It was a decent weekend for most of the Australians contesting the Viterbo round of the European OK, OK-Junior and Academy Trophy Senior championships on the weekend.
William Calleja kept his championship hopes alive with second place in the Junior class. The Forza Racing driver qualified 8th but dropped to 12 after the heats. Sixth in his Super Heat earned a P10 start for the final. Calleja soon found himself in third place when the two leaders crashed out on lap 4. He continued to march forward, leading several laps, but had to settle for second behind France’s Samuel Hugon.
Queenslander Sebastian Eskandari ran inside the top 20 all meeting and easily made the final, placing 14th.
Lewis Francis (KR Motorsport, KR/IAME) was in top form in OK. Initially qualifying ninth, Francis worked forward, winning his Super HEat and starting the final P2.
Unfortunately, while going side-by-side with pole sitter Christian Costoya in the opening corners, Francis copped a wheel to the side, dropping him back and into the drama zone, riding over another competitor and plummeting to the back of the field. He was classified 24th.
In the same race, James Anagnostiadis (Prema/KR) had a great opening lap reading the traffic and was quickly into P3, comfortably holding the position until tumbling to 5th on the last lap.
Annabel Kennedy was a revelation in Academy Trophy, qualifying third in the one-make field. She improved to a P2 start for the final, but was not able to run at the pace of pole sitter Jules Avril. In fact, Kennedy soon came under pressure and dropped to P7 then retired with three laps to go, classified 31st.
The final round is at the Rodby circuit, Denmark, from July 31 to August 3.
- full results HERE
- Finals Day stream, below
- Progressive championship placings, below
from FIA Karting
A warm, sunny day celebrated the success of the Viterbo event. For its baptism of fire, the Leopard circuit proved a great success, with lively and indecisive races. In the Mondokart.com FIA European Karting Championship, Spaniard Christian Costoya extended his lead over his rivals in OK after a second consecutive victory. In OK-Junior, young Frenchman Samuel Hugon (11 years old) created a surprise by beating all the favourites, including the new Championship leader, Dutchman Dean Hoogendoorn. The French anthem was played twice on the Italian podium, with Jules Avril winning the FIA Karting Academy Trophy – Senior.
John Ryan, Vice-President of the CIK-FIA, Raffaele Giammaria, Chairman of the ACI Sport Karting Commission, and a number of personalities from the Viterbo region honoured this exciting competition with their presence. The drivers had to cope with the rising temperatures as the days went by, as did the Maxxis tyres which contributed to the show for the many spectators at the circuit or following the quality live streaming broadcast by the TV production.
OK: Christian Costoya dominates
From pole position to his clear victory in the Final, Christian Costoya (ESP) put in a perfect performance, winning all five of his Qualifying Heats and his Super Heat. He held the advantage of first place at the start, before widening the gap lap after lap. Vladimir Ivannikov had not scored a single point in the first two competitions at Campillos and Portimao. Starting third, he immediately seized the opportunity to move up to second and didn’t relinquish that position until the chequered flag, controlling the ambitions of James Anagnostiadis (AUS). Anagnostiadis saw Louis Cochet (FRA) and Jacob Micallef (MLT) come back at him. Cochet tried his luck to take a place on the podium, but in the end it was Micallef who took advantage of the Frenchman’s manoeuvre to move up to third place ahead of Cochet and Anagnostiadis.
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A few lengths behind, another duel involved several drivers. Filippo Sala (ITA) made the right choices to claim a coveted sixth place ahead of Lev Krutoholov (UKR), Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL), Peter Stiller (ITA) and Daniel Kelleher (IRL), who had to recover after a technical incident in his Super Heat. Lewis Francis (AUS) and Noah Wolfe (GBR) got into a tangle in the first few corners after starting second and fifth respectively.
