Julia Angelard with a sprint in the final of the first round of the ROK Cup Italia

After the first round of the ROK Cup Italia, Julia Angelard can have both reasons to be proud and a sense of dissatisfaction. The Minardi Management protégé showed strong pace during Saturday's qualifying session after training runs, taking 11th place out of 54 competitors in the Junior ROK category. Everything indicated that the next heats, thanks to starts from the 7th and 8th starting positions, would bring more good results. Unfortunately, reality decided to verify the expectations of the competitor and her team.

Difficult conditions and the finale of redemption
There was no shortage of satisfaction with the result in the qualifications - the result clearly emphasized that the competitor has the potential to improve her position in the races. Unfortunately, she encountered bad luck in the first heat. She was pushed off the track by one of her rivals, which resulted in losing not only valuable seconds, but also places in the grid. Despite her efforts, Julia was unable to return to a good position, what's more - this was not the end of the problems. In the second race, her rival, who lost control of his vehicle, crashed into her, giving her no chance to avoid a collision. This impact destroyed her chances for a good position, and she finished the race with a damaged kart.

The finale that everyone was waiting for was supposed to be a chance for redemption for Julia Angelard, but bad luck again did not leave the JSTR by Jastrzębski Racing competitor. Just a moment before leaving for the track, the engine of her vehicle simply refused to obey and would not start, which is why Julia was unable to go out on the formation lap on time. As a result, she had to start from 36th place, which definitely made it difficult for her to continue fighting. Despite such circumstances, accompanying her throughout the weekend, the 13-year-old Pole did not give up. Thanks to the excellent pace that she managed to maintain throughout the final race, she pushed ahead and eventually finished the competition in a sensational, 12th position.

Ambitions were much higher
“From the beginning of the weekend I had solid pace, which resulted in 11th place in qualifications. Unfortunately, in the first heat I was pushed off the track, and in the second one my rival, who had lost control of his vehicle himself, hit me, leaving me with zero chance of avoiding contact. In the final, bad luck did not let up – just before entering the track, the engine gave out, which forced me to start from P36. Despite this, thanks to great pace, I made it all the way to P12. This is a good result, but ambitions were much higher,” emphasizes Julia Angelard.

However, the Minardi Management protégé may have reasons to be happy after last weekend. At the same time, the WSK Super Master Series ended. Despite starting in only two rounds, Julia Angelard was ultimately classified as 27th out of 72 competitors in the OKN-Junior category. This made her the highest placed female competitor in the table, ahead of, among others, Iron Dames representatives and female drivers covered by junior programs of Formula 1 teams.

The JSTR by Jastrzębski Racing competitor now has a 3-week break. The next races of the 13-year-old Pole can be followed on 03-06.04.2025, when she will appear on the 7 Laghi track in Italy during the second round of the ROK Cup Italia.

JULIA ANGELARD, 13-year-old karting competitor, a protégé of Minardi Management, a member of the PZM junior national karting team in the 2025 season. Representing the colors of JSTR by Jastrzębski Racing, in the 2025 season she will compete in the Polish Karting Championships, in the Italian ROK Cup Italia series and in the international Champions of the Future Academy program, supported by F1 Academy - a series accompanying Formula 1. In July 2024, she was the only Polish woman to be among the 20 competitors who appeared in the Iron Dames Young Talents shootout finals.
She began competing in karting at the age of 4. She began her professional starts in the Rotax Max Challenge Poland series in the years 2017-2022 in the MicroMax and Minimax categories. In 2023, at the age of 11, she started in the ROK Cup Poland in the Junior category. In September 2023, she made her international debut as part of the ROK Superfinal and ROK Cup Italia, where she also appeared in 2024, becoming the fastest and highest ranked competitor and advancing 17 positions in one of the races.


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