The post 2025 International karting winners list appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: KSP Reportages

Karting is the training ground of most drivers before single-seaters, and Formula Scout follows all the major series to see which talents may eventually burst onto the car racing scene, and grab F1 teams’ attentions

Formula 1 teams consistently have an eye on karting now, with 13 drivers across five teams forming the contingent of karters who are members of driver development programmes. Mercedes-AMG and Williams have the most faith in the youngest of talent, with four each, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli stepped up to F1 last year with Mercedes after being one of its proteges since he was in junior karting.

Back in 2021, Antonelli was proving himself on OK karts against Joe Turney, who remains one of the best in the world (and is gradually becoming a legend of the sport) to this day. But since he is a mainstay of the senior karting scene, along with Sean Butcher, neither were in contention for Formula Scout’s list of 2025’s top talents.

We will applaud their achievements regardless, with Turney winning the USA Winter Series and coming 11th in the USA’s SuperNationals in the X30 Pro class, being SuperNats runner-up on KA100 Senior karts, and on OK karts finishing as runner-up in the CIK-FIA World Championship for a third time, coming fifth in the Champions of the Future championship and eighth in WSK’s Super Master Series.

Butcher raced in Rotax Senior class of karts all year, and was Rotax Max Challenge Euro Trophy and Winter Series champion, Grand Finals runner-up and finished ninth in the International Trophy.

Key

WSK: Champions Cup (CC), Euro Series (Euro), Final Cup (FC), Open Series (OS), Super Master Series (SMS), Super Cup (SC)
CIK-FIA: European championship (CIK European), World championship (CIK Worlds), World Cup (FIA WC), Karting Academy Trophy (FIA Academy Trophy)
Rotax Max Challenge: Euro Trophy, International Trophy (Int. Trophy), Grand Finals, Winter Series (WS), Golden Trophy
IAME: Euro Series (Euro), Warriors Final (WF), Winter Cup (WC)
Champions of the Future (CotF)
USA SuperNationals (SuperNats), Winter Series (WS)

Thibaut Ramaekers BELGIUM 16y/o
OK CIK World champion, 2nd in CotF, 5th in CIK European, 27th in WSK SMS   X30 Snr 5th in IAME WC

World Championship celebrations

Ramaekers first featured on this list in 2023 when he was a frontrunner in multiple championship in junior karting, and impressed on his OK debut in the senior class.

He missed out on 2024 inclusion due to being up-and-down as he embarked on incomplete campaigns, but he was certainly one of the fastest drivers around.

That included being runner-up in CotF, a feat he repeated this year. In round one he was competing at the front until retirement in his superheat required him to climb from 20th to ninth in the final. He won the superheat in round two and was runner-up in the final, and was on the podium in the most important races again in round three.

Round four was less impressive, but in the Kristianstad finale he romped to pole, four heat wins and three later podiums (the last after leading the final) to take second in the standings.

The CIK-FIA European Championship went the other way, starting on a high at Campillos with pole, three heats win, victory in his superheat and then fourth in the final. In the following rounds he was near the front but only won one heat, and retired in the wet final of the last round.

He bounced back in the style at the World championship, with three wins and two second places in the heats, coming second in the superheat then winning the most important karting race of them all: the final.

Filippo Sala ITALY 14y/o
OK 2nd in WSK Euro, 3rd in WSK FC, 4th in WSK SMS, 4th in CIK European, 10th in CIK Worlds, 18th in CotF

Photo: Ferrari

The Ferrari Driver Academy signed Sala last April, and worked to ensure the Italian was able to covert pace into big points.

There was a consistent problem in many events he had competed in prior to 2025, as he was usually the driver to beat in his qualifying group but then would make mistakes later on – such as in finals – when it proved more costly in positions. For example, Sala came fifth in the 2024 European championship despite never finishing a round in a position higher than that.

That was in the OK Junior class, while Sala raced in senior karting last year. It was an impressive rookie campaign, making the top four in four championships.

The WSK SMS was first on his schedule, and Sala finished his debut round in eighth. In round two he won the final, going from third to first on the last lap, then non-finishes in the big races during round three scuppered his title hopes. Sala was runner-up in round four, and competitive in round five but it couldn’t put him higher than fourth in the points table.

That was a strong place to start from in one of the most competitive grids, and Sala carried similar form into the European championship. He was the most consistent driver there, with his lowest scoring round netting him 10 points. Every other full-timer had a worse weekend, and Sala won heats at every round. A bumper penalty dropped him from third to 10th in round one’s final, he had to climb the order to 13th in round two, and fourth in the season’s last race put him fourth in the standings.

His concurrent CotF season began on a high, but after a pole and heat wins in the first two rounds he then went points-free in the next two due to non-finishes and then an awful qualifying result.

Sala was the second strongest driver in the WSK Euro Series, rose through the field to finish the World championship in 10th and and winning the final round (despite showing less competitive pace than in the trickier previous events) put him third in WSK’s Final Cup.

Christian Costoya SPAIN 15y/o
OK CIK European champion, WSK Euro champion, 2nd in WSK SMS, 3rd in CotF, 14th in CIK Worlds

Leading the European Championship

The All Road Management protege, now a McLaren junior too, looked unstoppable at times, particularly in the WSK Euro Series where only two drivers surpassed even a third of the points tally he amassed.

He went unbeaten in both rounds, and in the big races usually had a winning margin surpassing three seconds. In karting, that’s a big gap to have at the front.