2025 Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship – OK standings after Competition 3
1- Christian Costoya (ESP – Parolin / TM Kart / Maxxis) 244 pts
2- James Anagnostiadis (AUS – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 187 pts
3- Thibaut Ramaekers (BEL – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 141 pts
4- Daniel Kelleher (IRL – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 119 pts
5- Zac Drummond (GBR – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 106 pts
6- Dries Van Langendonck (BEL – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 100 pts
7- Noah Wolfe (GBR – Birelart / TM Kart / Maxxis) 91 pts
8- Filippo Sala (ITA – Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis) 83 pts
9- Vladimir Ivannikov (Birelart – TM Kart / Maxxis) 80 pts
10- Lev Krutoholov (UKR – Energy / IAME / Maxxis) 77 pts
OK team standings after Viterbo
1- Prema Racing (ITA) 322 pts
2- KR Motorsport (ITA) 253 pts
3- Parolin Motorsport (ITA) 250 pts
4- VDK Racing (BEL) 166 pts
5- Forza Racing (GBR) 154 pts
6- VictoryLane (FRA) 138 points
OK-Junior: The doors to victory open for Samuel Hugon
Samuel Hugon (FRA) achieved a major feat in winning an FIA Karting European Championship event in a category he entered at the start of the season. A constant front-runner and very competitive at Viterbo, he got off to an excellent start from sixth on the grid in the Final. Fourth on the first lap, he overtook Dean Hoogendoorn (NED) on lap 3, just a few corners before seeing the two frontrunners crash just in front of him. The race ended there for leader Turner Brown (USA) and his pursuer Ilie Crisan (CAN).
The suspense continued, with William Calleja (AUS) back in Hugon’s wake. The positions were reversed for the first time on lap 10, before Hugon regained his lead a few minutes later. Faster, he then opened up a sufficient gap not to be troubled again until the finish. He even set the fastest lap at the very end of the race. Calleja remained 2nd ahead of Hoogendoorn. The Dutchman now leads the Championship. Gianmatteo Rousseau (PAN) achieved his best ever result in an FIA Karting event with 4th place, while Henry Domain, who had been improving since Qualifying, took a convincing 6th place. Ninth behind Benjamin Manach (ESP), Bruno Blanco (ITA) made a spectacular 10-place recovery.
2025 Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship – Junior standings* after Competition 3
1- Dean Hoogendoorn (NED – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 223 pts
2- Noah Baglin (GBR – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 206 pts
3- William Calleja (AUS – Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis) 165 pts
4- Henry Domain (GBR – Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis) 146 pts
5- Ilie Crisan (CAN – Tony Kart / Vortex / Maxxis) 125 pts
6- Luka Scelles (FRA – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 114 pts
7- Iskender Zulfikari (TUR – Exprit / TM Kart / Maxxis) 114 pts
8- Bosco Arias (ESP – LN / TM Kart / Maxxis) 99 pts
9- Samuel Hugon (FRA – KR / IAME / Maxxis) 75 pts
10- Dan Allemann (SUI / Tony Kart / TM Kart / Maxxis) 67 pts
OK-Junior team standings* after Viterbo
1- Prema Racing (ITA) 429 pts
2- Forza Racing (GBR) 377 pts
3- VictoryLane (FRA) 220 pts
4- Ricky Flynn Motorsport (GBR) 159 pts
5- KR Motorsport (ITA) 158 pts
6- Tony Kart Racing Team (ITA) 139 pts
*The competition standings have been suspended due to the intentions of appeal from the competitors of drivers Noah Baglin and Luka Scelles.
Academy – Senior: Avril wins his duel with Whitticombe
Jules Avril (FRA) and Harrison Whitticombe (GBR) were the two most talked-about drivers at Viterbo and ended up on the top two steps of the podium. Whitticombe suffered the disappointment of retiring in the third heat, while Avril went on to win and take pole position for the Final. After starting second, it took the Briton just two laps to catch up with Avril. With the two drivers running at more or less the same pace, Whitticombe was never able to make up the few tenths separating him from the lead. Despite setting the fastest lap of the race, Ates Birinci (TUR) kept well clear of the leading duo, before joining them on the podium. Second on the grid, Annabel Kennedy (AUS) was the big loser of the Final after being forced to retire.
The Portimao winner, Riccardo Ferrari (ITA) was not a prophet in his own country. Finishing 15th, he lost the lead of the Trophy to Yuzuki Sato (JPN). The latter won his duel with Wojciech Woda (POL) for fourth place, before giving him back his place because of a three-second penalty for partially leaving the lane at the start. Mio Olert (SWE) climbed from 11th to sixth place, ahead of Amador Martinez Saenz (COL) and Eva Dorrestijn (NED), the representative of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. Rodion Gurjanov (EST) and Simon Antonio Bulbarella (ARG) were among the top 10 finishers in the Final.
2025 FIA Karting Academy Trophy – Senior standings after Competition 2
1- Yuzuki Sato (JPN) 100 pts
2- Jules Avril (FRA) 85 pts
3- Amador Martinez Saenz (COL) 78 pts
4- Riccardo Ferrari (ITA) 72 pts
5- Ates Birinci (TUR) 70 pts
6- Wojciech Woda (POL) 69 pts
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