Luca Corberi throws a bumper at Paolo Ippolito

Massa promises “consequences” for “unacceptable behaviour” at karting finale

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Felipe Massa, the president of the international karting commission of the FIA, has promised those involved in incidents during yesterday’s world championship KZ Final in Italy will “face the consequences”.

The FIA has announced an “immediate investigation” into what it called the “disturbing events… involving drivers, team members and track officials” during and after yesterday’s race at the Lonato circuit.

Luca Corberi, 23, threw the bumper of his kart at fellow Italian racer Paolo Ippolito, 24, after the pair tangled during the race, forcing Corberi out. Corberi, who drives for Tony Kart, and his CRG rival Ippolito were both disqualified over their roles in the collision, footage of which was not broadcast.

Amateur video which circulated on social media appeared to show Corberi and a second individual attacking Ippolito in the paddock after the race. Massa, who became the CIK-FIA president in 2017, shared images of both incidents, stating “this behaviour is unacceptable in our sport” and “those individuals will face the consequences of their actions”.

Massa’s former Formula 1 rival Jenson Button said yesterday Corberi and his father should be given lifetime bans for their behaviour.

The championship was won by French 33-year-old Jeremy Iglesias, driving for Formula K.

Video: Corberi throws bumper after retiring from FIA KZ Final

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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16 comments on “Massa promises “consequences” for “unacceptable behaviour” at karting finale”

  1. Felipe, Jenson was faster than you.

    1. ??? Go back to social media.

      1. You seriously don’t get the reference?

    2. It is a shame to see this happen at a FIA World Championship race. With most sports that involve the family, tempers run very high. I have seen this behavior in kids soccer, basketball, motocross, baseball, as a matter of fact, most sports. The shocking part is, it is usually just the parents embarrassing themselves, doing the damage. Here, we have both a parent and the kid. I was a successful 125cc racer, in my day, and I saw myself as an ambassador and never ever wantonly thought of harming anyone. This should not be a “stain” on motorsports, but one on the pressures we unknowingly put on our kids.

  2. i do hope the police charge this man with assault and battery or even attempted murder.
    The bumper couldve killed a driver if it struck him in the wrong spot. These karts are going at least 50kph

    1. They’re also capable of reaching speeds up to 180kph…

      He should have been escorted away from the circuit by the police after throwing the bumper. Absolutely outrageous behaviour.

    2. it’s 100+ kph in that part of the track

  3. +1 not just the driver but also his father needs to be charged.

  4. Is it true that the individual after the race that body slammed the 15 year old driver who this driver attacked was the father of this idiot 23 year old karter? The same guy that owns the race track of an FIA world chamionship race? This is beyond drama….

    1. It sees that is indeed the case kpcart.

  5. 24 or 15? I thought the other party was 15.

    1. @jerejj 24 seems correct. I started following the karting world championships in the early-2010s, and Ippolito was racing back then. I don’t think any 7-year-old has ever raced in geared karts, at least competitively at this level.

      1. @wsrgo @Jockey Ewing
        In this case, the info about him being 15 was incorrect all along.

    2. I have googled a bit, and Ippolito seems to have stubble, and he has records of his karting career from the year of 2008 at driverdb.com, so he’s likely 24. At the video I found he seems to be quite short, or the interviewer was definitely taller in both videos what I saw of him, so it seems to be consistent. As their age is at about the same, and both raced karts for at about a decade, and both are Italian, they might knew each other for a while or to some extent.

  6. I am asking myself on what kind of sample he just gave to her daughter. Now he will be looking for a job. It is terrible and especially that he is a father. We do not how heavy was the piece he threw. But it could be deadly.

    1. The piece is light. It certainly would not be deadly.

      But serious injury was quite possible, anything is possible if object is sharp and fast enough.

      Fallout from this is somewhat better than event itself. Actors apologized, community responded with just action, all is fine, considering what potential mess this could have been.

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