Category: Non categorizzato

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.”

The official Kalì Kart team has confirmed, in this first part of the season, both the technical value and the potential of the 2025 racing chassis—and is now preparing to play a leading role in the second half of the season.

With the conclusion of a double race weekend at the Cremona track—the WSK Euro Series on July 6 and Round 4 of the Italian Championship on July 13, featuring over 320 drivers—it’s time to take stock, both technically and competitively, before the summer break.

From a technical standpoint, the full range of chassis—from those developed for the Mini categories (TGroup) to the ones used in the OK classes—have confirmed two key goals set by the technical team: versatility in all track conditions and ease of driving. From the cold at the start of the year to the scorching heat in Sarno, from technical tracks like Viterbo to the recent high-speed experience in Cremona, the Kalì Kart chassis have consistently shown great adaptability, both to different track conditions and to various types of tires (option and prime).

From a sporting perspective, the team likely harvested less than it deserved, but still achieved many notable results. These include standout performances from Ilia Berezkin in OK and OK-N, winner of the Margutti Trophy, 6th place at the WSK Euro in OK, and a podium finish at Sarno in the Italian Championship (OK-N). Also impressive is the steady growth of Marat Zvarich, consistently among the fastest in OKN Junior, as well as his younger brother Max in Mini U10, who has consistently placed in the top 5 in qualifying and top 10 in races over the past few events.

Looking ahead, starting in September, the team will focus on preparing for the FIA World Cup for OKN and OKN Junior, set to take place in Cremona on September 28, followed by the season-ending WSK Final races. The second part of the season will also be key in revising the driver lineup with an eye toward 2026, when the team will shift its primary focus to FIA Karting championships.

Kalì Kart, a brand owned by CRG, continues to grow its official team, which will work closely alongside CRG’s racing division. Kalì Kart will concentrate especially on youth categories—Mini, Junior, and OK—with drivers under 16 years of age. As part of this strategic focus, the decision was made not to pursue a KZ program, which will instead be supported by partner teams such as Jorge Pescador’s Spanish team and other brand importers.

For more information about Kalì Kart’s activities, visit the official website www.kalikart.com and follow the brand on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok (@Kali Kart Official).

The Italian Karting Championship promoted by ACI Sport starts this weekend on the Salento track in Ugento. There will be 5 events in the 2025 edition that will award the National titles for the MINI, OKN-J, OKN and KZ2 classes. After the inaugural race in Ugento, Round 2 will take place on the renovated Viterbo track, before moving on to Sarno, Cremona and Franciacorta.

The official Kalì Kart team will line up 7 drivers in this 1st Round, focusing in particular on the youth categories. In Mini U10 Max Zvarich and Francesco Petta will be racing with the Kalì Kart colours, in Mini Gr3 David Moscardi and Elias Rubin, in OKN-J Marat Zvarich and in OKN Joel Taipale and Mark Zvarich.

The Italian Championship has always played an important role for the Mini classes, assigning, in fact, the most prestigious titles for these categories. But at the same time, the Italian Federation has done an excellent job with the OKN categories that have the technical potential to relaunch karting in the individual National Championships with greater effectiveness than the single-brand Trophies. In this regard, it must be said that the OKN categories will be among the most numerous with 55 drivers in the OKN-J and about 70 in the OKN. This excellent work will be rewarded this year by the FIA ​​with the assignment to Italy of the FIA ​​World Cup OKN that will be held in Cremona in September. These reasons guarantee a lot of attention towards the Italian series, which boasts in its Entry List some of the most professional teams of these strategic categories and the best drivers.

Regarding this year’s format, it must be said that it will include one Final on the final day of Sunday, preceded by two Pre-finals. The weekend will give the first verdicts with the qualifying practice on Friday, to then continue on Saturday with the heats. The action on the track can be followed with Live Timing on the official website of the championship (www.acisport.it) and on Sunday all the races will also be broadcast with the Live Streaming platform.

Great weekend for Kalì Kart colours at the 36th Margutti Trophy that took place this weekend in Lonato. In the OK Junior category Ilia Berezkin dominated the OK Junior by winning all 3 qualifying heats, the Prefinal and the Final, always with an impressive race pace. With this victory, the Kalì Kart brand writes its name again in the event’s palmares after the 1993 success with Ennio Gandolfi in the Junior category. The team certainly shares this victory with Machac Motors that manages the TM engines for the official Kalì Kart team and that once again provided a high level service.

But the positive weekend of the Kalì Kart team did not stop at OK Junior, in fact, high-level performances arrived from all categories. Starting from the youngest of the Mini categories, where Max Zvarich had obtained an excellent P3 in the U10 qualifying practice on a dry track and in the Final he closed in 7th place in the rain, then became P11 for a penalty related to the front fairing. In Mini Gr3, the rain complicated the Ava Lawrence’s weekend (conditions where the Australian girl does not yet have much experience), who did not qualify for the Final, but at the same time David Moscardi made a good return to the team by conquering the top ten in the Final. In OKN-Junior Dario El Malki made a good debut with the team, obtaining 15th place in the Final, while Marat Zvarich retired a few laps from the chequered flag. Finally, in the OKN category Mark Zvarich was very unlucky, as he did not qualify due to a contact in the repechage while he was comfortably in the top 6, while things went better for Charles Troxler who gained access to the Final where he then finished P16. Joel Taipale also performed well in OKN, but the Finnish driver compromised his race with an exit from the track in the Prefinal that forced him to start from the back of the grid. Nevertheless, in the Final he recovered 21 positions, finishing in 11th position under the chequered flag.

Full results on www.trofeomargutti.it

This weekend the 36th edition of the Margutti Trophy will take place on the Lonato track, an international one-off meeting among the longest-running in the karting scene. Many prominent names are present in the palmares of this important event: from Giancarlo Fisichella winner in 1990 to Robert Kubica, who won the 100cc Junior with CRG colors in 1999. As for Kalì Kart, the last success in this race dates back to 1993 with Ennio Gandolfi.

This year, the presence of the Kalì Kart team at the Margutti Trophy has the aim of continuing the work program of the beginning of the season with the 2025 chassis and also of introducing new drivers to the team such as the Italian Dario El Malki, who will compete in his first race with the official team this weekend. David Moscardi will be back, instead, alongside Ava Lawrence in Mini Gr.3. Seasonal debut after completing the winter testing program also for Joel Taipale, who will be competing in the OKN category.

The weekend program includes qualifying practice and the first qualifying heats on Friday 21st, Saturday the whole day dedicated to the heats and on Sunday the Pre-Finals and Finals. The complete line up for the Kalì Kart team will be composed of Max Zvarich (Mini U10), David Moscardi and Ava Lawrence (Mini Gr3), Marat Zvarich and Dario El Malki (OKN-J), Charles Troxler, Joel Taipale and Mark Zvarich (OKN) and Ilia Berezkin in OKJ.

Race Preview and Live Timing on www.trofeomargutti.com