The European championship featured similar domination, and he was crowned early despite a points-free final round. Costoya topped his qualifying group three out of four times, went unbeaten in round three at Viterbo, did plenty of winning in round two and still got heat wins at the other two events.

While the World championship didn’t go to plan, finishing 14th, Costoya had already more than proven his brilliance having won rounds and contended for the title in CotF and WSK SMS too.

Noah Baglin ENGLAND 13y/o
OK-J CIK World champion, CotF champion, 2nd in WSK SMS, 2nd in WSK FC, 3rd in CIK European   KA100 Jr USA SuperNats winner   X30 Jr 22nd in USA SuperNats

En route to World Championship victory

Having lost the World championship in the OK-J class on the last lap in 2024, Baglin made sure he got the job done this year. He won five heats, his superheat and lights-to-flag in the final with a winning margin of 4.281s.

The Ferrari junior, racing for Prema, was a frontrunner in everything he competed in and that included three classes of kart.

In OK-J he took the CotF title, but his season started on the backfoot as qualifying 16th in round one meant he relied on racecraft to get top-10 results in the races. Despite qualifying seventh for round two, heat victories meant he was on pole for the superheat and he won both that and the final.

Podium sprees followed, then Baglin put it all together to win the final of the final round and that cast him into a title-clinching points lead as his rivals had dreadful weekends and fell behind.

Just two races going differently could’ve made Baglin the WSK SMS and WSK FC champion too. Dean Hoogendoorn, who took the WSK SMS title by three points, edged Baglin to victory by 0.032s in round one’s pre-final with a last-lap pass and by 0.026s in round two’s final. A one-place penalty also took round one victory away from Baglin.

Bosco Arias denied Baglin the WSK FC title by one point, 15th in round two’s final proving costly, and if he had not been disqualified from the whole of round three of the European championship for using an offensive hand signal against another driver he would’ve been at least runner-up in that too.

Over in the USA, he won the major SuperNationals in the KA100 Junior class against the country’s top talents.

Dean Hoogendoorn NETHERLANDS 13y/o
OK-J CIK European champion, WSK SMS champion, 3rd in CIK Worlds, 5th in CotF, 6th in WSK FC   X30 Jr USA SuperNats winner   KA100 Jr 3rd in USA SuperNats

Preparing for a major race

There’s often a trend of a driver who leads the way over the course of a season in the European championship then not appearing near the front in the one-weekend World championship, or vice versa, but Williams junior Hoogendoorn proved he was capable of winning both this year.

His sophomore year on OK-J karts was a big improvement on 2024, and started off in WSK SMS where the Dutchman starred particularly in the wet (winning by 9.5s in one race) and being the overall victor in two rounds. He was unbeaten in qualifying until the final round, in which he didn’t set a laptime and started from the back for all heats. That didn’t stop him from finishing in the top six of each one, climbing over 20 places every time, and fourth in the final made him champion.

In the European championship he again proved a cut above the rest in mixed and wet conditions, and he won races in every round. That consistent podium-taking form ended up comfortably delivering him the title.

Pole, four wins and two second places in the heats then superheat victory put Hoogendoorn on the front row of the World championship final, but he couldn’t maximise it and finished third after a prolonged battle for second as the leader ran away.

Like Baglin, Hoogendoorn went to America for a weekend and he made the USA SuperNationals podium in two junior classes.

Aaron Garcia SPAIN 17y/o
X30 Snr IAME Euro champion, IAME WF winner, 2nd in German championship, 29th in USA SuperNats   OK: 73rd in CIK Worlds, 102nd in CotF

Photo: IAME Euro Series

On X30 Senior karts, the driver who was most often the one to beat in 2025 was Garcia, and he was IAME Euro Series champion by over 40 points despite failing to score in the opening round. He didn’t lack pace, since he was fourth in his qualifying group and second in two heats.

In round two he spent plenty of time at the front, including in the final, scoring enough points en route to second overall to jump to third in the standings. It was roughly the same in round three, and while Garcia was beaten to overall honours by 0.847s he still climbed another spot in the points table.

Repeating that route to the final in round four, which he finished fifth in, was enough to make him champion.

While qualifying remained Garcia’s weakness, starting further back never proved to be an issue and in the IAME Warriors Final he qualified sixth but won four heats and the final.

Garcia also contested the German Karting Championship, which he was runner-up in, and cameoed in other locations.

Riley Cranham ENGLAND 14y/o
X30 Jr IAME Euro champion, British champion, Kartmasters British GP winner, 2nd in IAME WC

Photo: IAME Motorsport

Already racing cars through the Ginetta Junior Winter Series, Cranham made sure karting’s four-round IAME Euro Series was decided in three with dominant form that allowed him to skip the finale.

He took two wins and a second place in both the finals and superheats of rounds one to three, with only two races where he wasn’t on the podium.

In the British Kart Championship he raced with the coveted O plate and showed he was deserving of it by taking the title. He won the first two rounds, and was the top scorer from the heats at five of the nine events.

At the Kartmasters British Grand Prix, Cranham topped his group in the first round of qualifying, but a win and a non-finish put him 15th in the end-of-day classification. He topped qualifying again the next day, but fourth and 11th in the next two heats meant he had to climb up from 10th to finish fourth in the pre-final. Further progress was made in the final, as he won.

The year began with the IAME Winter Cup, which was almost another Cranham-claimed contest. He comfortably won two of his three heats, was victorious in his superheat then was the long-time leader in the final before falling to fourth late on. Penalties for others lifted him back to second.

