Jay Kostecki won an extraordinary Supercupfinal of ROK Mini U10 at the ROK International event in Italy – withstanding his first major challenge of the weekend, making a last lap pass to become the first Australian to do so.
The Superfinal was conducted in horrendous conditions at the South Garda circuit, with the rain intensifying through the youngsters’ final.
After winning the Pre-Final by over half a second, 10-year-old Kostecki had a handy lead from pole position in the early stage of the Superfinal. Midway through, American, Colton Schniegenberg swept by the West Australian and opened a lead of his own.
Just as it looked as though Kostecki would have to settle for second, he pulled an incredible move on the American to re-take the lead. Over the remaining two laps, the duo swapped the lead no less than three further times.
It took until three corners from home for the brother of Jake and Kurt Kostecki and cousin of last weekend’s Bathurst winner, Brodie, to make a decisive move to grab the lead and become the first Australian to win at the qualification-only event run by Italian manufacturer, Vortex-ROK. He was undefeated throughout the weekend and has earned entry into the Macau International.
In the same race, another West Australian, Cruz Priolo staged a stirring run. Starting towards the back of the capacity grid, he collected 15 competitors (the second highest in the race) to finish 19th.
In Mini ROK, Australian Cadet 12 Champion, Archie Bristow brought his kart home in seventh position – with conditions having worsened between the two Mini Superfinals.
Also in that race, Valentino Giorgella finished in 14th position and Jack Larsen 22nd.
Former Australian Cadet Champion, Ky Burke was 13th in Junior ROK.
In Senior ROK, Isaac McNeill didn’t qualify for the final – a manufacturing issue in the piston of his ballotted engine was discovered after Friday’s racing. He showed pace in the Warmup, however was deep in the field for the Pre-Final.
Jace Matthews – after running inside the top 10, including an off-track excursion with a competitor – was disqualified. Officials had reviewed video evidence after a Judge of Fact complaint and it was deemed in their eyes that the Queenslander had ‘…received mechanical assistance in the pre-grid without authorisation.’
It is one of the most successful ROK Supercup campaigns by an Australian team.
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