Bruno and Zülfikari take pole positions as early qualifying heats indicate open field
The 2026 FIA Karting season officially got underway today as karts hit the track for the first time and drivers got to grips with the La Conca circuit in southern Italy. Following free practice sessions earlier this morning, drivers had their first opportunity to get a nose ahead in the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship standings as Qualifying Practice began.
Qualifying Practice
Separated into three Junior and three OK qualifying groups, 30 Juniors took to the track in the first session of the day, with Belgian driver Priam Bruno laying down the early time to beat, setting an impressive benchmark of 47.923s, which included 2 purple sectors. Daniel Miron Lorente was just behind him after a solid performance that continues his promising early start to the year. After a penalty to Mark Pilpenko, Jarlath Sayer ended Session 2 atop the timings but was unable to match Bruno’s pace. In the third and final heat, only Many Nuvolini could come close to the time set in session one, leaving Priam Bruno as the polesitter and P1 in Group A this afternoon.
In the OK category, KR driver Klara Kowalczyk seized an early advantage over reigning World Champion Noah Baglin in the first session to put on her on a provisional pole. Her advantage was short-lived, as Iskender Zülfikari managed to snatch the top spot in the timings during the second session with a standout 46.343s that was ultimately unmatched in the final session, with Dan Allemann’s time just 0.095 seconds behind the Turkish driver. Zülfikari started this afternoon’s heats on pole as he looked to convert his advantage into a solid grid position.
Qualifying Heats
This afternoon saw the first Qualifying Heats, where Antoine Sylva Venant pushed up the order to take an early points lead as polesitter Priam Bruno lost out to Many Nuvolini, who earlier topped his qualifying group.
Max Felde had a solid afternoon picking up places in both heats, as did Jason Kosmopoulos, who stormed forward 12 places in his second heat. However, it was Daniel Miron Lorente who consistently held position, putting him in strong contention this weekend, along with Martin Bertolaccini, who surged up to second in his second heat.
The first OK heat of the afternoon saw Noah Baglin, Dean Hoogendoorn and Zac Drummond battle against each other in what was a potential taste of not only Sunday’s final but perhaps the rest of the season. Baglin performed a crucial overtake on Drummond in his first heat and on Klara Kowalczyk during his second heat to finish the day on maximum points. Hoogendoorn made up three places after a disappointing morning in Qualifying Practice.
Zülfikari held his advantage in his one heat of the afternoon, but with Baglin winning both of his heats and Kowalczyk showing no signs of shaking, Saturday will be the first test of the drivers’ consistency as the Championship battle really begins.
At the end of running today, the provisional points standings are as follows (not all drivers have competed in 2 heats yet):
Junior
1. Daniel Miron Lorente (ESP, KR) 94 points
2. Many Nuvolini (FRA, KR) 91 points
3. Antoine Sylva Venant (BEL, KR) 85 points
4. Martin Bertolaccini (ARG, Parolin) 82 points
OK
1. Noah Baglin (GBR, KR) 100 points
2. Klara Kowalczyk (POL, KR) 88 points
3. Henry Domain (GBR, Henza Kart) 44 points
4. Thomas Pra
Action resumes at the La Conca circuit tomorrow, Saturday 11 April, with the continuation of qualifying heats from 10:25. You can watch all the action LIVE and FREE on the FIA Karting YouTube channel from 10:20 CET.