Jacob Ashcroft ENGLAND 14y/o
Rotax Jr Euro Trophy champion, British champion, Ultimate Karting champion, Int. Trophy winner, BNL Series champion, 2nd in Grand Finals

Photo: RMC Euro Trophy

A title-winning margin of just 15 points (when eight drivers surpassed 500 points) belied how much of a winning machine Ashcroft was in the RMC Euro Trophy in 2025.

He topped his qualifying group in three of the four rounds, won nine out of 12 heats and made the podium in the final three times. After missing out on victory by 0.05s in round one, he had an unbeaten weekend in round three.

During summer Ashcroft won the RMC International Trophy. He was denied pole by 0.006s, then a non-finish alongside his two heat wins meant he started fourth for his superheat. He won that race, and the final.

On home soil the Rotax Junior titles in the British and Ultimate Karting championships went to Ashcroft, and in Belgium’s BNL Series he was also champion.

That success earned him a ticket to December’s RMC Grand Finals in Bahrain, and he was once again the driver to beat. He was fastest in qualifying, won two heats and came second in the other, was victorious in his pre-final and led the final before finishing second.

Alexander Vanchev BULGARIA/USA 15y/o
X30 Snr 13th in USA SuperNats   KA100 Snr Finalist in USA SuperNats   KA100 Jr USA Pro Tour champion, USA WS champion   X30 Jr USA Pro Tour champion, USA WS champion

There were two names who ruled America’s junior karting scene this year, and Alexander Vanchev was one of them.

He won the USA Pro Tour and Winter Series titles on KA100 and X30 karts, gathering a lot of attention as like Formula 2 star Nikola Tsolov he races under the Bulgarian flag.

In the winter series he won two finals out of four in each of the junior categories, and was unbeaten in the opening round for KA100 Junior. He took that title on victory countback after dropped scores were taken into account, and comfortably claimed the X30 Jr crown.

Although Vanchev never once qualified on pole in the Pro Tour, he was able to make his way to the front in the races. He won three KA100 finals, including round five where he qualified 21st then finished seventh in the pre-final. In the final round he went from 44th to 13th in the pre-final, and climbed another nine places in the final.

In X30 Jr he won the first three rounds, doing so from pole twice, and in round five he bounced back from being disqualified in qualifying to get up to eighth by the final.

For the end-of-year SuperNationals he also stepped up to senior karting. In the X30 Snr class he was runner-up in two of his heats en route to the final, which he finished 13th in. He also made the final in KA100 but retired, with a bad qualifying result putting him on the back foot through the event.

Kai Clarke ENGLAND
Rotax Jr 2nd in WS, 2nd in Euro Trophy, 2nd in Golden Trophy, 3rd in Int. Trophy, 4th in British championship, 10th in Kartmasters British GP, 16th in Ultimate Karting Championship, 28th in Grand Finals

Photo: KR Sport

Clarke doesn’t usually smile when on the podium, but he should be happy with what he achieved as one of KR Sport’s driver in 2025.

He was in the top four of five major competitions on Rotax Junior karts, and while his inclusion does make this list a little too heavy on British drivers, it’s worth noting he was a breakthrough talent on the international scene last year while every other name on the list was better known to this writer.

Clarke’s year started in the RMC Winter Series, where he failed to win a race (thanks to a penalty in round two’s final) but was so consistently near the front that he was runner-up in the standings. It was similar in the Euro Trophy, as Clarke never qualified higher than sixth, had penalties in the season’s first half but won the pre-finals in rounds three and four and his podium finishes in the finals propelled him to second in the points with a small deficit to the champion.

At the RMC Golden Trophy he won a heat but retired in the other, then won the final on-the-road before a penalty demoted him to second. On home soil he was less successful, but in a very busy year it was his racing abroad that marked him out.

Maxim Orlov RUSSIA 17y/o
KZ2 CotF champion, FIA World Cup winner, CIK European champion, 4th in WSK SMS, finalist in Trofeo delle Industrie

Talking to media after World Cup victory

Shifter karting tends to be where ‘career’ karters go, and drivers who do not head into single-seaters in their later teenaged years, and in the KZ2 class the biggest star of 2025 was Orlov.

He won the Italian championship in 2023, the WSK Final Cup in 2024, and then two of the biggest championships in Europe and the biggest race of all last year. At the end of it he did step up car racing, coming sixth in the SMP Formula 4 winter series.

The CotF season only featured two rounds for KZ2 drivers, and in the first Orlov topped his qualifying group, won one heat and came 0.084s short of a second after being penalised, was superheat runner-up then romped to victory in the final.

A lap one retirement in heat four of six prevented Orlov from having an unbeaten weekend in round two, with huge winning margins in the late races.

He was on top at the end of each weekend in the European championship too. Moving before the red lights went out copped him penalties that denied him unbeaten weekends in rounds one and two’s races, although in the latter’s final he was victorious by a huge 12s. A heat non-finish made the route to victory a little harder in round three, but he still got it done.

At the FIA World Cup, it was more of the same and this time Orlov did tick the ‘unbeaten’ box.

11 more to watch…

On OK karts, Zac Drummond was WSK Final Cup runner-up, third in the European championship and sixth in the World championship and WSK SMS.

In the OK-J paddock, William Calleja started very strongly but had some nightmare weekends which left him as European championship and CotF runner-up. He was also fifth in WSK’s Euro Series, while Valerio Viapiana was the World championship runner-up, fourth in WSK’s Euro Series, fifth in its Final Cup and ninth in the Super Master Series.

