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Birelart concludes the 2026 FIA Karting season

With the OK and OKJ World Championship at the La Conca circuit (Muro Leccese), the 2026 FIA Karting season has come to an end.

As usual, the World Championship weekend started with the Birelart Racing Team working together with its drivers during the free practice sessions, whichwere more important than ever due to the constantly changing track conditions. Thursday's performances immediately showed good competitiveness in both the Junior and Senior classes, with fast lap times and consistent speed among the front runners.

After free practice, the Birelart drivers faced the official qualifying sessions, which unfortunately affected the rest of the weekend. Traffic during the flyinglaps and some race incidents did not allow them to repeat the best performances shown during the morning sessions, forcing the drivers to fight their way forwardduring the heats.

The battles during the heats were very close, especially with a different weekend format compared to usual, with only three heats per group scheduled. Thisinevitably left very little room for mistakes and fewer opportunities to recoverpositions.

In the Senior class, Wolfe immediately confirmed his speed among the front runners in the first heat, where, despite starting from the middle of the group, he managed to gain ten positions and reach the top five. A retirement following a racing incident while he was still recovering positions, and a penalty at the end of the third heat, after gaining another eight positions, affected his recovery. He alsoconfirmed his good potential after Sunday's Super Heats, reaching the top tenafter gaining six positions, unfortunately not enough to qualify for the Final. Ivannikov also showed the same good potential, finishing in the top ten in hisqualifying session and fighting at the front of the group during the heats. Consistency and overtaking during the early stages of the races could haverewarded him, but several penalties held him back on more than one occasionand affected his final result.

Positive first World Championship appearances for Leo, with good recoveries, including eight positions gained on Friday. Saarinen also made his debut after the OKN World Cup and managed to gain more than ten positions despite beingforced to start from the back. Rostand also showed progress, while bothRasmussen and Scognamiglio were unfortunately slowed down by a technical issue during qualifying, affecting their weekend. However, they still showedgood potential and made up positions during the heats.

In the Junior class, Morales showed his speed while doing his best to recoverafter a difficult qualifying session. Saturday brought mixed feelings, with a top-ten finish later affected by a penalty, and a P4 with the second-fastest lap of the race and seven positions gained. Fricker showed progress in his first World Championship, including the eight positions gained in the second heat. Disappointment for Rea, who was the fastest and showed front-running race pace throughout free practice. He also finished in the top ten in his qualifying session, but was then suddenly disqualified after the first heat, which he had finished just outside the top ten.

The Birelart Racing Team has concluded the 2026 FIA Karting season, with the next appointment being the 2027 European Championship. Attention now turns to the final commitments of the year, including the SKUSA SuperNats 29 in Las Vegas this weekend (14-15 November) and the big event of the Rotax Grand Finals in Portimao (7-14 November).

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