The Andrea Margutti Trophy is one of the oldest events on the international karting calendar. It is renowned for highlighting the greatest hopes of motor sport. Norris, Alonso, Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Russell, Leclerc and Sainz have all distinguished themselves here. In 2023 on the Lonato circuit, the 34th edition of this important Italian classic saw recognition for David Cosma Cristofor. A member of the KR Motorsport team, the young and talented Romanian clearly dominated his opponents by winning all three heats, the Prefinal and the Final with the fastest lap in the race. A perfect weekend!
Year after year, David Cosma Cristofor is getting stronger. In 2021, he had multiple podiums and successes in the Mini category. That year, he came close to a first victory in the Andrea Margutti Trophy, finishing 2nd, a tenth behind the winner. Since then, the Romanian hopeful has grown up, continued his education with the international school of Bucharest and is now competing in the OK-Junior category. His 2023 season started with a promising top five in the highly competitive Winter Cup, before entering the top 10 in the WSK Super Master Series with all the world’s best drivers in the category. But David Cosma Cristofor still wants more and his efforts are relentless in order to reach his only goal: winning!
Undefeated from the first heat to the Final…
We could feel this victory in OK-Junior coming. At South Garda Karting of Lonato, a true temple of the sport in which David is fully invested, it was celebrated indisputably. Although the pole position escaped him by a tiny gap aftee he had just set the best time in the last Free Practice session, he quickly went on the attack in the Qualifying Heats where he won the first, the second and the third!
Determined to confirm this on Sunday, he set the fastest time in the warm-up at the start of the day at the wheel of his KR-IAME kart. The last rehearsal before the long-awaited Final, the Prefinal saw David Cosma Cristofor hold the lead of the race as soon as the lights went out. He opened up a gap in the first few laps, which allowed him to control his rivals by managing his equipment and tyre wear.
In the Final, David did not hesitate and continued his performance by leading the race from the first to the last lap, while being the fastest on the track. “It was a great race,” said the 14-year-old Romanian driver, just minutes after the finish and celebrating his dominance. “I was very competitive throughout the meeting and I think this is a well-deserved victory. Winning the Andrea Margutti Trophy was important for me. The KR Motorsport team did a great job and I would like to thank Tom, Mario and especially Dino Chiesa, the manager of Kart Republic, for his support. This bodes well for the FIA European Karting Championship which starts in Spain at the Valencia circuit.”
ABOUT DAVID COSMA-CRISTOFOR
Born on February 5, 2009, David Cosma-Cristofor is a very promising young karting driver, who embodies the talent of the next generation of Romanian motorsport. Attracted to speed and motor sports such as Formula 1 and MotoGP from a young age, David started racing karts in 2017, quickly showing impressive potential that has resulted in numerous podium finishes at national level in Romania.
His multiple successes pushed the Bucharest driver to go beyond his borders to compete internationally. Once again, his progress was remarkable, to the point of becoming one of the best drivers in the Mini category in 2021 with his KR-IAME equipment from the Gulstar Racing team. Moving up to Junior in 2022 with KR Motorsport, he is now a regular podium contender in this highly competitive class.