Ilie Cristan, now an Alpine junior, was third in CotF and WSK SMS in 2025, fourth in the European championship and WSK Final Cup, fifth in the World championship. The Canadian landed a lot of top-five results, but taking the fight to the biggest names in the finals was often another step up as the year went on.

MP Motorsport has signed Henry Domain for 2026, after he was WSK Euro Series runner-up, fourth in CotF, sixth in the European championship and WSK SMS last year.

In addition to beating Baglin to the WSK Final Cup title, Bosco Arias was fourth in WSK SMS and seventh in the European championship. Also part of the FIA’s karting pyramid is the Academy Trophy, and Yuzuki Sato won the Senior class.

OK-N karts is one of karting’s newest classes, and Italian driver Manuel Scognamiglio was the top talent. He was WSK Euro Series champion, Italian champion and Trofeo Andrea Margutti winner. For the WSK Final Cup he joined the OK grid and was ninth.

Vanchev’s big rival in the USA was Travis Pettit. He was Pro Tour runner-up, fourth in the SuperNats and fifth in the Winter Series in KA100 Jr, and was SuperNats runner-up, fourth in the IAME Grand Nationals and USA Pro Tour in X30 Jr.

The final two names come from the Rotax Snr scene. Macauley Bishop won the RMC Int. Trophy and Grand Finals, was BNL Series champion, RMC Golden Trophy runner-up, fifth in the Ultimate Karting Championship and sixth in the British Championship but was only 10th in the RMC Euro Trophy.

Tino Sidler did better there, coming sixth in the standings, and was third in the RMC Winter Series and BNL Series.

More from karting
Karting legend Mike Wilson passes away
FIA launches global karting shootout as Hitech partners with Tony Kart
FIA locks in regulations for introduction of electric karting at senior level
Korus created after Tatuus buys kart brands Birel ART and Kart Republic
CotF karting series launches F4 programme

The post The top karting stars of 2025 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Ida Wood

Karting legend and Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 Junior Team talent spotter Mike Wilson has passed away aged 66.

Wilson joined Mercedes in 2024 to scout out karters to potentially sign and also coach James Anagnostiadis and Kenzo Craigie who were the team’s existing proteges in that paddock.

The Briton, whose career has tied him to Italy for many years, was world champion of the top Formula K kart category six times in the 1980s, establishing himself as one of the greatest ever talents to get behind the wheel of the sit-on vehicles which are the starting point for many single-seater stars.

In 2009, a mutual contact led to Lawrence Stroll – now the owner of the Aston Martin F1 team – getting Wilson to tutor his son Lance in mini karting. The younger Stroll made it all the way to F1.

Either side of that job, Wilson ran karts and assisted drivers once he stepped back from racing them himself. His list of proteges include two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

During his early career, Wilson was known for his battles with Ayrton Senna and the two went from intense rivals to being two motorsport greats with immense respect for each other. He also raced at karting’s top level against two-time CART champion and Paralympic medallist Alex Zanardi, European Formula 2 champion Corrado Fabi and Terry Fullerton.

Many of the major karting brands have worked with Wilson or run him, with his name historically connected to Birel the most as he won three world championships on its karts.

The post Karting legend Mike Wilson passes away appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FIA

Junior single-seater team Hitech GP has announced a long-term partnership with OTK Kart Group and its famed kart brand Tony Kart.

It will create a ‘kart to cars programme’ with Tony Kart’s factory team, supporting its drivers aged 13 to 15 who seek to progress to single-seaters. This will include access to Hitech’s factory, simulator and personnel in multiple departments, and those who star in the programme will then get opportunities to do Formula 4 tests.

“Our relationship with Tony Kart goes back to my own formative years racing karts and has gone from strength to strength over the years,” said Hitech founder Oliver Oakes.

“We are very much aligned in terms of our mission and values, but also our methodology. The ‘Karts to Cars Programme’ is the result of a great deal of careful consideration as to how we can create a really significant academy programme to help emerging talents advance their fledgling motorsport careers.”

As a team and chassis manufacturer, Tony Kart has had immense success and won its first world championship in 1986.

OTK’s chief executive officer Roberto Robazzi explained that Tony Kart’s factory team wanted to create a direct link to single-seaters “to guarantee its most talented drivers” have an opportunity to head there.

Engineer Thomas Gomis recently became FIA Karting’s technical manager, and oversaw the inaugural FIA Karting Shootout in Valencia on December 2-7.

The event, only announced on November 18, included practical sessions, workshops and tests as drivers were educated and assessed on and off-track.

Karters in the junior pool were evaluated in Parolin karts, with the top three receiving free tyres, fuel and entries for up to five FIA karting events in 2026. The winner also got funding of €6,000 (£5,244) per event, with second and third winning half of that, but all three could opt for free entry to one of FIA Karting’s Arrive-and-drive continental championships in 2026 instead.

Senior karters tested in Campos Racing-run Formula 4 cars on Pirelli tyres, and competed for €250,000 (£218,517) to spend on a season in F4.

While the FIA stated that 24 drivers earned shootout places through success in its karting events through 2025, there were only eight junior contestants and seven present in the senior pool.

The junior contest had two days of off-track sessions assessing physical, mental and driving skills at Campos’s headquarters. Participants then headed to the nearby Aspar circuit for two days, working with Parolin’s driver trainers while on track.

After intense deliberation from the judging panel, Valerio Viapiana was chosen as the winner ahead of Troy Ferguson and Michele Orlando.

