Category: Non categorizzato

Within CRG’s headquarters, the guidelines for the first full season that the Lenovo Kalì Kart team will face in 2026 have been outlined. The official Kalì Kart team (a brand owned by CRG), which has been racing under the prestigious colors of its title sponsor Lenovo since last September, looks to 2026 with high ambitions, bringing to the track a broad and structured project focused particularly on youth categories.

Before announcing the driver lineup in the coming days, the team management presented the sports programs and the organizational structure of the team. Regarding the racing programs, the core of the project will be built around the MINI category for drivers aged 8 to 11, with a program that will include WSK races and the Italian Championship. For these key entry-level karting categories, the program will not be limited to MINI Gr3 races, but will also feature some appearances in the Rok Cup to build a wider base of drivers to train for future seasons and higher categories.

The team, which will manage the program based in Italy, will also have drivers in the OKN (National) categories for the 11–17 age group. Considering that the FIA World Cup OKN 2026 will be hosted in Italy at the Viterbo track, this program will also have significant sporting value and will strengthen the Kalì Kart development pathway for International categories.

The International OKJ and OK categories will represent the “pyramid’s peak” within the team’s programs, with at least four drivers taking part in the most important FIA Karting events (European Championship and World Championship). This will be the most demanding commitment from both a technical and sporting point of view, with a program of around 20 international races and the season’s highlight being the FIA World Championship scheduled for November in Bahrain.

Racing programs will, of course, be differentiated according to the categories, but in some events the team will compete in full, such as at the double event in Viterbo (WSK Euro and WSK Master next February), which will be the first official commitment of 2026. Afterwards, the team will take part in all remaining WSK events, the Italian ACI Championship, and, with the OKJ and OK categories, also in preparation races for FIA events such as the Champions of the Future.

The organizational structure that the Lenovo team is setting up in these first months of activity looks to the future, as emphasized by Marco Angeletti, CRG’s Marketing Director, who coordinates the Lenovo Kalì Kart team:

“2026 will be the first full season for the Lenovo Kalì Kart Team, and we have planned a series of strategies that can give us the best results in the medium term, considering that the partnership and goals we have developed with Lenovo’s management look ahead to the next three years. For this reason, we will have almost two distinct teams: one based in Italy focused on the MINI and OKN categories, through which we will train future drivers for International championships. Even in FIA Karting races, we wanted to keep the Academy goals of our project at the center, making agreements in the OKJ category with young drivers in whom we see potential and talent, but who will still need to follow a learning and consolidation path, especially in the first part of the season. At the same time, we will have an experienced reference driver who will provide useful feedback on technical developments and allow us to aim for notable results in the first year. Combining results and driver development will be our mission, and to achieve these objectives, we are building a solid team, not only regarding the drivers but also the overall team structure. Mariano De Faveri has been confirmed as head of the technical sector, assisted by some new staff members, while team and driver management will be coordinated together with Lenovo staff, from whom we will primarily receive technological support and, at the same time, benefit from their know-how acquired in high-level motorsport programs such as F1 and MotoGP. Their experience and authority will be a great added value for this karting partnership project and will provide our drivers with concrete support, not only in this phase of their career but also for the future, both in terms of communication and management.”

For more information on the Lenovo Kalì Kart team programs, you can visit the official website (www.kalikart.com) and the Lenovo Kalì Kart social media channels (Instagram, Facebook).

Final race of the year for the Lenovo Kalì Kart team, competing this weekend at the Lonato circuit for the Trofeo delle Industrie, with the goal of continuing technical development and driver evaluations ahead of the 2026 season.

This prestigious trophy has reached its 53rd edition and its roll of honour includes many champions who later moved into car racing and even Formula 1, such as Alex Zanardi, Giancarlo Fisichella, and Jarno Trulli.

