- The first round of the Champions of the Future Academy, held in Valencia, ended last weekend.

- Despite her excellent form in training, Julia Angelard faced problems with her engine during Saturday's qualifying and races.

- The 14-year-old Pole, who is currently in 19th place in the general classification, is heading to Italy, where she will take part in the fourth round of the WSK Super Master Series at the Lonato track this coming weekend.

There, at the Kartodromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero track, the first round, inaugurating the 2026 Champions of the Future Academy season, took place from February 27 to March 1, 2026.
It is in this series that the teenage Polish driver is representing the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive program, as one of only nine competitors in the entire field, including three in her category.

Engine problems
The COTFA series has a unique feature: each day, competitors are randomly assigned a new engine, which, in principle, should even the playing field.
Unfortunately, in practice, the situation isn't always so rosy.
The engine drawn on Friday allowed for excellent pace, allowing Julia Angelard to place in the top five in practice sessions.
Unfortunately, Saturday's competition was marked by a battle with completely different engines, which proved faulty and even required replacements with working units by the organizers.

As a result, Julia Angelard first tried to minimize the losses resulting from the problematic engine, and then fought in the middle of the pack, trying to find a good pace.
The teenage Polish driver finished Saturday's final in 14th place, while in Sunday's race, she placed around the second ten.
As a result, the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive, More Than Equal program, and ORLEN Motorsport Academy protégé finished the first weekend of Champions of The Future Academy in 19th place overall.

The Polish teenager's result is solid considering the competitive COTFA field, but she was hungry for more, aiming to finish higher in the overall standings. Now Julia has another chance for a good result – the fourteen-year-old is heading back to Italy to compete in the fourth round of the WSK Super Master Series at her favorite track, South Garda Karting in Lonato.


Julia Angelard: I like competing in Lonato
"The thing about choosing engines every day is that you never know which one you'll end up with. The one I used in the practice sessions allowed me to achieve results at the very top. Unfortunately, Saturday and Sunday's engines proved problematic, forcing me to fight in the middle of the pack and struggling to find a good pace. However, I'm happy with the experience I gained this weekend on a completely new track for me, and I hope that the next rounds of the Champions of the Future Academy – the series in which I compete with the support of F1 Academy Discover Your Drive – will be much better. Now I'm off to Italy for another week of racing! I like competing in Lonato – the South Garda Karting track is one of my favorites, and I have many fond memories there. I hope that the upcoming weekend will bring better results," admits the driver of Minardi Management powered by Dag Ltd.

Julia Angelard's race schedule in Lonato
Friday, 06.03.2026
08:50 – Free Practice, series 1
09:00 – Free Practice, series 2
09:10 – Free Practice, series 3
11:10 – Qualifying Practice, series 1
11:20 – Qualifying Practice, series 2
11:30 – Qualifying Practice, series 3
14:40 – Eliminatory Heat C-E
15:00 – Eliminatory Heat B-D
17:40 – Eliminatory Heat A-E
18:00 – Eliminatory Heat C-D

Saturday, 07.03.2026
08:32 – Warm up, odd numbers
08:40 – Warm up, evens numbers
11:00 – Eliminatory Heat A-B
11:20 – Eliminatory Heat D-E
14:40 – Eliminatory Heat A-C
15:00 – Eliminatory Heat B-E
17:40 – Eliminatory Heat A-D
18:00 – Eliminatory Heat B-C

Sunday, 08.03.2026
08:32 – Warm up, odd numbers
08:40 – Warm up, even numbers
11:00 – Prefinal A
11:20 – Prefinal B
14:35 – Final


JULIA ANGELARD, a 14-year-old karting racer, member of the ORLEN Motorsport Academy and a protégé of Minardi Management, is a member of the PZM junior national karting team in the 2025 and 2026 seasons. In the 2026 season, she will compete for Birel ART and the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy, and participate in the More Than Equal project and the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive program.
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. In the 2025 season, she competed in the Polish Karting Championship, ROK Cup Italia, and Champions of the Future Academy, finishing second in the second round of the series in Jesolo.

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