The senior contest began on December 4 and had two days of off-track assessments preceding two days of track action in the same locations. Manuel Scognamiglio did not test at Aspar having withdrawn due to injury, and on the final morning Knud Nielsen and Oscar Goudchaux were eliminated.

The top four embarked on qualifying and race simulations on fresh tyres, and following that 16-year-old Yusuki Sato was picked as winner.

FIA Karting Shootout contestants

The post FIA launches global karting shootout as Hitech partners with Tony Kart appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Pascal Verheuge

Kevin Lantinga and Louis Baziret are this year’s X30 Senior and Junior champoionships in IAME Series Benelux.

After rounds at Mariembourg, Ostricourt and Genk, the season concluded with a return to Mariembourg on October 3/4.

In X30 Snr, it was super close in all three qualifying groups with first place decided on average by a margin of 0.022 seconds. Lantinga was seventh in group one, only 0.17s off poleman Yanis Bouillez, while title rival Sem van der Heijden was second in group two, 0.012s behind Henkie Kalteren, and Gabriel Stilp pipped Mattiz Meerschaut by 0.008s in group three.

Meerschaut converted pole into victory in three heats, and Bouillez only won once but coming second three times put him second in the intermediate classification (which set the main final’s grid) after the heats. Victor Louis’ consistent top-six finishes put him fourth overall.

Van der Heijden won the opening heat but two disastrous races left him 27th in that classification, with fellow title contender Otto Pyykonen 30th after starting outside of the top 10 for all heats. Despite missing qualifying, Clement Outran made the top five in three heats.

Stilp had two wins, two second places and then a retirement that left him eigth, with Lantinga also winning twice to sit sixth in the intermediate classification.

The cutoff to make the main final was 36th, so Thibaut Ramaekers just missed out despite starting off with a win and a second place.

Lantinga went into the final leading van der Heijden by seven points, and faced sunny conditions but a wet track. Some drivers went for wet tyres, while others used slicks.

The top three were split by 4.285s after one lap, with a mix of full attack and edging around the track. Daan Steenman led by four seconds after two laps, and Lantinga was fifth by lap four but 13s behind. Outran crashed out on that lap after getting to ninth, then a lap later Steenman parked up off-track but rejoined.

Now a second split the top three, with slick-shod Stilp leading Louis. It took a lap to build a 5.847s gap to Delano Wellens in third, and Lantinga passed him on lap seven as Steenman and Pyykonen fought over ninth. Van der Heijden meanwhile was outside of the top 20.

Wellens plummeted down the order as the track dried, and there was more drama to come. Stilp was eight seconds clear when he struck trouble on lap 13 of 15 and conceded the lead to Louis, and Lantinga then lost third to Bouillez.

They had more action on the last lap, with Bouillez falling to 10th and Oscar Goudchaux stealing third from Lantinga. Once post-race penalties were applied, Lantinga was on the podium and confirmed as champion, as van der Heijden was classified 12th.

Victory Lane’s Baziret missed the X30 Jr season finale but was still crowned champion by a big margin.

Lucas Bonhomme won three heats, Antoine Duval won two and Flavio Caira won one at Mariembourg.

Baziret’s team-mate and the 2024 champion Juste Mulder and Stig De Raedemaeker got between the front row pair on lap one of the soaking wet final, with Mulder losing second on lap two then making a double move for the lead on lap three.

Mulder held on at the front, although came under late pressure from Caira, who had a mid-race battle with De Raedemaeker. Far behind, Bonhomme just held off Duval for fourth.

Aron Weeda, Baziret’s main title rival, was 15th in his qualifying group, came third, eighth and 24th in his heats (by which point the title was settled) then rose from 24th to 14th in the final.

Results round-up
X30 Senior final (15 laps)
1 Victor Louis RSD Karting [Kosmic] 15m40.462s
2 Gabriel Stilp Croc Promotion [Croc Promotion] +0.705s
3 Kevin Lantinga Croc Promotion [Croc Promotion] +12.803s
4 Daan Steenman KCR-Racing [Croc Promotion] +15.183s
5 Oscar Goudchaux Dream Racing [Kosmic] +16.758s
6 Clement Massaux Ravet Racing [TB Kart] +17.865s
7 Otto Pyykonen Croc Promotion [Croc Promotion] +20.374s
8 Mattiz Meerschaut RSD Karting [Kosmic] +25.711s
9 Yanis Bouillez PJM [CS55] +28.269s
10 Luca Leistra MCK Racing [Tony Kart] +30.672s
Fastest lap: Leistra, 56.511s

Championship standings
1 Lantinga 580   2 Sem van der Heijden 572   3 Louis 563   4 Meerschaut 555   5 Pyykonen 555   6 Matthias Vandekerckhove 553   7 Clement Outran 545   8 Bouillez 539   9 Leistra 533   10 Goudchaux 527

X30 Junior final
1 Juste Mulder Victory Lane [Kart Republic] 16m07.970s
2 Flavio Caira VDK Racing [Kart Republic] +0.346s
3 Stig De Raedemaeker Fusion Motorsport [Kosmic] +1.272s
4 Lucas Bonhomme Dream Racing [Kosmic] +9.006s
5 Antoine Duval Eurokarting [Kosmic] +9.255s
6 Bink van Scheijndel Falcon [Falcon] +9.911s
7 Jan Rodrigues VDK Racing [Kart Republic] +12.665s
8 Maurice Vercruysse MCK Racing [Tony Kart] +16.840s
9 Edouard Godfroid RSD Karting [Exprit  but I don’t think it is] +17.064s  OTK Kosmic i think
10 Temmo Koopmans TD Kart [TD Kart] +17.861s
FL: Caira, 1m13.428s

Championship standings
1 Louis Baziret 621   2 Aron Weeda 579   3 De Raedemaeker 575   4 Didier Kreeft 571   5 Caira 564   6 Duval 562   7 Noah Grignet 532   8 Aurelio Gustinelli 516   9 Dani Boers 513   10 Henry Carter 506

The post Lantinga and Baziret win 2025 IAME Series Benelux kart titles appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Sport-in-photo

The FIA is closer to introducing its own senior and junior electric karting classes after having technical and homologation regulations approved by the World Motor Sport Council last month.

