Mane

Ukrainian Karting Racers Back on Podium: Zlata Skuz Wins Moravian Cup

Ukrainian Karting Racers Back on Podium: Zlata Skuz Wins Moravian Cup
Shelby
01-07-2025

After a confident victory in the previous round of the prestigious karting tournament "Moravia Cup", Ukrainian racer Zlata Skuz once again demonstrated the highest level of preparation, leading the final protocol of the third round of the competition, which this time took place outside the Czech Republic and Slovakia - at the Austrian karting track called Speedworld. Despite the limited number of participants in her Mini 60 class, the stage turned out to be eventful and became a real test for both Zlata herself and other young pilots from Ukraine, including Kirill Grigorenko, who also represents the Master Kart Racing Team - a racing team with a long history, founded by Zlata's father Oleg Skuz together with his brother Igor back in the 1980s. During the two racing days, Zlata competed not only with her direct competitors in her classification, but also with pilots from the parallel classification of the Slovakian Karting Championship, who, although they did not directly influence the scoring, nevertheless actively resisted on the track, creating additional competition in each race.

Despite the limited number of participants in the Mini 60 - only five, including two Ukrainians - the fight for positions was intense and tense. In the qualification, Zlata showed the second result, losing only to one Slovak racer, and then finished second three times in the Pre-Final, Final and Superfinal. At the same time, each time she was significantly ahead of her direct competitors in the Moravian Cup classification, which allowed her to win another confident victory at the end of the stage. However, due to the low class size, the points awarded were significantly lower than expected - instead of the standard thirty-six for winning the preliminary heats and fifty-five for the Superfinal, Zlata received seventeen and twenty-eight points respectively, which in total amounted to only sixty-two points. This is less than she scored for fourth place in the first stage. Meanwhile, her main competitor, Teodor Otahal, who took second place, was only four points behind, thereby reducing the gap in the overall standings to a minimum of nine points. Such a difference under the current points system makes the fight for the championship extremely tense.

Another representative of the Master Kart Racing Team, Kirill Grigorenko, faced technical difficulties and incidents on the track, which did not allow him to intervene in the fight for victory. His race in the Pre-Final ended before the start due to engine problems, and in the Final, despite fighting with a direct competitor, there was contact, as a result of which the Ukrainian lost an entire lap and ended up behind. In the Superfinal, Kirill had a fierce fight with the same opponent, but finished in third place with a gap of less than three tenths of a second. Despite all this, in all three races he consistently took third place and received a corresponding position on the podium. In the overall standings, Grigorenko holds third place and is ahead of his closest pursuer by more than one hundred and twenty points, which makes him the main contender for bronze at the end of the season. Thus, the Ukrainian team still remains among the leaders of European karting among younger age categories, continuing to successfully represent their country in the international arena.

The third Ukrainian participant of the stage, eight-year-old Kirill Rukhlin, competed in the youngest class Baby 60, where twelve racers gathered, seven of whom were his direct rivals in the Moravian Cup standings. He became the fastest in his class in the qualification, and finished first in the Pre-Final, securing the lead at the initial stage. However, in the Final, after contact with another pilot, he found himself in the last position, from where he managed to bounce back to sixth place. In the Superfinal, the resistance of his competitors was again stronger, and Rukhlin finished fifth. As a result, he ended up in fourth place at the end of the stage, just two points short of the podium. Nevertheless, he earned one hundred and fifteen points, repeating Zlata's result at the first stage. This allowed him to consolidate his position in the fifth place in the overall standings, from where he has a real chance to fight for higher positions in the remaining four stages of the tournament. The entire Master Kart Racing Team finished the third round with decent results and is in a fighting mood ahead of the next races.