Team Lenovo will compete with 4 drivers: newcomers Zack Zhu in OKJ and Trofim Krotov in OKN, who will join Alex Mrozik (OKN) and Dario El Malki in OKN Junior. Over 250 drivers will take part in this final international meeting of the season, and Lenovo Kalì Kart’s goal will be to continue integrating the new drivers and accumulate mileage with the 2026 chassis ahead of the first full season under the Lenovo colors.

At the same time, after two near-podiums in the last two WSK races, there is a strong desire to end the season with a podium finish—and the potential, in this regard, seems very realistic. This week’s tests provided excellent feedback, and the weather is expected to remain good until the final day, allowing for more consistent work for both technicians and drivers.

The event schedule includes timed practice on Friday morning, followed by the qualifying heats, which will continue through Saturday. The final day on Sunday will feature the pre-finals in the morning and the Finals in the afternoon, broadcast live on the promoter’s website (www.trofeodelleindustrie.it).

On Sunday, November 23rd, the Lonato circuit will host the last of the three WSK Final events, which will close the long 2026 International karting season. This important meeting will welcome as many as 400 drivers divided into seven categories: MINI U10, MINI Gr3, OKJ, OK, OKNJ, OKN and KZ2.

The Lenovo Kalì Kart Team will be competing with 5 official drivers: in MINI U10 with the pair composed of Filip Stec and Filippos Troulis, in OKJ with the American Julian Rivera, in OKN with Aleksander Mrozik, and in OK with Davide Bottaro. The Italian driver is particularly anticipated after his excellent debut in Cremona, and here on the home track of the CRG Factory he will certainly be one of the drivers to watch closely. This weekend’s race will be another step toward 2026 for the Lenovo Kalì Kart Team, as part of a process of integrating new drivers and enhancing technical activities within the team. But it will not be the last commitment of 2026; in fact, after the race in Lonato, the team will also remain to take part in the historic Trofeo delle Industrie, making the most of every opportunity to strengthen all technical areas before the winter break.

Returning to this weekend’s event, the first free practice sessions are already underway, while qualifying practice is scheduled for Friday morning. This will be followed by an intense program of heats between Friday afternoon and Saturday, leading up to Sunday’s final day with the Finals.

Live Streaming and Live Timing will be available on the promoter’s official website (www.wskarting.it) while updates and content from the paddock will, as usual, be published on the team’s social media channels.

It was a very positive weekend for the Lenovo Kalì Kart Team at the Cremona circuit for the 2nd and penultimate round of the WSK Final. Davide Bottaro, who joined the Lenovo squad on the eve of the event, was one of the major protagonists in the OK category. He took 4th place in his Qualifying Group, won a heat during Saturday’s qualifying phases, and dominated Sunday morning’s Super Heat. The Italian driver confirmed himself among the strongest in the Final as well, but starting from the outside lane didn’t help him in the early stages of the race. After a very intense run, he missed the podium by just a few thousandths, despite having it in his hands until the final lap, and finished 4th. Beyond the sporting result, which places the Lenovo Kalì Kart Team colors right at the top of the direct drive top class, the weekend was extremely valuable for testing and developing the Kalì Kart chassis with an eye already on 2026. The entire event took place under stable weather conditions, and many useful kilometers were completed to prepare for next season, with reliable feedback and direct comparison against the strongest teams and drivers in the category.

Back to the sporting side, it’s worth mentioning the positive weekend of Filip Stec in the MINI U10 category. He continues to learn in these high-level meetings, especially looking ahead to his full-time program in 2026. The Polish driver finished the Final in 14th place with an excellent race pace. Still in MINI, Filippo Troulis was very unlucky. After a difficult qualifying, he was involved in an incident on Saturday and had to withdraw early from the event. Lastly, Vincenzo Salierno qualified for the Final, showing major improvements throughout the weekend.

Team Technical Manager Mariano De Faveri commented: “Davide did an excellent job and deserved the podium. But beyond the podium missed by such a tiny margin, we’re very satisfied with the weekend overall and with the technical information we gathered on the 2026 chassis. We also saw many positive signs in MINI, and our work program for this end of the season is progressing smoothly and according to plan. Next week in Lonato we will also have an OKJ driver, adding another piece to our approach plan for next season.”

