On the eve of the Swedish round, which will close the European Championship for the single-speed FIA classes, there are two drivers, both with a significant lead over their pursuers in the standings, who have a high probability of becoming European Champions this weekend. The standings and the situation surrounding these drivers give an idea of the evolution of the OK categories, their educational function, and the important role karting plays in the career of a driver who, together with their management team (whether it be family or a management agency), has planned a path towards the feeder series. The almost fourteen-year-old Belgian, van Langendonck, who has dominated the OKJ category this year (as reigning World Champion), has just been recruited into the McLaren Academy, just as Bondarev, the 2023 European OKJ Champion, was enlisted by Williams around this time last year after winning the Junior title (the Ukrainian driver is currently taking his first steps in F4). In 2021, it was also a Junior European Champion, Ugo Ugochukwu, who earned a call from the Woking team, just as Kimi Antonelli, now widely known, did not miss out on that title in 2020 – though he had been under AMG’s watchful eye and contract well before that. In a calendar full of competitions of various levels, where FIA races might seem like any other race, the European Championship, the only one spread over four rounds, and specifically the Junior one, appears to be a championship worth winning to get noticed by the “bigwigs”.
As pointed out by a member of a major factory team a few months ago, today it is the OKJ category where drivers are closely watched for promotion beyond karting, while the OK category, which should represent the pinnacle of direct-drive karting, is essentially a category where drivers often stay for no more than a year, waiting to turn 15, the minimum age required to move into cars. For this reason, those who remain in karting, such as some over-20 drivers – like Turney or Morgatto, and this weekend also Leuillet (born in 1999) and Hiltbrand (born in 1996) as wild cards – are constantly at the top due to their extensive experience in the category: it's not uncommon for newcomers in the OK to be very fast, but due to the structure of the event and the great experience of the older drivers, even with slightly less speed, the more experienced ones manage to prevail in the standings over those who only race in OK for a year.
The two match points in this Round 4 of the European Championship thus provide a very clear picture of modern karting, which sees the Junior category as a key step in the career of a young talent and offers some food for thought for those who would like to see a super category with professional kart drivers in direct-drive, a situation that, as of today, can only be seen in KZ.
As for Kristianstad, the race remains open with the 100 points available to Turney and van Langendonck’s challengers, Gomez and Morgatto in OK (unfortunately, the very fast Ramaekers is mathematically out of the running), and Martinese in OKJ, who could attempt a coup to steal the spotlight from the Belgian (who also won here in the pre-Championship race two weeks ago), the clear favorite.
As pointed out by a member of a major factory team a few months ago, today it is the OKJ category where drivers are closely watched for promotion beyond karting, while the OK category, which should represent the pinnacle of direct-drive karting, is essentially a category where drivers often stay for no more than a year, waiting to turn 15, the minimum age required to move into cars. For this reason, those who remain in karting, such as some over-20 drivers – like Turney or Morgatto, and this weekend also Leuillet (born in 1999) and Hiltbrand (born in 1996) as wild cards – are constantly at the top due to their extensive experience in the category: it's not uncommon for newcomers in the OK to be very fast, but due to the structure of the event and the great experience of the older drivers, even with slightly less speed, the more experienced ones manage to prevail in the standings over those who only race in OK for a year.
The two match points in this Round 4 of the European Championship thus provide a very clear picture of modern karting, which sees the Junior category as a key step in the career of a young talent and offers some food for thought for those who would like to see a super category with professional kart drivers in direct-drive, a situation that, as of today, can only be seen in KZ.
As for Kristianstad, the race remains open with the 100 points available to Turney and van Langendonck’s challengers, Gomez and Morgatto in OK (unfortunately, the very fast Ramaekers is mathematically out of the running), and Martinese in OKJ, who could attempt a coup to steal the spotlight from the Belgian (who also won here in the pre-Championship race two weeks ago), the clear favorite.
