lead of the final after constantly finishing in the top 10 in Quali and in the heats, that allowed him to start the Prefinal from pole position. The Maranello SRP Factory Team driver not only secured the most prestigious trophies of the year, but he did it at home, in front of his people, he who was born in Großfriesen a town just a few hours away from Wackersdorf.

It is an amazing feeling, I felt confident with the tyres and I had fun fighting with my contenders throughout the whole weekend. There’s my family, my friends, my girlfriend and my sponsors watching and it’s great to have their support here, I’m grateful for this.

Not even the time to start that there were already twists and turns in the final: Cristian Bertuca in fact left the scene after a few corners, while Brandon Nilsson and Matteo Spirgel were involved in a contact that did not allow either of them to resume the race. It’s not been a good end to the weekend for Maksim Orlov either, who starting from the second row, made a mistake in turn 4 on the second lap, which took him out of the fight for the title, after losing some places at the start. Sunday's decisive race did not go as planned for Kean Nakamura-Berta as well, who was involved in a contact on the first lap, dropping down to last and being forced to make a comeback that was anything but easy.

On the podium of the KZ2 World Cup together with Tröger there were the Jamaican Alex Powell and the Romanian Daniel Vasile, both on Italian chassis, Prema Team and Birel ART respectively. Powell, who finished 2nd, tried everything he could to reach Tröger, but his pace was unbeatable; Vasile instead had to fight and gain three places, that allowed him to cross the finish line in 3rd position. Only a P11 for the 2022 world champion in the OK class Matheus Morgatto who, after a mistake on his side, finished the final outside the top10.

Photo credits: Matteo Segato

KZ World Championship: Italy triumphs in Wackersdorf

It was a pretty solid weekend the one of Paolo Ippolito in Wackersdorf: the Neapolitan took the prestigious trophy after some tight battles throughout the weekend. The Italian driver with an Italian kart secured the 1st place after poleman Trefilov left the scene on the first lap. In fact, the start of Sunday’s final was anything but smooth: after taking the leadership of the race after a few meters, Denner made a mistake, that caused chaos taking out Iglesias, Trefilov, Leuillet and Soguel as well. Few moments later Danilo Albanese left the scene too, thwarting all hopes of a good result.

Together with Ippolito on the podium there were Viktor Gustafsson and Stan Pex: the 2022 KZ world champion crossed the finish line less than five tenths behind Ippolito after an impressive comeback, starting from P12. Among the main characters of this world event, it is also worth mentioning Matteo Viganò, the driver from Bergamo who secured P4 with Lennox Racing Team for Sunday's final, after fighting for the main positions throughout the weekend.

Photo credits: New Line racing

Some main characters were messing, however, especially among those who on the eve of the world championship were considered contenders for the title: as mentioned earlier, Trefilov, Albanese, Leuillet and Denner were all involved in various contacts during the final, after having managed to qualify in very good positions. As for the Italians, astonishing performance for Lorenzo Travisanutto, Francesco Celenta and Luigi Coluccio: Parolin's multiple times world champion and his teammate Celenta gained twelve places in the final, ending their weekend in Wackersdorf in eighth position and seventh position. On the other hand, the Apulian who races with Tony Kart ended his first world championship in this category in the top10 after a great comeback.

The next big event is at Franciacorta on the second weekend of October for the OK and OKJ World Championship.