01 Apr The 2023 season of the TBKART Racing Team gets off to a great start
After opening the kick off in January, the 2023 karting season is getting into full swing and it is already possible to provide a general overall assessment. The TBKART Racing Team is pleased with the start of an intense and busy year and is already reaping the benefits of the preparation work implemented during the winter break.
The first event of the season saw the TBKART Racing Team engaged in the prestigious Winter Cup, held at the South Garda Karting circuit in Lonato during the weekend of January 20-22. Despite the limited experience in KZ2, official driver Ariel Elkin performed superbly. Thanks to a remarkable performance, the young Israeli earned sixth place in the finals to offer a glimpse of the potential from the S197M chassis (the model particularly suitable for shifter classes, manufactured entirely by TBKART). The following week, the WSK Champions Cup was performed on the same international stage in Lonato. An event in which TBKART took part in the IAME X30 category, an exceptional performance in the Senior category was Elie Goldstein. Making his debut in TBKART colors, the Belgian driver immediately delivered an excellent showing with the S55M chassis (the best suited model for single-speed classes, entirely designed and manufactured by TBKART), finishing all of the weekend races in the top three spots. The newcomer added icing to the cake with a third-place in the finals, securing a podium position while enhancing his introduction with his collaboration to TBKART.
Confirmation of a promising start came the following weekend, when the TBKART Racing Team went out of the national borders to take on the IAME Winter Cup at the Valencia Circuit. Goldstein found himself fighting for victory in the finals, but unfortunately was forced to withdraw just a few laps from the checkered flag. After competing in three consecutive weekends of racing, the team had the chance to process the first data collected and better prepare for the start of the IAME Series in Italy. The first round, held at the Franciacorta Karting Track during the weekend of February 25-26, yielded immediate positive feedback with the victory of Andrea Barbieri in the X30 Senior class, which was joined by the presence of four TBKART’s chassis in the top ten and Roberto Castellozzi’s place of honor in the X30 Junior category. The TBKART Racing Team proved to be an absolute protagonist even in the first IAME Euro Series event, at the Zuera International Circuit on the weekend of March 3-5. TBKART’s long-standing guardian, Edoardo Ludovico Villa, started his season with an important silver medal, while Goldstein reaffirmed his competitiveness with a fifth place finish.
The TBKART Racing Team then continued on with convincing performances in following races on Italian soil. After coming close to a podium finish in X30 Senior series with Giacomo Maman and performing well in KZ2 with Luis Laurin Speck in the first round of the WSK Open Series, the team scored two top ten finishes in the Trofeo Margutti: in X30 Senior again with Maman and in KZ2 with Kristijan Habulin. The second round of the IAME Series in Italy, held at the Cremona circuit, further highlighted the company’s products, with four TBKART chassis again in the top ten spots in X30 Senior and a fourth place by Castellozzi in X30 Junior. Equally noteworthy are the results accumulated by Goldstein in the first non-European trip, with a seventh-place finish in Orlando (Florida), at the first round of the USPKS Championship. The Belgian driver returned to the top of the standings even in the first round of the IAME Series in Benelux, securing the second step on the podium (with results still admissible, even with a complaint that was filed, following the disqualification of the first place finisher).