There are already electric kart series in several countries, and the FIA’s technical regulations for electric karting at the mini level were published two years ago.

For the steps above it in the karting ladder, it has now produced the paperwork that determines what parameters drivetrain system providers should operate in, what voltage and weight limits will be set, and perhaps most importantly how much powertrain integration will be required in design so the new technology can go into old karts with adaptation.

There will be a 60V limit for the senior and junior classes, and batteries will need to be positioned centrally and below the steering column in future karts. This design choice is a key safety measure.

The electric drivetrains that will be homologated by the FIA within these regulations will have power-limited rechargeable energy storage systems. A drivetrain used in junior karting would be capped at 23kW, and it would be 28kW for the senior class.

The homologation regulations also mention “the use of high voltage (above 60 V DC or 30 V AC) under the approved equipment regime (to be distinguished from homologated equipment) remains possible, provided that it is strictly limited to ‘Arrive & Drive’ programmes, under the sole responsibility of the manufacturer or supplier of the system”.

Akbar Ebrahim, the FIA Karting Commission president, said electric karting “presents a significant opportunity to contribute to the continued growth of global karting and these regulations will unlock fresh possibilities for events and championships around the world” once they are introduced in 2026.

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Photo: KSP Reportages

Tatuus’s recent landmark move to become the majority owner of kart brands Birel ART and Kart Republic has led to the three companies becoming divisions of a new motorsport group.

This year it has alco acquired Next Solution Technologies and kart engine manufacturer IAME, and with the previous purchase of composites firm Ycom and long-standing associations with racing car engine supplier Autotecnica and Breda Racing Equipment the ‘Korus Group’ has now been created bringing the eight Italian companies together under one banner.

The Dino Chiesa-led Kart Republic and Birel ART are not only two of the largest chassis manufacturers in kart racing, but their respective factory teams have had spells as being one of the top teams in the world over the course of the last decade.

At this year’s CIK-FIA World Championship for OK karts, 19 of the 36 drivers in the final were on Kart Republic chassis and five drove Birel ART karts. Factory Kart Republic driver Joe Turney was runner-up with IAME power on a kart he helped develop, while all Birel ART chassis used TM Kart-supplied engines.

• Read more: Why karting left with two winners from a race that ended in a painful loss

The two brands compete against each other not only for trophies, but for market space. Each is seeking to have as many customer teams and privateer drivers on their karts internationally as possible, since that is the core part of their businesses. On-track success of course helps to sell karts.

Chiesa and his counterparts at the other firms in Korus are all now minority shareholders within the group, and there will be “a cross-functional management structure, coordinating key strategic areas — from engineering to finance, business development, and communications” according to the statement announcing Korus’s creation.

Tatuus’s chief executive officer and Autotecnica founder Giovanni Delfino will be CEO of Korus. He called it “a historic moment for our companies and for Italian motorsport” to bring major karting and single-seater racing manufacturers together.

“What began in 2017 with Tatuus and ATM reaches today a new stage of growth and recognition thanks to the arrival of companies that not only embody the spirit with which this holding was created, but are also established leaders in both racing and karting,” he said.

“Thanks to major investments in the karting sector, we are now creating the only organisation in the world capable of building a bridge between karting and open and closed-wheel racing — a strong and revolutionary connection, grounded in the solid foundations of our group’s shared projects, engineering excellence, and the talents that drive them every day.”

Tatuus president Gianfranco De Bellis, who has been a board member at Autotecnica and Breda for eight and seven years respectively after his company became more closely connected to them, will assume the presidency of Korus too.

“Motorsport has always been synonymous with projects born through collective effort,” he reflected. “Korus embodies the true essence of motorsport — the ability to deliver complete projects through deep engineering and innovation expertise, combined with the unique capacity to support drivers through every stage of their growth.”

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Photo: Aston Martin F1

Jak Crawford will drive in a Formula 1 practice session for the first time at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix with Aston Martin.

The American is one of the team’s junior drivers, and has already accumulated F1 test mileage exceeding 1240 miles in Aston Martin’s chassis from the previous three seasons. He will take over Lance Stroll’s car for FP1 in Mexico.

This year Crawford is fighting for the Formula 2 title, and is currently second in the standings with two rounds to go. There has been eight points-free races and a non-start, but the 20-year-old has won an unmatched three feature races and a sprint race.

“I’m thrilled to drive the AMR25 in Mexico for my first official F1 [practice] session,” said Crawford.

“I’ve worked closely with the team all year, so to now take the next step and get track time on a grand prix weekend is really exciting. Announcing this in Texas [at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix], where I’m from, makes it even more special after a busy week with the team and Aramco in Houston.”