The preparation phase for the 2026 season continues this weekend for the Lenovo Kalì Kart Team, which will take part in the 2nd round of the WSK Final Cup at the Cremona circuit. The most important news the team brings this week is the arrival of Davide Bottaro in the top OK class, following the Italian driver’s move from the CRG team, with which he raced up to the FIA World Championship in Sweden, to the Lenovo team. This internal decision by CRG aims to carry out, together with Davide, a technical and organizational preparation program for the team ahead of next season, and currently foresees Davide’s stay with the Lenovo team until the end of the season.

Alongside Bottaro, competing in the MINI category will be Polish driver Filip Stec and Greek driver Filippos Troulis, both of whom were very fast in the first race at Franciacorta and are aiming for a strong result this weekend. In the OKN Junior category, the team will instead be represented by Vincenzo Salierno. The weekend’s schedule includes free practice until Thursday evening, while Friday will mark the start of the official part of the event with qualifying practice and the first elimination heats, which will continue into Saturday. The key day will be Sunday, with the Super Heats in the morning and the Finals in the afternoon.

Updates from the track will be posted on the team’s social media channels, while Live Timing will be available on the website www.wskarting.it

This week, from October 22 to 26, the Franciacorta circuit will host Round 1 of the WSK Final Series. For the official Kalì Kart team, this will be the first race featuring the new livery of title sponsor Lenovo, and therefore also the first official appearance under its new name: Lenovo Kalì Kart Team, as listed in the official Entry List.

The WSK Final Series consists of three events: after this opening round in Franciacorta, Round 2 will take place in Cremona on November 9, and the concluding race will be held at Lonato on November 23. The official Kalì Kart team, led on track by technical director Mariano de Faveri, will use this prestigious international end-of-season series — which brings together the most important teams and drivers in international karting — to finalize its driver lineup for the upcoming season. Four drivers will compete in this first event: Filippo Troulis (Greece) and Filip Stec (Poland) in MINI U10, Vincenzo Salierno in OKN Junior, and Ilya Berezkin (Russia) in OK, the top “direct drive” category.

The event will come alive on Friday, with the end of free practice sessions, followed by qualifying and the first heats. Saturday will feature more qualifying races, while on Sunday, the Super Heats and Finals will take place in the early afternoon. Over 350 drivers are expected to participate, and the weather forecast predicts stable, dry conditions. Fans can follow the event on the official WSK website (www.wskarting.it), with Live Timing, Live Streaming, and access to all results and rankings.

Marco Angeletti, CRG’s marketing manager and coordinator of the Lenovo project, introduced this first race in Lenovo colors following the partnership announcement last September: “This weekend’s race carries emotional significance beyond the sporting aspect. We are excited and proud to bring to the world of karting a brand that is a Global Partner of Formula 1 and deeply involved in motorsport in general. We’re working toward building a top-level 2026 season, and these WSK end-of-year races are an excellent testing ground to gradually integrate new technical staff members and, above all, new drivers, who will play a central role in this project in partnership with Lenovo. The goal is to create a pipeline and an Academy to support the most deserving drivers in their growth journey, not only in karting but also in motorsport overall. At this Franciacorta event, we’ll have four drivers — including two in MINI U10, which will be one of the core categories in our future strategy, along with our commitment to OKJ and OK in FIA Karting competitions. In the upcoming races, we’ll expand to six drivers, covering all Under 16 categories, which are the focus of our project. We can’t wait to begin this ambitious and exciting journey with Lenovo — a journey that officially starts this weekend.”

