The Lucas Guerrero circuit in Valencia, a favourite with drivers and major international organisations, was the setting for the second round of the Champions of the Future Academy Program. The mild weather contributed to the show put on by the 94 participants throughout the many races. In Spain, the hierarchy changed frequently, with confirmations and revelations. Belgium’s Priam Bruno in Mini 60, Australia’s James Anagnostiadis in the OK-N Junior class and Spain’s Luna Fluxa Cross in the OK-N Senior class will lead the way when the action continues at the end of July in Franciacorta, Italy.
The ‘arrive and drive’ concept continues to appeal to the drivers in the Champions of the Future Academy Program. In this competition, the focus remains on the talent of the competitors, as they all use the same equipment. Development work is continuous in the structure put in place by promoter RGMMC, while the drivers spare no effort on the track to achieve the best result. They all had the benefit of two separate races over the weekend to show off their skills.
The drivers supported by the F1 Academy Discover your drive put in some excellent performances. Luna Fluxa-Cross won the final on Saturday in OK-N Senior, before finishing 2nd on Sunday. In OK-N Junior, Angelina Simons-Torres revealed her talent in Valencia. She started from the front row on Saturday and was the fastest rider of the day. She finished 4th in the final on Sunday with the fastest lap.
Formula Medicine was on hand to offer its driver coaching programme. With the first part devoted to mental training in March in Italy, this time the drivers were made aware of the importance of nutrition in motor sport. The third and final part will take place at the end of July in Franciacorta, focusing on physical preparation.
In collaboration with Sports TV Graphics, the TV team introduced a number of innovations to live streaming. Retransmission of communications from race control, information graphics showing important moments in the race, inset photos of the drivers and video presentations of the drivers have given the live broadcast a new dynamic.
Mini 60: A double for Priam Bruno
Six weeks after opening the series in Cremona, Switzerland’s Albert Tamm was in pole position on Saturday morning in Valencia, before Belgium’s Priam Bruno stepped up to the plate. Bruno took the lead in the heats and held it throughout the Final. Emirati Maxim Bobreshov won the duel for 2nd place against Tamm. The leading trio extended their lead over Italy’s Lucas Palacio, the best in the U10 category. Unfortunately for Palacio, a failure to respect the limits of the track meant he dropped back to 9th in the Final and 3rd on the podium behind his two main rivals of the meeting, Swiss winner Lorenzo Zucchetto and Emirati Achilleas Peruzzi. Australia’s Oskar Hennock, Mexico’s Juan Garciarce (+11) and Portugal’s Vicente Capela were among the day’s entertainers.
On Sunday, Priam Bruno remained in the limelight during the Qualifying session and in both heats. However, the Final was not going to be a walk in the park for the young Belgian, because of the resistance from Maxim Bobreshov. The Emirati stealthily took command of the Final just before the finish. But after a skilful manoeuvre on the outside, Priam recovered his advantage and went on to win. This double victory means that Bruno now leads the provisional Championship. The suspense remained for a long time. Albert Tamm eventually took it, ahead of Belgian Antoine Venant and Vicente Capella. In the U10s, Lucas Palacio took his revenge by winning ahead of Achilleas Peruzzi and Lorenzo Zucchetto.
OK-N Junior: Two winners, one leader
In this category, the meeting began with the magnificent pole position achieved by Spain’s Angelina Simons Torres. But the rest of the competition went in favour of James Anagnostiadis, who won both heats. The young Australian continued his demonstration in the first Final. He extended his lead over Simons Torres, who was overtaken a little later by South African William Marshall and Emirati Conor Clancy. The positions remained unchanged, with Anagnostiadis taking his first win of the series ahead of Marshall and Clancy. Poland’s Kacper Rajpold and Monaco’s Ella Hakkinen, both winners of a Final at the end of March in Cremona, confirmed their claims by finishing 4th and 5th.
On the strength of this success, Anagnostiadis took pole position on Sunday and went on to win the first heat. Toby Gale from Thailand responded in the second heat. The two drivers were neck and neck in the second Final of the meeting and it was Gale who made the difference. He won by a large margin, while Anagnostiadis had to resist the pressure of three drivers: William Marshall, Angelina Simons Torres and Ella Hakkinen, who finished in that order. Anagnostiadis is the new leader of the Academy Program in OK-N Junior.
OK-N Senior: Silkunas takes over from Fluxa Cross at the top of the podium
Having arrived in Spain in as series leader, Spain’s Luna Fluxa Cross wasted no time in confirming her potential by showing herself to be the fastest in Saturday’s Qualifying session. But another talented competitor soon turned the tables when Lithuania’s Markus Silkunas won both heats. The expected duel between the two drivers in the Final didn’t last very long, as Fluxa Cross proved to be the dominant force. Frenchman Philippe Karras, who had already finished on the podium in Cremona, managed to squeeze in between the two protagonists and held on until the end. Very close to his brother in terms of performance, Jean Karras was 4th ahead of Emirati driver Georges Nassar, who held off Australian Brodie Norris. 3rd after the heats, but locked in at the start, Frenchman Hugo Herrouin could do no better than 7th.
The next day, the duel between Luna Fluxa Cross and Markus Silkunas resumed, but this time the Lithuanian was even more competitive. He took the lead not only in Qualifying and the two heats, but also in the Final. The Lithuanian won by a fairly wide margin over the Spaniard, who had to fight hard at the start of the race to get back to 2nd position. Philippe Karras was again on the third step of the podium after a well-controlled Final. Poland’s Maksymilian Rafalik, who had finished 4th, crashed out in 9th place due to a penalty. There was plenty of overtaking in a lively group that included Wojciech Woda (Poland) in 4th place ahead of Ghazi Motlekar (Mozambique), Austin Gale (Thailand), Jean Karras (France) and Bernardo Bernoldi (Brazil). Hugo Herrouin (France), who had been in the top three for several laps, eventually fell to 10th place. Luna Fluxa Cross remains in the lead of the Championship.
More information, results and registrations for forthcoming events on the championskartingacademy.com website.
RGMMC – Champions of the Future Academy Program – Press release / Photo © The RaceBox