Over the years, the Champions of the Future Euro Series has established itself as an essential series at the highest level of international karting. Launched in 2020, it has seen many of the top drivers who currently shine in the most important single-seater championships, including Formula 1 in the case of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The series organised by RGMMC lives up to its name by showcasing young hopefuls every year, who can also prepare for FIA Karting events in the best possible conditions. The opening of the 2025 season celebrated the victories of two great talents: Spaniard Christian Costoya in OK and Canadian Ilie Tristan Crisan in OK-Junior.
A benchmark organisation, many drivers and exciting races
The first of the five events in the Champions of the Future Euro Series got off to a great start in southern Spain, with almost 190 drivers taking part: 96 in OK and 91 in OK-Junior. The success of the series continues, with its high standards of organisation. In addition to the presence of quality circuits on its calendar, RGMMC is constantly improving its race control technology with the installation of some forty cameras around the track to ensure greater sporting fairness, not forgetting perfect live streaming of the races. New functionalities have also been introduced, allowing viewers to benefit from a maximum amount of data: information on tyres, comparisons between drivers, detailed race presentations, interviews, practical information, etc. The result is an even improved television production, in partnership with Motorsport.tv for the broadcast.
Three and a half years after the last Champions of the Future Euro Series event at Campillos, the 1,580-metre circuit located in Andalusia to the north of Malaga provided the ideal playing field for the drivers to show off their skills, while the teams were able to work in excellent conditions thanks to the very pleasant weather that accompanied the participants from 26th to 29th March 2025. Tyre manufacturer Maxxis supplied the participants' tyres with its usual professionalism, while RGMMC stepped up the training of its team over the winter to ensure smoother organisation and interaction.
OK: Costoya imperious in his home country
Spaniard Christian Costoya (Parolin Motorsport) immediately gave his rivals a warning of his ambitions, with an almost perfect weekend: pole position, four wins out of five in the heats, 1st place in the Super Heat and a controlled Final with a lead of more than two seconds over those chasing after him. Only Sweden's Viktor Gustafsson (CRG Racing Team) managed to beat him in a heat! Other drivers to cross the finish line as winners during the event: Iacopo Martinese (Cetilar Racing), the Czech Jindrich Pesl (Tony Kart Racing Team), the Greek Stylianos Taxiarchis Kolovos (KR Motorsport), the Italian Filipo Sala (Forza Racing) and the British Joe Turney (KR Motorsport), Roman Kamyab (RFM) and Aston Sharp (CL Racing Team) in the heats, as well as the Belgian Dries Van Langendonck (Prema Racing) in a Super Heat, revealing a very open competition.
Over the course of the Final (19 laps), Costoya won after two superb overtakes on the drivers who had overtaken him on the first lap: Turney and then Van Langendonck. Having started 5th, Kenzo Craigie (Prema Racing) made a brilliant comeback to take 2nd place, while Martinese won his duel with Van Langendonck to complete the podium. 5th-placed Turney showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with in 2025. The Briton finished ahead of the two Australians Lewis Francis (KR Motorsport) and James Anagnostiadis (Prema Racing). Spaniard Eloi Martinez (Birelart Racing) improved from 27th to 8th place. Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers (VDK Racing) and Canadian Jensen Burnett (Forza Racing) rounded off the top 10 with the fastest lap going to Frenchman Louis Cochet (VictoryLane Racing).
OK-Junior: Crisan's rise to prominence
After the pole position achieved by Australian William Calleja (Forza Racing), many drivers showed themselves capable of aiming for the podium. Six different drivers shared the heats and Super Heats: Calleja, of course, but also Turkey's Iskender Zulfikari (Forza Racing), Canada's Ilie Tristian Crisan (Tony Kart Racing Team), Dean Hoogendoorn (Prema Racing), Bosco Arias (RFM) and Henry Domain (Forza Racing).
The first lap of the Final was very lively, with Crisan immediately moving up from 3rd to 1st place. A slow procedure was initiated at the start of the race following a collision between several karts in the middle of the field, which fortunately was not serious. At the restart, Crisan flew to victory with the fastest lap in his pocket, while a breathless duel involved several drivers. Hoogendoorn managed to make the difference to take 2nd place on the podium ahead of Calleja, despite Domain's ambitions, who was in 2nd place during the Final.
The Walz brothers (KR Motorsport) put in a strong showing for the United States, with Drew in 5th place and Devin in 8th. Britons Will Green (KR Motorsport) and Noah Baglin (Prema Racing) managed to squeeze in between them. The latter made a brilliant comeback, having had to make do with 46th place in Qualifying on Friday. Italian Bruno Blanco (Parolin Motorsport) was in the top five after the start, but dropped back to 10th behind Frenchman Luka Scelles (VictoryLane Karting).