Line-Up

Filippo Troulis (Greece) – MINI U10
Filip Stec (Poland) – MINI U10
Vince Salierno (Italy) – OKN Junior
Ilya Berezkin (Russia) – OK

WSK Final Calendar

Round 1 – Franciacorta (October 26)
Round 2 – Cremona (November 9)
Round 3 – Lonato (November 16)

After the announcement of the multi-year partnership between Kalì Kart and the new title sponsor Lenovo, the management of the historic CRG brand is working to define the 2026 drivers’ line-up of the team, which will be dedicated to the under-16 junior categories: Mini, OKNJ, OKJ, and OK. The racing program will include participation in all FIA Karting events (European Championship and World Championship for OK and OKJ classes), as well as a structure that will be active in Italy for the Mini U10 / Gr3 and OKN Junior categories.

The Lenovo Kalì Kart team will be a true Academy: the selected drivers will have access to competitive technical equipment and a professional staff, in line with the standards of a Factory team. The program shared by Lenovo and Kalì Kart will also include strong coaching support, both for athletic preparation and for communication and personal management training. Lenovo, Global Partner of F1, aims to build a concrete bridge between karting and motorsport, supporting the selected drivers from an educational perspective even before the financial one.

To be fully prepared for the 2026 season, the management of Kalì Kart and CRG has reset the collaborations with the drivers involved in the first part of 2025, in order to build a team aligned with the new project’s objectives. At the beginning of September, the partnerships with the Zvarich brothers were terminated, following the earlier conclusion of collaborations with Joel Taipale and David Moscardi before the summer break.

In the coming weeks, several announcements about the new drivers are expected, and the final races of the season, such as the WSK Final Cup, will be used to finalize the 2026 line-up. The team will likely consist of 2 OKJ drivers and 2 OK drivers for international competitions, plus 4 MINI drivers and 2 OKN Junior drivers for national races. The official presentation of the Lenovo Kalì Kart team is scheduled for January 2026, following the experiences and results of this final part of the season.

As part of the multi-year partnership between LENOVO and the CRG Group, announced on Tuesday, September 2nd in Milan, the new official name of the Kalì Kart Factory Team was also unveiled: from now on, it will appear in all official Entry Lists as Lenovo Kalì Kart Team.

The IT giant, Global Partner of F1, will become the Main Sponsor of the Kalì Kart team, helping raise the technical, organizational, and performance standards of the squad. The goal is to implement new processes in data acquisition and processing, as well as to provide the team with a budget to support the drivers who will be selected for the 2026 Line Up. Lenovo’s project also includes the creation of a training Academy to support the growth of drivers from karting to higher categories of Motorsport.

Lenovo will be the Title Sponsor of a team that immediately aims to position itself among the top teams in international karting, thanks to a strong technical leadership under the coordination of Mariano De Faveri. A key element will also be the partnership with TM for engines, along with the arrival of a pool of new technicians to strengthen the team in several strategic areas.

The Lenovo Kalì Kart Team will be a “premium” squad, equipped with prestigious logistical resources, and will exclusively manage under-16 drivers in the Mini, Junior, and OK categories. The sporting program will focus on FIA races and the most important international meetings, while also including a division to introduce younger drivers in the Mini and OKN Junior categories within national championships in Italy. Lenovo will select certain team drivers to support them through its Academy program, also covering aspects such as athletic preparation, coaching, and educational support, given that most of the drivers study online.

Alberto Spinelli of LENOVO emphasized the goals of the sponsorship agreement with the official Kalì Kart team:
“Our goal is to support an Academy in karting, which will serve as the natural foundation for our initiatives and partnerships in Motorsport, including F1. CRG and Kalì Kart have already produced many champions now in F1, from Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen and, most recently, Gabriel Bortoleto. Gabriel himself enthusiastically welcomed our initiative with a video message during the presentation evening of the agreement. Kalì Kart will be a platform where we will bring our technological know-how and enhance the technical staff to quickly become one of the most authoritative karting Academies, while also achieving significant sporting results that will allow us to support our drivers in their transition to cars. We already have a list of ambitious drivers under evaluation with the Kalì Kart management, and soon the first official announcements will be made regarding the race program for the end of the season and for 2026.”