Baglin and Green crowned European Champions at Kristianstad as Drummond's title bid ends in disappointment

OK - Super Heats
The opening Super Heat proved to be one of the decisive moments in the championship battle. Noah Baglin lined up on the front row, while his only remaining title rival, Zac Drummond, was forced to start from 22nd after a difficult day in the qualifying heats. Baglin simply needed to outscore his fellow Briton by nine points to secure the championship before the Final.

William Calleja made the perfect getaway to retain the lead at the start, while Baglin slipped to fourth on the opening lap as Ilie Tristan Crisan moved into contention for the lead. Drummond, however, refused to give up on his title challenge and launched an impressive comeback, gaining thirteen positions within the first four laps to break into the top ten. As the Scot charged through the field, Baglin responded by recovering second place and reducing the gap to Calleja.
By mid-race Drummond had climbed to seventh and was piling pressure on Benjamin Manach in the fight for sixth, a position that would have kept the championship battle alive heading into the afternoon Final. Baglin, meanwhile, held onto second place until the chequered flag, a result that virtually secured the European title. A post-race penalty for Manach later promoted Drummond to sixth, meaning Baglin still needed just a single point in the Final to become champion.
In the other Super Heat, Henry Domain controlled the race from the front to secure a front-row start alongside Calleja for the Final, while Dean Hoogendoorn gained two places to finish second and claim fifth on the grid.

It was a disappointing morning for Joe Turney, who retired and missed out on the Final, while home favourite Oliver Kinnmark suffered a mechanical problem that relegated him to 28th on the starting grid.

 

Final
Baglin started the Final knowing the European title was within reach. Contact on the opening lap dropped him three places, allowing Hoogendoorn to move into second behind Calleja, but the Briton quickly recovered and settled back into second, comfortably managing the race from there.
Behind him, Drummond produced another spectacular recovery, climbing sixteen positions in just five laps to reach the leading group that also included Lev Krutoholov and Zac Green. To have any chance of winning the championship, the Scot needed victory, the fastest lap and Baglin to score no points at all. It was an almost impossible scenario, but he continued pushing until another setback brought his race to an end on lap eleven, confirming Noah Baglin as the 2026 European Champion.
Dean Hoogendoorn secured third place with authority ahead of Ilie Tristan Crisan, ending his European campaign with another podium that confirmed the progress he had already shown in last year's Junior category.

Out front, William Calleja comfortably controlled the race to take his first victory of the season. Strong performances throughout qualifying and the Final also lifted the Australian to fourth in the championship standings, overtaking Niklas Schaufler after a difficult weekend for the Austrian.
Schaufler nevertheless finished his campaign with an impressive drive from the back of the field, recovering twenty-two positions to finish thirteenth, although it was not enough to retain fourth place in the final championship standings.
Another notable performance came from Italy's Valerio Viapiana, who recovered twenty positions to finish eleventh. After a difficult qualifying session at the circuit where he claimed a World Championship podium twelve months ago, the Italian once again demonstrated his race pace with an excellent comeback drive.

Final Standings – 2026 FIA Karting European Championship (OK)
Noah Baglin (GBR, KR) – 316 points
Zac Drummond (GBR, Fusion) – 221
Dean Hoogendoorn (NED, Parolin) – 221

 

OK-Junior - Super Heats
The Junior title race was still mathematically open, but Miron Lorente had little room left for error. Pole position was his final advantage over Will Green, who lined up on the fourth row of the grid. The British driver only needed to outscore the Spaniard by a single point to wrap up the championship.
Lorente's near-perfect weekend began to unravel in the opening laps of the Super Heat as he steadily dropped down the order and fell out of the top ten, while Green moved ahead to strengthen his position in the title fight. Lap after lap, Lorente tried to recover, knowing that only a stronger result would keep the championship battle alive until the Final. Despite setting the fastest laps in the closing stages and closing in on seventh-placed Many Nuvolini, Lorente was unable to make enough progress to challenge Green, who remained firmly among the front runners.

At the front, Leon Chelidze controlled the race while an intense battle developed behind him for the remaining top positions. Green climbed to fourth, putting one hand on the European title, and although Lorente continued to push until the chequered flag, he could not complete the comeback. Green's fourth-place finish was enough to secure his first FIA Karting championship. In the other Super Heat, Lucas Palacio made the better start to overtake Stan Ratajski for the lead. Gioele Girardello, one of the fastest drivers throughout the weekend and a strong contender for pole position in the Final, lost six places on the opening laps before recovering to fourth.
Palacio held on to take the victory, while Ratajski's third place, combined with his excellent performances in qualifying and the heats, secured pole position for the Final. Priam Bruno and Lorenzo Di Pietrantonio also enjoyed strong recovery drives to finish fourth and seventeenth respectively.

Final
Stan Ratajski and Emerson MacAndrew-Uren shared the front row of the grid, but the race was immediately disrupted by a first-lap multi-kart incident that eliminated six drivers, including Oskari Walle and Albert Tamm. Ratajski lost the lead off the line, allowing MacAndrew-Uren to take control of the race, while Miron Lorente continued the strong pace he had shown throughout the weekend by climbing back into the leading group despite having already lost his championship hopes. His battle with Lucas Palacio produced a series of overtaking moves, with the chasing pack ready to capitalise on every opportunity.

On lap thirteen, Lorente finally found a way past Palacio, bringing Zack Zhaoqi Zhu, Antoine Sylva Venant and Gioele Girardello into the fight for the podium. Girardello was one of the standout performers of the race, recovering thirteen positions after a difficult start.
The battle remained wide open. Venant briefly inherited third place before Lorente reclaimed the position one lap later. Soon afterwards, contact damaged Venant's sidepod, resulting in a technical infringement. Despite being shown the black-and-orange flag and required to leave the circuit, Venant continued racing.
The fight for third place in the championship was just as dramatic. Many Nuvolini, who was defending his position in the standings, became involved in an incident on lap twenty that compromised his race and temporarily promoted Girardello into the bronze medal position. However, further contact between Girardello and Venant—who should already have been out of the race after ignoring the mechanical warning flag—ultimately denied the Italian third place in the final championship standings.
Out front, Emerson MacAndrew-Uren controlled the race from start to finish, taking victory by more than three seconds over Leon Chelidze. It marked the first FIA Karting podium for both drivers, while Tony Kart returned to the top step of the podium in the category.
The battle behind remained intense until the finish. Lucas Palacio crossed the line just ahead of Miron Lorente after an almost side-by-side sprint to the chequered flag, but five-second penalties handed to both drivers reshuffled the final classification, promoting Zack Zhaoqi Zhu to third place. Italian driver Julian Frasnelli finished fourth after producing one of the drives of the day, climbing twenty-nine positions after qualifying only 33rd for the Final.

Freshly crowned European Champion Will Green gained one position to finish twelfth, adopting a measured approach in a race that no longer had any impact on his championship campaign.

Final Standings – 2026 FIA Karting European Championship (OK-Junior)
Will Green (GBR, KR) – 282 points
Daniel Miron Lorente (ESP, Fusion) – 210
Many Nuvolini (FRA, KR) – 187