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| April 16, 2012 News |
| Orcic Claims Victory Overseas at WSK Euro Series Opener at Sarno |
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 | Phillip Orcic (c) leads the KZ2 championship with a victory in Sarno
(Photo: kartcom.com - KSP) |
The North American contingent continued its success overseas in 2012 at the opening round of the WSK Euro Series. The Napoli International Circuit in Sarno, Italy, was the site of the first round in the 2012 championship, and rain played a major part in the event that featured five categories; KZ1, KZ2, KF2, KF3, 60 Mini. A handful of North American pilots competed in the KZ2, KF3, and 60 Mini divisions, with the best result recorded by Canadian Phillip Orcic, as he earned the KZ2 Final 2 victory.
After campaigning the KF class for the past few seasons, Orcic has made the transition to the shifterkart division, running under the CRG Holland tent at Sarno. Accustom to wet weather racing, Orcic secured the pole position in qualifying by just under two-tenths of a second. Unfortunately, his time at the front was short lived thanks to two incidents in the heat races, leaving him with finishes of 15th and 10th to line him up 11th for the first main event. Making his way forward in the 12-lap event, Orcic was sidelined after five laps with a broken shifter linkage. For round two, the first heat race was lined up based on the results of Final 1, which put Orcic on row 10. In just nine laps, Orcic drove to fifth nearly securing the fast lap in the race. Now toward the front again, Orcic advanced to the second position to start Final 2 from outside the front row, next to the Final 1 winner. From there, Orcic secured the lead and drove away to a three-second victory in his debut KZ2 weekend. The victory put him in the championship lead with Final 2 offering up more points then the results from Final 1.
The second North American to score a pole position on the weekend was KF3 pilot Dalton Sargeant. After placing first in his qualifying group, he moved on to the SuperPole session that contained the top-12 drivers from the three groups. Posting a 1:30.199, Sargeant secured the top qualifying position aboard his Ward Racing Tony Kart/Vortex entry. The first three heat races were strong results for the American, placing fifth, first, and fourth. In the final heat race, Sargeant was hit from behind, dropping him down the order and finishing 17th. His results placed him 12th on the grid for the Prefinal. Starting on row three for Prefinal B, Sargeant moved up to fourth to start on row four for the Final. In another solid performance, he advanced to fifth in the 12-lap event.
 | Logan Sargeant (l) drove to the runner-up spot in 60 Mini
(Photo: kartcom.com - KSP) |
Joining Sargeant in the KF3 division were Canadians Lance Stroll (Zanardi/Parilla) and Zachary Claman DeMelo (CRG/BMB), with fellow American Santino Ferrucci (Energy/TM). Stroll was also part of the SuperPole session, ending up third overall. The Chiesa Corse driver also recorded a heat win, placing 13th, second and third in the other heats to sit seventh overall. Placing fourth in Prefinal A, he sat on the grid next to Sargeant in row four. Unfortunately, Stroll was not be able to complete a lap in the Final, and was classified 33rd. Claman DeMelo was 24th after qualifying, and two bad heat races dropped him to 45th overall. Lined up on the inside row 12 for Prefinal A, he put in a stellar drive to ninth, securing a spot in the Final. Starting just inside the top-20, Claman DeMelo made the best of his second European outing, as he drove to ninth in the main event. Ferrucci made it a North American four-for-four in the Final, as he also qualified through in a field of 69 drivers. Qualifying 16th overall, he held his ground to end up 22nd after the heat races. He drove his way forward in Prefinal B to line up alongside Claman DeMelo on row nine of the main event. Like Stroll, Ferrucci did not complete a lap in the Final, and was classified 34th. Sargeant is fourth in the title chase, Claman DeMelo ninth, and Stroll 10th, with Ferrucci in 23rd.
Logan Sargeant (Tony Kart/LKE) brought home more hardware from Europe, placing second in the 60 Mini category. Qualifying second overall, Sargeant drove to second and fourth in the first two heats, but a 22nd in the third ‘manche’ dropped him to sixth overall heading into the Prefinal. Able to advance to second in the Prefinal, Logan started the Final off-pole. Holding the position through the eight-lap event, Sargeant earned the runner-up trophy and sits second in the championship standings. Canadian/American Devlin DeFrancesco (Top Kart/LKE) joined Sargeant in the class on the weekend. DeFrancesco qualified ninth, but two heat races outside the top-20 dropped him to 19th on the Prefinal grid. He put in a great drive in the Prefinal to advance up to seventh, but was shuffled back to 17th in the Final.
The second round of the WSK Euro Series will be in three weeks (May 3-6), as the series travels to France for the Val D’Argenton International Circuit in Le Breuil Sous Argenton. |
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