Romania versus Ukraine, a show in karting too!

The third stage of the Romanian ROK Cup had a crescendo of tension towards the last lap of the last race on Sunday, where a fantastic duel between Eduard Gaschler and Victor Gorun took center stage.

Reverse grids guaranteed the show at Târgu Secuiesc, where the chicane in the middle of the circuit variant chosen for this year represented the hot spot of the battles. In the Micro ROK and Mini ROK categories, the ambitions of the drivers from Romania and Ukraine were comparable, sharing their spoils by winning several heats. In the end, Adam Predescu and Victor Gorun tipped the balance in favor of our country.

Micro ROK

Pole position: Oleksandr Dubinin (Borsch Racing/Energy Corse/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 1: Adam Predescu (Formula K RO/Formula K/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 2: Mykola Deretskyy (Black Racing/ Energy Corse /Vortex/Levanto)

Race 3: Adam Predescu (Formula K RO/Formula K/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 4: Adam Predescu (Formula K RO/Formula K/Vortex/Levanto)

Defeated in the qualifiers by only 33 thousandths of a second, Adam Predescu took his revenge in the races. In the first one he overtook poleman Dubinin to take the lead, then progressed each time on reversed grids for two more wins and a second place, just 0.059s shy of Deretskyy. That's all he lacked for a weekend with maximum points, but Predescu has a lot to be proud of, especially how he managed the starts and the fast passage through the peloton in the inaugural laps. Even more so as we had such a tight pack - first to last in just five seconds on three occasions.

1. Adam Predescu (Formula K RO/Formula K/Vortex/Levanto) 95p

2. Nikita Aleksandrov (Borsch Racing/Energy Corse/Vortex/Levanto) 76p

3. Mykola Deretskyy (Black Racing/ Energy Corse /Vortex/Levanto) 62p

Mini ROK

Pole position: Eduard Gaschler (Gulstar Racing/KR/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 1: Dmytro Legkobyt (Zaec Racing Team/Parolin/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 2: Victor Gorun (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto

Race 3: Dmytro Legkobyt (Zaec Racing Team/Parolin/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 4: Victor Gorun (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

As in the previous round, Victor Gorun was quite far off at the end of qualifying: 7th, half a second behind Gaschler. But his race pace was second to none: on Saturday he advanced three positions in the first leg (won by Dmytro Legkobyt), then another four in the second, claiming the win. On Sunday, an incident with the same driver from the neighboring country resulted in a penalty for Gorun, but the narrowly missed victory was compensated in the last start of the day with a long-running duel with Gaschler until the checkered flag.

This stage certified the supremacy of the Under 10 drivers, as Gorun and Legkobyt took the top two positions in both the sub-category and the overall Mini ROK category. The Lady trophy went to Carla Maria Roșu.

1. Victor Gorun (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto) 74p

2. Dmytro Legkobyt (Zaec Racing Team/Parolin/Vortex/Levanto) 68p

3. Eduard Gaschler (Gulstar Racing/KR/Vortex/Levanto) 66p

Junior ROK

Pole position: Ruxandra Cozma (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 1: Ruxandra Cozma (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 2: Ruxandra Cozma (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 3: Ruxandra Cozma (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

Race 4: Ruxandra Cozma (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto)

Four races devoid of emotions and history were treated with the utmost seriousness by Ruxandra Cozma, who never lost her pace and outpaced Cîmpean by gaps between 11 and 15 seconds. Four other drivers who entered the arena at Prejmer did not show up this time, thus facilitating the progress of those who raced at Târgu Secuiesc towards the top of the annual rankings of the Junior ROK category.

1. Ruxandra Cozma (Real Racing/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto) 100p

2. Matei Cîmpean (Superkart Racing Team/Tony Kart/Vortex/Levanto) 80p