Kristianstad in Sweden will host the final round of the 2026 Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship for the OK, Junior and Academy Senior drivers this weekend (31 July – 2 August), as a packed entry list of 261 drivers bid to master the 14 turns of the legendary Asum Ring.
In the OK (Senior) class, Noah Baglin leads the standings with a 23-point advantage over fellow Brit Zac Drummond, who claimed victory at the previous round in Mülsen, Germany. Niklas Schaufler and Dean Hoogendoorn remain mathematically in contention too, though both need a near-perfect weekend paired with a slip from the front-runners if either are to leapfrog the two Brits and snatch the title at the final hurdle.
In Junior, Will Green’s victory at the previous round left him with a commanding 72-point lead over Daniel Miron Lorente in the championship table, a lead so healthy he could clinch the title as early as Saturday once points from the Intermediate Classification are allocated.
The 2026 Academy Senior winner will also be decided this weekend, with a far tighter field setting the stage for a compelling finale. Albie Lapper leads first-round winner Alexis Genolet by 30 points, with Filip Planeta and Alex Desario lurking close behind the top two and well within striking distance of the title.
Akbar Ebrahim, FIA Karting Commission President, said:
“We’ve been treated to some incredible racing and memorable moments this year in the European Championship from a close field of drivers who have displayed great promise as champions in the making. The final round is set to be a thriller and I’m delighted we’re returning to the Asum Ring in Kristianstad, the perfect stage for what will surely be one of the biggest events of the season.”
All of the racing action is available to watch LIVE and FREE on the FIA Karting YouTube Channel from Saturday morning.
OK
Noah Baglin’s misstep during timed qualifying in Mülsen dented his hopes of clinching the European title in Germany during the previous round, opening the door for Drummond, Schaufler and Hoogendoorn to close the gap to him and take the championship to a final round staged at the very track where Baglin won his junior World Champion title last year.
Baglin’s 79-point advantage after the second round has shrunk to just 23 points as he crossed the line in seventh place following a difficult weekend for him. Drummond’s eventual win following Schaufler’s post-race penalty leaves him with a realistic pathway to the title if he can maintain his recent consistency and capitalise on any repeat of the small errors that have crept into Baglin’s campaign at the sharp end of the season.
Both Schaufler and Hoogendoorn are also mathematically still in the race for the title but significantly trailing the leading British drivers.
Mülsen polesitter William Calleja travels to Sweden unable to mount a charge for the championship but hoping to replicate his strong performance across the changeable conditions in Germany, only dented by a technical retirement in the final.
Valerio Viapiana is also a driver to watch for the final round after his extraordinary charge during the previous round, which saw him qualify in 74th position, climb to 23rd position for the final and incredibly convert this to a podium finish. The 2025 FIA Karting Shootout Junior winner has shown he has the racecraft to make up ground when it matters most, and a repeat of that form in Kristianstad would mark him out as one of karting’s brightest prospects heading into the World Championship and 2027 season.
Finally, Oliver Kinnmark, who sits in sixth place in the standings, will be hoping the support of the home crowd gives him the lift he needs to deliver a standout result on Swedish soil to close out the European season.
Junior
Will Green is the clear favourite to join the illustrious list of FIA Karting Junior European Champions that includes Lando Norris, George Russell and Sebastian Vettel. His vast lead in the championship only leaves Daniel Miron Lorente and Many Nuvolini with a slender chance of leaving Kristianstad with the European title, and both will need a dramatic turn of fortune paired with a faultless weekend of their own to keep their hopes alive.
Green’s perfect run of podium finishes and double win over the three rounds so far has been the standout performance of the Junior category this season. The Williams F1 Team Driver Academy driver is on a promising pathway and undoubtedly a name to watch over the coming years as one of the most exciting prospects in the current FIA Karting paddock.
Following a decision by the International Court of Appeal on 10 June, the decision to disqualify Daniel Miron Lorente from the Final of the first round of the championship in La Conca was upheld. Miron Lorente therefore trails Green by 72 points heading into the championship decider, leaving a mountain to climb to mount a serious challenge for the title.
Many Nuvolini, who enters the final round 95 points behind Will Green with a maximum of 101 points on offer, has an almost impossible path to win the championship this year. However, his strong performance over the season, including a podium in Valencia, has displayed promising signs of consistency that will catch the eye of teams looking ahead to next season and beyond.
Finally, whilst Gioele Girardello is narrowly out of contention for the 2026 Junior title, his step up from the OK-N Junior category last year, where he won the FIA Karting World Cup, has been exemplary. The young Italian secured a second-place finish during the opening round of the season and secured his status as an emerging driver to watch.
Academy Senior
Albie Lapper heads into the championship decider in Kristianstad holding a 30-point lead over Alexis Genolet after a dramatic swing in fortunes across the first two rounds. Genolet, who claimed a commanding maiden Academy Senior victory in Valencia by finishing over six seconds clear of the field, endured a torrid follow-up in Mülsen, sliding from the lead to seventh place as Filip Planeta, Desario and a resurgent Lapper all found a way past.
That reversal has handed Lapper the initiative heading into the final round, though his own round two campaign was far from straightforward after he was overtaken for the lead and eventually had to settle for second place behind Planeta.
Filip Planeta arrives in Sweden full of confidence having banked his maiden win of the season in Mülsen, holding off the chasing pack over the closing laps to build a four-second buffer at the flag. The Czech driver’s pace across a changeable weekend in Germany suggests he could be one to watch on a circuit that, much like Mülsen, will reward drivers capable of adapting quickly to shifting conditions.
Alex Desario, meanwhile, will be eager to convert promising form into a first podium of the season having twice been agonisingly close, first in a two-hundredths-of-a-second photo finish for the final podium spot in Valencia and again in Mülsen when he closed to within half a second of the lead before fading late on to 12th. Consistent if not yet decisive, the Italian remains firmly in the mix for the title with a maximum haul still on offer this weekend.
Further down the order, Oliver Kurg will hope to build on a string of strong qualifying performances after a mid-race charge saw him snatch second place in Mülsen before a late technical retirement ended his charge prematurely, while Vanesa Silkunaite’s first podium of the season in Germany marked her out as a driver capable of springing a surprise on the Asum Ring.
Provisional Timings
Friday 31 July
08:30 – 11:15 Free Practice
11:20 – 12:40 Qualifying Practice (OK, Junior)
14:35 – 16:30 Qualifying Heats (OK, Junior)
16:35 – 17:00 Qualifying Practice (Academy Senior)
17:10 – 19:00 Qualifying Heats (OK, Junior)
Saturday 1 August
10:00 – 19:00 Qualifying Heats
Sunday 2 August
09:50 – 11:30 Super Heats
13:30 Drivers’ Presentation
14:00 Academy Senior Final
15:00 Junior Final
16:00 OK Final
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