The first round of the 2026 FIA Karting European Championship for the OK and OK-Junior categories kicked off the continental season at the World Circuit La Conca in Muro Leccese from April 9 to 12, immediately confirming the European Championship's sky-high level with a highly intense technical context. World OKJ Champion Baglin wins right away in OK while Girardello brings Italian colors back to the podium. (gm)
Published: 12 April 2026
Columns: Races
Italian-Style opening
Sunday opened with a particularly evocative ceremony, designed to add even more solemnity to the weekend's highlight moment. Before the finals got underway, the Italian national anthem was played, followed by the customary presentation of recognition medals to the finalists. To close the opening ceremony, a tarantella performance was entrusted to professional dancers.
Sunday opened with a particularly evocative ceremony, designed to add even more solemnity to the weekend's highlight moment. Before the finals got underway, the Italian national anthem was played, followed by the customary presentation of recognition medals to the finalists. To close the opening ceremony, a tarantella performance was entrusted to professional dancers.
OK Final
The OK category final crowned Noah Baglin of KR Motorsport, who took victory in the weekend's most important race and whose lead in the Final never seemed in doubt. Finishing behind him was Luke Kornder of Ricky Flynn Motorsport, while third on the podium went to Zac Drummond of Fusion Motorsport. Drummond himself, one of this year's main title contenders, was one of the final's great protagonists thanks to a 13-position comeback, a stat that places him rightfully among the day's brightest names. In an extremely competitive category like OK, managing such a climb in the weekend's decisive moment sends a major technical signal. Best lap of the Final for Filippo Sala in 46.627".
OK-Junior Final
In OK-Junior, it was Will Green of KR Motorsport who claimed victory, confirming the team's competitiveness even in the junior category. Behind him came Gioele Girardello of Parolin Motorsport, while Priam Bruno of VictoryLane Karting rounded out the podium in third.
Even in Junior, the selection built through qualifying, heats, and Super Heat played a key role in the weekend's dynamics. Green, however, turned his path into a substantial win, in an opening round that already offered interesting pointers for the upcoming continental events. Iskender Zulfikari's excellent start faded along the way—his weekend had begun in the best possible fashion, with a pole position that hinted at a path to absolute protagonist status. The heats, however, completely flipped the script. Between Friday and Saturday, Zulfikari won just two heats, slipping to the back in all the others, including a disqualification for causing an incident on lap two. A massive blackout that compromised his weekend build-up right after a promising start. In Sunday's Super Heat, the driver still tried to fight back, gaining 9 positions from 18th to 9th. He showed comeback ability in the final too, climbing from 26th to 20th for a net gain of six spots—but it wasn't enough to erase the regret over what was lost in the heats.
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Gioele Girardello, already Winner of the 2025 OKNJ World Cup, second at La Conca. The last European Round podium for an Italian driver had been Iacopo Martinese in 2024. After Viapiana's World Podium at the 2025 Kristianstad World Championship, the Italian nursery is blooming again
On the podium...
There was also a curious episode linking the two finals. Both winning drivers, Noah Baglin and Will Green, hail from KR Motorsport and are accompanied in the paddock by their mascot plush toys. In both cases, during the podium ceremony, the plush—left propped on the ground near the podium—tumbled forward into the celebration bottles prepared for the festivities. The scene repeated almost identically twice, but with different outcomes: in one case the bottle didn't break, while in Baglin's ceremony it shattered completely. A nearly comic detail that became one of Sunday's small symbolic and most memorable moments at La Conca.
Next Round for OK and OKJ at Valencia from May 7 to 10.






























































