Buongiorno from Italia.
CKN, along with twelve Canadian karters have arrived at the mecca of our sport, South Garda Karting in Italy, for the annual ROK Cup SuperFinal.
The 23rd running of the event draws Rokkers from around the world to compete for the ultimate title as ROK Cup Super Final Champion. Canadians have been a part of this event since its inception, claiming victory by Jensen Burnett, and multiple times the Canadian flag has been represented on the official podium across many divisions.
This year, our squad of racers may be one of the most experienced groups to travel to the event, with eight of them competing in the event for at least the second time. For an event that is incredibly intimidating to a first-timer, already knowing what to expect when you get to Italy is huge.
All of the drivers competed in ROK Cup Canada, KartStars Canada or other ROK Cup qualifying events to ensure their presence at the event. Officially, the event runs from Wednesday to Saturday, with Tuesday the official practice day at South Garda.
Half of our group will compete in ROK Junior this week, which is typically the class least competed in.
A trio of drivers from Racing Edge Motorsports won their way into the event, led by Canadian Champion Cole Medeiros, who is making his third start at the SuperFinal. After competing with Ward Racing the past two years, Medeiros has landed at Italian outfit KGT this year, going all in for victory. Medeiros has not shied away from major competition this year, and that experience will be massive this week.
The other two REM Canadians will compete with the other Italian powerhouse karting team, Zanchi Motorsports, a team so big this year, they have nearly an entire aisle in the paddock. Leonardo Serravalle and Roman Doria will have plenty of data to share when making their SuperFinal debut. Serravalle has shown incredible growth this season, his first in two-cycle competition, and we know he spent some time this summer in Italy, preparing him for races like this one. As a rookie, we think he will be one to watch.
Doria will join him at Zanchi after competing in a bunch of events this summer, continuing to gain experience. Winning his way to Italy via KartStars Canada, this will be another great event for him to grow as a driver and learn from some of the best.
Two more Juniors will compete with Zanchi this week as the Tyers brothers, Quinn and Ethan, are back in Italy for some more racing. The pair have both been to the SuperFinal once before, as Mini drivers, but took a break this summer from Canadian karting and came to compete with Zanchi at an Italian race at South Garda. Returning to the team with some familiarity, they are ready to take on the ROK Cup world once again.
The final Canadian Junior competing this weekend is Ryker Magro. He has joined the Greek squad GSR for the event, moving up to Junior this year after competing in Mini last fall. Magro, like Doria, had a season of learning back home and comes to Italy ready to absorb even more. Never shy of a big challenge, Magro should be right in the thick of the action this week.
Our three stars in the Mini division this week have been very busy competing internationally this year, taking big wins and podiums all over North America, giving us some serious hope of the podium.
Asher Pavan is back for his third ROK Cup SuperFinal, once again joining the AV Racing – Parolin team for another go. Asher was dominant in Canada this season and is looking to cap off his time as a Mini driver with a solid result on the global stage.
Joining him at AV Racing is Jayden Francisco, who will compete in Mini U10. He’s had an incredible year, taking victory nearly every time he took to the track at a major event this season, including taking the USPKS and STARS championships in Mini. This will be his first start at the SuperFinal, and anything is possible with the engine lottery, but we expect Francisco to be up to speed quickly at South Garda and battling amongst the leaders.
Making his second start in a row, Sebastian de Moissac is Western Canada’s only representative this year in Italy. Seb enjoyed this event so much last year, even with the incredible amount of rain, that he put in a full effort to ensure he could return this year, earning his entry via the ROK Sonoma program. He will run as a privateer with support from OTK, aiming to compete with the big guns.
Our lone driver in Senior ROK this year is Joseph Launi. The Canadian-Italian will get his first taste of the ROK SVR engine, which is now the official engine for the Senior and Expert categories and will make its much-anticipated North American debut at ROK Vegas in a few weeks.
Rounding out the Canadians competing this week are our Experts. Andrew Valenzano returns for his second ROK Cup SuperFinal, once again with Zanchi Motorsports. He will compete in the Expert division, aiming for the podium after coming close a year ago.
In Expert Plus, Mark Pavan is making his fourth appearance at the ROK Cup SuperFinal, and for the second year in a row, he is competing at the same time as his son Asher. Mark has been on the Expert Plus podium in the past and has joined a local Italian race team for the weekend, and should be one to watch for another visit to the podium.
Qualifying kicks off on Wednesday, followed by the first round of heat races. Thursday and Friday feature more heat races, leading up to SuperFinal Saturday, where each of the eight categories will compete for the title of ROK Cup SuperFinal champion. Saturday’s races will also be live-streamed on the ROK Cup SuperFinal website: https://superfinal.rokcup.com/index_en.php.
