COTF in Mülsen: Winners of Old and Winners of New

Chaos, penalties and breakthrough wins at Mülsen as new names rose to the top and the title battles took another dramatic twist.

For the third event on the Champions of the Future Euro Series calendar, Arena E Mülsen hosted the OK Junior and OK categories as the fight for the 2026 titles continued. The championship’s first visit to the German circuit took place under mostly warm and dry conditions, with occasional rain clouds threatening to shake up proceedings but never managing to interrupt a packed weekend of racing.

The technical circuit, narrow in nature and demanding in the way it raced, provided action that, on Saturday, could fairly be described as entertaining.

Entering the weekend, Qualifying Practice provided the first indication of the contenders. Daniel Miron Lorente led the way in OK Junior ahead of Julian Camilo Rivera and Alexandre Point, while Ilie Tristan Crisan topped the OK category from Evan Purcell and Michael McGaughy.

Gorski’s First Big Result
Throughout the qualifying heats, Miron took three heat wins and two P2 finishes, with Antonio Pizzonia emerging as his main challenger during his penultimate qualifying heat. Other names to impress included Emerson Macandrew-Uren, who qualified P4 overall and secured one of his first qualifying heat wins of the year on what would be his best OK Junior weekend to date. Mercedes Junior driver Niccolò Perico also shone, taking a qualifying heat victory. Miron, Perico, Priam Bruno, Antonio Pizzonia and Stepan Mazepin all managed qualifying heat wins. Amongst this, however, Zdenek Babicek proved to be Miron’s main challenger, taking three qualifying heat victories and climbing from P32 to second place by Saturday.

For the super heats, pole positions went the way of Miron and Babicek, with both converting their poles into victories. However, thanks to the extra points earned from his two P2 finishes, Miron secured pole position for the final.

The OK Junior Final was where the entertainment truly began. When the initial start was given, a major incident occurred that appeared to wipe out almost three-quarters of the field. Leonardo Gorski was one of the main catalysts, taking to the grass before rolling backwards into the path of oncoming drivers, who scattered like bowling pins. After a 15-minute repair window, racing recommenced, with drivers such as Emerson McAndrew-Uren, Will Green and Oskari Walle needing to repair kart damage within the allotted time. All drivers successfully completed repairs, and on the restart another hectic opening phase saw Miron take the lead.

After a Junior Final that was truly a case of survival of the fittest, Miron crossed the line first ahead of Leonardo Gorski and Antonio Pizzonia. However, the results would be challenged off-track, and the order continued to change for hours after the chequered flag. Following post-race penalties, the final top three were confirmed as Leonardo Gorski, Zdenek Babicek and Julian Frasnelli. A total of 16 penalties were issued, with the most notable being that of Daniel Miron, who was penalised for accelerating before the yellow line.

Baglin Wins Again
The story of the OK category featured James Anagnostiadis as the main character throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Anagnostiadis claimed four qualifying heat victories and one P2 finish after qualifying eighth overall. Similar to the Junior category, several different drivers secured qualifying heat wins, including Noah Baglin, Benjamin Manach, Ilie Crisan and Jindrich Pesl. Manach and Anagnostiadis lined up on pole for the two separate super heats, but Henry Domain took victory in the first, while Manach won the second.

The Senior Final proved to be a very different affair from the Junior race, with drivers opting for a more controlled approach than the chaos seen earlier. Benjamin Manach led the majority of the laps, but Noah Baglin remained close behind. Baglin showed patience lap after lap and, in the closing moments, made his move for the lead to secure his second final victory of the year. Joining him on the podium were Benjamin Manach, who achieved his best final result of the season, and James Anagnostiadis, who now moves into the lead of the series standings.

Brand-new winners have emerged, brand-new standings leaders have been established, but the same high-intensity racing has once again been on display.

Next, the series heads to Kristianstad, Sweden, for the penultimate round of the calendar. Entries are now open for the event, with drivers and teams able to secure their place for another crucial chapter of the 2026 season.

Viewers can relive all the action from Mülsen through the full live streams and highlights packages, available now on the Champions Karting YouTube channel.