OK Junior: Under Costoya's Sign
With the title already secured on Saturday by Van Langendonck, the pressure in the category eased, allowing Christian Costoya (Parolin/TM) to complete his perfect weekend by dominating both the super heat and the Final. He established himself as one of the standout drivers in the category and a serious contender for the World Championship in a single race in September. Here in Sweden, the Spaniard was more consistent than ever, winning 4 out of 5 heats, dominating the only super heat held on dry ground, and the Final where he started from pole position in the wet—an impressive feat given that many drivers who were fast on dry ground disappeared from the top positions with Sunday's rain. Costoya's stellar performance coincided with a nightmare weekend for Martinese, which began poorly and ended worse, as failing to qualify for the Final cost him second place in the overall standings to the Spanish driver. The Italian team can still celebrate having two drivers in the top 5 of the Final standings, with Filippo Sala securing 5th place in the European Championship thanks to his consistency, overtaking Austrian Niklas Schaufler.
OK Senior: Turney Finally Champion
It was by no means certain that this final Round would be easy for Joe Turney (KR/IAME), and indeed, worthy competitors were not lacking, especially the eternal rival Gomez (CRG/IAME), who defended himself fiercely in the super heat—where he managed to stay ahead of Turney in wet conditions, showing off their class by leaving a significant gap to those behind—and in the Final, where the Brazilian resisted Turney's attacks in the early laps. However, at the start of the 4th lap, Turney passed him and cruised towards a liberating victory. Turney's return to high-level competition after the serious accident at the 2023 World Championship in Franciacorta was also uncertain, and he has demonstrated that not only returning to racing but doing so while winning was his goal, which deserves recognition. The spectacle seen in the OK Final, beyond Turney's breakaway, had not been seen for some time: first, the two leaders, then the drivers recovering positions, as a multiple contact during the first lap delayed many, including McLaughlin, who started from pole and found himself caught in a "sandwich" between Turney and Gomez in a spectacular—yet clean—maneuver just a few turns after the start, before Drummond caused chaos with a 'strike.' The Irishman then put on a furious comeback, reaching third place after Belgian Kaï Rillaerts (SODI/TM) received a penalty for a starting alignment issue. Out of contention was Ramaekers, who was extremely fast on dry ground but completely disappeared in the wet. The challenging conditions highlighted the experience of the only top Wild Card driver, Pedro Hiltbrand (Gustavson and Leuillet did not qualify for the final due to various issues), who had the satisfaction of climbing from 26th on the grid to finish 5th (later demoted to 7th due to a nose cone infraction) in a race where he kept pace with the frontrunners and performed overtakes and crossovers worthy of the best drivers in the category. Let's not forget, the Spaniard was the European and World Champion in 2016, a feat only matched by Lorenzo Travisanutto (2019), and which Turney, with the World Championship on home soil in September, might be considering...
With the title already secured on Saturday by Van Langendonck, the pressure in the category eased, allowing Christian Costoya (Parolin/TM) to complete his perfect weekend by dominating both the super heat and the Final. He established himself as one of the standout drivers in the category and a serious contender for the World Championship in a single race in September. Here in Sweden, the Spaniard was more consistent than ever, winning 4 out of 5 heats, dominating the only super heat held on dry ground, and the Final where he started from pole position in the wet—an impressive feat given that many drivers who were fast on dry ground disappeared from the top positions with Sunday's rain. Costoya's stellar performance coincided with a nightmare weekend for Martinese, which began poorly and ended worse, as failing to qualify for the Final cost him second place in the overall standings to the Spanish driver. The Italian team can still celebrate having two drivers in the top 5 of the Final standings, with Filippo Sala securing 5th place in the European Championship thanks to his consistency, overtaking Austrian Niklas Schaufler.
OK Senior: Turney Finally Champion
It was by no means certain that this final Round would be easy for Joe Turney (KR/IAME), and indeed, worthy competitors were not lacking, especially the eternal rival Gomez (CRG/IAME), who defended himself fiercely in the super heat—where he managed to stay ahead of Turney in wet conditions, showing off their class by leaving a significant gap to those behind—and in the Final, where the Brazilian resisted Turney's attacks in the early laps. However, at the start of the 4th lap, Turney passed him and cruised towards a liberating victory. Turney's return to high-level competition after the serious accident at the 2023 World Championship in Franciacorta was also uncertain, and he has demonstrated that not only returning to racing but doing so while winning was his goal, which deserves recognition. The spectacle seen in the OK Final, beyond Turney's breakaway, had not been seen for some time: first, the two leaders, then the drivers recovering positions, as a multiple contact during the first lap delayed many, including McLaughlin, who started from pole and found himself caught in a "sandwich" between Turney and Gomez in a spectacular—yet clean—maneuver just a few turns after the start, before Drummond caused chaos with a 'strike.' The Irishman then put on a furious comeback, reaching third place after Belgian Kaï Rillaerts (SODI/TM) received a penalty for a starting alignment issue. Out of contention was Ramaekers, who was extremely fast on dry ground but completely disappeared in the wet. The challenging conditions highlighted the experience of the only top Wild Card driver, Pedro Hiltbrand (Gustavson and Leuillet did not qualify for the final due to various issues), who had the satisfaction of climbing from 26th on the grid to finish 5th (later demoted to 7th due to a nose cone infraction) in a race where he kept pace with the frontrunners and performed overtakes and crossovers worthy of the best drivers in the category. Let's not forget, the Spaniard was the European and World Champion in 2016, a feat only matched by Lorenzo Travisanutto (2019), and which Turney, with the World Championship on home soil in September, might be considering...
Photocredit: Arnau Viñals