Aston Martin is required to run a ‘young driver’ in practice at one more event this season, with its reserve driver Felipe Drugovich having made two FP1 outings earlier this year.

“It’s fantastic to give Jak the opportunity to take part in FP1 in Mexico,” Andy Cowell, Aston Martin’s F1 team principal, said.

“He’s shown real maturity and provided strong technical feedback throughout the year, and these sessions are an important part of how we develop young talent. Jak has had a strong season in F2 and has been a key contributor to the development of both the AMR25 and AMR26. This is a great chance for him to continue progressing while helping us gather valuable data.”

There is still no clarification on how the ‘Aston Martin F1 Team Driver Academy‘ launched this June differs from the existing driver development programme which Drugovich and Crawford have been supported by.

The new academy did however announce in July a partnership with karting team DPK Racing, which since then has been entering Kart Republic chassis in competitions under FA branding and with Aston Martin-inspired liveries. FA Racing is the multi-discipline junior motorsport brand belonging to Aston Martin F1 driver Fernando Alonso.

So far DPK’s drivers have not gained academy membership despite the alliance, with FIA Formula 3 race-winner the only confirmed driver in its ranks presently.

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Photo: KSP Reportages

Ferrari junior Noah Baglin won the CIK-FIA World Championship for OK Junior karts yesterday, a year on from losing it on the last lap.

Williams junior Dean Hoogendorn pipped Benjamin Manach and Baglin to top spot in qualifying, then took four wins and two second places in the heats while Baglin had five wins and a third place. Turner Brown also made the podium in all of his heats, winning four.

Evan Purcell was the only other driver to win multiple heats, and the remaining victories went to Julian Frasnelli, William Calleja, Leonardo Gorski, Alpine junior Ilie Tristan Crisan, Luka Scelles and Martin Bertolaccini.

Superheat A took place on a drying track on Sunday morning, and the lack of grip caused chaos into the opening corner. There were 10 retirees there, including Brown and Bertolaccini. Lucas Bonhomme had the most violent crash, going over the rear of a kart then slamming into the tyre barriers.

Slow zones covered the first two laps, and Baglin led Leonardo Gorski for the restart. Michael McGaughy was in fifth, one of nine drivers to have already gained 10 or more places.

He overtook Luka Scelles, then eased past Juste Mulder a lap later. A failed attempt at overtaking Baglin led to Gorski dropping to fourth on lap seven, putting McGaughy into second ahead of Scelles.

Baglin flitted between managing the pace and bunching up the five drivers behind, then rain arrived on the last lap. McGaughy forced Baglin into defence at turn one and there was bumper contact, with Scelles slipping past into turn two.

McGaughy tried getting back past at turn four but he and Scelles went deep and Gorski reclaimed second. Mulder and Oskari Walle also got past Scelles, then Gorski had a wide moment and lost three spots. Baglin was way clear of McGaughy by the final corner, where Walle ran wide but held on ahead of Mulder and Gorski.

It was much wetter for superheat B, which Hoogendoorn led lights-to-flag. Calleja spun out of third on the formation lap, and on lap one there was lots of rubbing. Hoogendoorn romped away, and Purcell held second before Crisan passed him on lap two.

Valerio Viapiana took third on lap three, Williams junior Will Green demoted Purcell to fifth on lap four, and Andrea Manni won an entertaining fight between three Forza Racing drivers for sixth.

Brown and Calleja lined up sixth and 13th for the dry final, while McGaughy was 17th on the grid. The front row was flipped, as poleman Baglin opted to start on the outside of Hoogendorn.

It caught Hoogendoorn out, leading to two false starts as drivers following Baglin’s wheeltracks shot past. On the proper start Hoogendoorn still lost out to Purcell, while Calleja and McGaughy crashed out.

Purcell was on full defence, and Baglin was 1.622s ahead within a lap. He continued pulling away to win by 4.281s.

Viapiana jumped from eighth to fifth on lap one, and gained two more places on lap two. He overtook Purcell into the last corner on lap six, but Hoogendoorn got by at the same time so he remained in third while Purcell lacked pace and descended down the order.

Gorski later joined the fight for second, and on lap 12 Hoogendoorn lost places in successive corners. Feeling ambitious, Gorski then tried passing Viapiana but dived too deep and returned the place.

Hoogendoorn returned to the podium a lap later at turn seven, but could not find a grip advantage off-line after that to pass Viapiana. He made one failed lunge on lap 17, and was very unhappy with finishing third.

Crisan won a fight with Gianmatteo Roussea (who climbed 12 spots) for fifth, and penalties helped put Purcell and Brown 15th and 18th.

Final results (21 laps)

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Photo: KSP Reportages

Joe Turney was forced to be runner-up in the CIK-FIA World Karting Championship for a third time yesterday as Thibaut Ramaekers beat him to victory in the final at Kristianstad, and after superheat heartbreak too

The biggest race in senior karting, the OK final of the world championship, was decided through final lap drama last year that crowned Ethan Jeff-Hall at the expense of category veteran Joe Turney. While Jeff-Hall earned the backing of the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team and a step up to British Formula 4, Turney stuck with what he knows best: developing and racing Kart Republic’s chassis in the most competitive championships and races in the world.

Turney’s 2024 heartbreak came after being runner-up in 2020, when he returned to karting after his own impressive but short-lived spell in British F4, and breaking his ankle in a horrific accident after retirning from the lead of the 2023 final.

