FIA Karting European Championship OK-OKJ Rd 2 & Academy Trophy-Senior Rd 1, Portimão – The winners are Costoya (OK), Hoogendoorn (OKJ) and Ferrari (Academy Sr.)

[Translated with ChatGPT]

OK: Christian Costoya dominates and takes the championship lead

Tyres: Maxxis

A weekend to remember for Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport – Parolin – TM Kart), who secured pole position in qualifying, finished first in the qualifying heats, triumphed in the final, and took the lead in the championship after the second round.
The Spaniard led all 20 laps of the race, with Noah Wolfe (VAR by Birel – Birel Art – TM Kart) glued to his rear bumper all the way to the chequered flag. The two crossed the finish line just over a second apart.
Zac Drummond (Fusion Motorsport – KR – IAME) completed the podium after holding off challenges throughout the race from Daniel Kelleher (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME), Roman Kamyab (Ricky Flynn Motorsport – LN – TM Kart), and Thibaut Ramaekers (VDK Racing – KR – IAME). Kamyab climbed to fifth with an 11-place recovery and also set the fastest lap of the final. Kelleher took fourth, with Ramaekers in sixth.
Dries Van Langendonck (Prema Racing – KR – IAME) finished seventh after gaining 10 positions. He was followed by Jensen Burnett (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM Kart) in eighth, James Anagnostiadis (Prema Racing – KR – IAME) in ninth, and Viktor Gustafsson (GE.LU.MI.NI – CRG – TM Kart) in tenth.
Also worth noting were the strong comebacks by Lewis Wherrell (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM Kart) and Vegard Klemetsen (VictoryLane – KR – IAME), who climbed 12 and 20 positions respectively to finish 11th and 12th. Further back were Filippo Sala (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM Kart) in 13th and Kenzo Craigie (Prema Racing – KR – IAME) in 15th.
Lev Krutoholov (Energy Corse – Energy – IAME), who had started from the front row, lost ground in the opening corners and finished 17th. It was a tough day for Joe Turney (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME), who was forced to retire after five laps.

Results

OKJ: Hoogendoorn unstoppable in Portimão

Tyres: Maxxis

Dean Hoogendoorn (Prema Racing – KR – IAME) dominated the OKJ final in Portimão, taking the lead from the start and maintaining control all the way to the chequered flag. Right behind him came Noah Baglin (Prema Racing – KR – IAME), who managed to withstand sustained pressure for much of the race from Will Green (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME) and Arata Endo (Ward Racing – Tony Kart – TM Kart).
Green and Endo remained in third and fourth positions for most of the race, but both retired on the final lap following a collision. Benefitting from the incident was Ilie Tristan Crisan (Tony Kart Racing Team – Tony Kart – Vortex), who had been extremely fast throughout: starting 12th, he gained nine positions and grabbed third place just seconds before the crash.
Henry Domain (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM Kart) finished fourth, followed by Drew Walz (KR Motorsport – KR – IAME) and Dan Allemann (Ward Racing – Tony Kart – TM Kart), who started third on the grid after securing pole position in qualifying. Antonio Pizzonia (Fusion Motorsport – KR – IAME) took seventh, with Luka Scelles (VictoryLane – KR – IAME) close behind in eighth.
Rounding out the top-10 were two major movers: Michael McGaughy (Koski Motorsport – KR – IAME), ninth after gaining ten places, and Remigiusz Samczyk (Fusion Motorsport – KR – IAME), who climbed sixteen positions to finish tenth.
Also noteworthy was the early retirement of Iskender Zulfikari (Forza Racing – Exprit – TM Kart).

Results

Academy Sr.: Ferrari inherits victory after final chaos

Chassis: Exprit | Engine: Vortex | Tyres: Maxxis

Riccardo Ferrari (Italy) claimed victory in the final of the opening round of the Academy Sr., after crossing the line in fourth position. Ahead of him were Amador Martinez Saenz (Colombia), penalised for a dropped front fairing, Yuzuki Sato (Japan), penalised for causing a collision, and Devon Hagelen (Netherlands), who was disqualified for the same reason.
Despite the penalties, Martinez and Sato still made it onto the podium in second and third place respectively, while Hagelen was excluded from the classification. Ferrari capitalised on the situation to take the win.
Just off the podium finished Niklas Vejen (Denmark), followed by Nik Sculac (Slovenia), who set the fastest lap and recovered 23 positions. Sixth place went to Mio Olert (Sweden), ahead of Agustín Sepúlveda (Chile) and Andrey Adaykin, who climbed 13 positions. Rounding out the top-10 were Neil Russell (Switzerland) and Jules Avril (France).

Results