The 1st edition of the Winter Series of the Champions of the Future, an event organized by RGMMC, the same promoter of the FIA Championships, will take place in Italy on the new Franciacorta racetrack from 24th to 27th February. There are many reasons of interest linked to this event that will bring the international karting Circus with the OK-Junior, OK and KZ classes to this venue for the first time. Discovering the secrets of this new and modern racetrack will be important for drivers and technicians because on the same raceway one of the FIA European Championship events will take place in July.
The CRG Racing Team will take part in the event with 5 drivers, including two Rookies: South African Nikolas Roos in OK-Junior and Spaniard Adrian Malheiro in OK. Alongside the two new drivers, who will take part in all the main FIA International races and the Champions of the Future with the official CRG Team, Sebastian Garzon Orozco in OKJ and the two experts Gabriel Gomez and Viktor Gustavsson in OK will also get on the track. After a positive start of the season in KZ, it will be Viktor's seasonal debut in OK, a category that will also see him competing in the FIA European Championship and in the FIA World Championship.
This meeting will be addressed to continue the development of the chassis and engines in the direct drive classes and will not see the drivers of the KZ categories racing on the track, also due to the fact that in this race the class with the gearbox will use the "option" tires instead of the "prime" ones, as planned in the European Championship.
The event program will get to its heart after the first day of free practice on Friday 25th February, when qualifying are scheduled. Saturday will be a day dedicated to the eliminatory heats and on Sunday the Super Heat will take place in the morning and the Finals in the afternoon.
Drivers’ expectations:
Viktor Gustavsson (OK): “It will be my seasonal debut in the OK category and to be honest I have not taken part in a race of this class for a long time, so I will have to regain some automatisms, especially in the race. In the winter tests, I immediately had a good feeling with the 2022 chassis and I believe that I will have no particular problems in being competitive. The most important thing will be trying some technical solutions in the race to have data and a clear direction for the development of our technical materials in view of the FIA events, by the way. It will be a very intense season for me with the double commitment between KZ and OK, but I am enthusiastic about the faith the team has in me and I will give my best to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves".
Nikolas Roos (OK-Junior): "I can't wait to get out on the track for my first race in Europe in 2022 and prepare to later face the FIA European Championship with the CRG official Team. Last year I raced with CRG Holland and I got to work with the CRG official crew at the FIA World Championship, so I already got to know well the technical staff and the team's working method. For me, the track will be completely new and I will concentrate on the first day of free practice on finding the right pace, but I am also very curious to drive the 2022 chassis to appreciate the technical evolutions and the new brakes. It will be a very intense weekend".