But after twice coming third he finally won the CIK-FIA European Championship in 2024, in wet conditions at Kristianstad. He also became a two-time Champions of the Future champion, with the Swedish track tipping his title fortunes as erstwhile leader Thibaut Ramaeker’s season collapsed.

This year Ramaekers and Turney came second and fifth in CotF, and were fifth and 16th in the European championship.

Both came into the World championship confident, and this time it was not left to the last moment to decide who would win.

Ramaekers was the faster of the two at the start of the event, going third fastest overall in qualifying behind Daniel Kelleher and Thomas Pradier. Turney was sixth in the group topped by Davide Bottaro, and 61st overall.

Kelleher went on to win four of his five heats and Ramaekers won three, but the main star of the early races was James Anagnostiadis who took four victories and a second place behind Noah Wolfe.

Final results (25 laps) [Top 10]

Zac Drummond was a two-time winner and Lev Krutoholov won once to be third and fourth in the intermediate classification, ahead of Ramaekers, and Turney was seventh despite only making the podium twice.

Anagnostiadis’s form continued into the wet weather of Sunday, where Turney also excelled. In superheat A, Anagnostiadis had pole and Turney started from fourth place. He instantly overtook Ramaekers, and passed Drummond on lap three. There was then a 1.6-second gap to eat into, which he achieved in four laps on a drying track before taking the lead on the next.

His first move came when Anagnostiadis left the door open, but it was a ploy to have a better exit speed. Turney rode the kerbs at the next hairpin to lead again, while Anagnostiadis repeated his tactic on the outside. He had the pace to sweep back past but not the room, and a few corners later there was contact as he picked the inside.

Turney built a 2.1s gap of his own but on lap 13 he suddenly slowed to a near-halt. After power returned to the engine he was able to lug his way to the end of the lap 7.5s down in fifth.

Anagnostiadis took an easy win by 3.215s over Ramaekers, and Borys Lyzen fought past Drummond for third a further 1.971s behind. Once back to racing speeds and as rain returned to the track, Turney made it to the finish in sixth.

The track remained wet for superheat B, in which the field had two false starts then 15 went off at the chicane on lap one and 20 drivers went on to cop time penalties.

Poleman Kelleher led the first four laps, with Wolfe, Pradier and Krutoholov initially engrossed in fighting for second. Wolfe gapped the others on lap three, and was on the leader’s rear starting lap five.

He quickly got a pass done, with Kelleher not fighting back and Krutoholov passing him on lap seven.

Final results [P11 to P20]

Wolfe had 1.4s in hand, and only came under pressure on lap 15 of 17. Krutoholov leveraged the inside into the final corner to boldly take the lead, and Wolfe fought back into turn one but the win was decided.

Kelleher lacked pace and finished seventh, while Kenzo Craigie escaped a great three-kart scrap for fourth to finish third on-the-road before a five-second penalty demoted him to sixth.

Anagnostiadis had earned himself pole for the dry final, with Drummond, Krutoholov, Kelleher, Ramaekers, Pradier, Turney and Wolfe filling the top eight spots on the grid.

There was pre-race drama as Matthew Higgins, one of the biggest names in the Rotax Senior kart class, failed to get going and a second formation lap was added as he was wheeled off.

A false start led to another formation lap, and once racing began the top eight initially held ground. After Drummond made a move for the lead, Kelleker also was able to take third and Turney rose to fifth.

Krutoholov reclaimed third into turn one on lap two, and Anagnostiadis snatched back first place. Turney was then able to execute two passes, and Ramaekers went down Krutoholov’s inside on lap three to demote him to fifth.

Drummond led again as lap five began, and Ramaekers squeezed into third. It became second as Anagnostiadis was shuffled down to fifth. A bold move by Krutoholov on lap six pust him past Turney, but a few corners later he similarly darted past.

Pradier got involved on lap eight, except he clashed with Krutoholov at turn one and with Kelleher two corners after. The lead also changed hands, with Ramaekers seeing a gap and going for it to get past Drummond. In response, Drummond tried to dive down his inside at the last corner but there was slight contact and it allowed Turney into second.

Final results [P21 to P30]

The top two began lap nine 0.081s apart, and Turney’s attempt to overtake put him under threat from behind. And when Krutoholov took third from Drummond, it then allowed the top two to break free.

Ramaekers’s gap grew by less than 0.04s per lap for a while, then on lap 18 he started doubling that pace advantage. They were small gains, but once he had a 0.96s lead there was little time for Turney to close back in and the title was won by 0.76s.

The world champion was unsurprisingly “very happy”, while Turney credited Kart Republic’s results across the event before reflecting on finishing second:

“A good result for myself. Probably hurt a bit in the pre-final, and then maybe I could have done a bit different in the final. But in the end, I think I have enough [to be able to win this].”

OK rookie Krutoholov was a lonely third, and there was a four-way fight for fourth. Kelleher overtook Anagnostiadis on lap 16, and Craigie went past his fellow Mercedes-AMG F1 junior at the last corner a lap later.

Drummond spent several laps under pressure from Kelleher, and they made contact, but the latter missed his opportunity and later dropped behind new CotF champion Craigie.

Anagnostiadis used his superheat tactic of higher exit speeds on the outside line to fuel moves that brought him back up to fourth by 0.1s over Craigies, 0.164s on Drummond and 0.251s to Zac Green.

Aston Sharp, racing for Charles Leclerc’s team, rose 22 spots to finish eighth. The position was inherited from Christian Costoya, the fastest driver on track but recipient of a five-second bumper penalty.

Final results [Non-classified]

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