In a week that saw drivers deal with the hottest weather conditions seen so far on the calendar, the fields of OK and OK Junior provided the most turbulent racing of the year, all hosted by Circuito Internazionale Napoli, a 1,670m circuit praised for the way it challenges drivers to carry speed as well as hang on to the kart.

Miron seals the title in Sarno

The junior category provided the shock factor right from timed qualifying, with drivers in all sessions electing to complete only two laps. This saw drivers such as Henri Constant-Kumpen and Oskari Walle fail to put in a time, while Leonardo Gorski, Will Green, and Jarlath Sayer all collected a pole in their group.

Qualifying heats that didn’t involve Daniel Miron Lorente went the way of Antonio Pizzonia, Will Green, and Jarlath Sayer, but in the races he did appear in, there was no holding back the Spanish driver once he got into the lead; Miron took three qualifying heat wins. Pole positions for the superheats were handed to Miron and young Italian Mercedes Junior Driver Niccolò Perico, though the wins went to Jarlath Sayer and Will Green.

In the midst of all this, the points between the three series title challengers, Green, Miron, and Bruno, began to shift, with Miron overtaking Bruno for the lead of the standings ahead of the final, as well as taking pole for it.

In the final, Miron broke away early, but Jarlath Sayer soon found a rhythm that saw him drive in a way unseen from him all year. With full focus and a clear target ahead, Sayer’s pace began to electrify, until a shock engine seizure at turn one ripped away his hopes of a battle for the lead. For the remaining drivers, there was a lot to deal with, as a kart pile-up formed on circuit from the number of drivers who caught each other out and failed to finish. On the podium, though, Green arrived once more in second, while Julian Frasnelli collected an elating third, ending his year the same way he started it, on the podium like in La Conca.

With the way the racing unfolded through the week, Miron has become the 2026 Champions of the Future Junior title winner, following the standard set by Noah Baglin in 2025.

Composure at the front of the OK category

Just as in the Junior category, the title win came down to the very last event of 2026, contested between three main names: Noah Baglin, Zac Drummond, and Benjamin Manach.

During timed qualifying, two drivers managed their first of the year, Lev Krutoholov and Bruno Blanco, while the ever consistent Noah Baglin took the fastest time of all three. Within the racing, all three drivers were able to extract a win from their poles, but for Krutoholov, an incident at turn one during the second qualifying heat with Benjamin Manach dropped his hopes of a front row start for later races.

Superheat action was dominated by teammates Noah Baglin and Bruno Blanco, with Blanco showing pace and racecraft he hadn’t yet shown in 2026, right where it counted, the final event. With this, the front row was confirmed as the duo, with Blanco on pole.

While Baglin remained composed, keeping in mind that he could become the only driver to take a Champions of the Future Series win in Junior and then OK in consecutive years, Drummond slipped behind Benjamin Manach into third in the championship standings ahead of the last race of the year.

With the final underway, Blanco led early, only to slide back through the grid and end up P10 at the chequered flag. Most of the action was at the front, with Noah Baglin having to deal with countryman Henry Domain, who crossed the line second behind Baglin before a nosecone penalty dropped him to seventh. This handed Krutoholov his best result of the year, and he ended it as he started it, on the podium, with Filippo Sala taking third, the best result of the year for Birel ART Racing.

Baglin’s performance throughout the week was that of someone with a job to do, and now the Brit walks away from Sarno with a final win and his second Champions of the Future Series title under his belt. Manach finishes P2 in the standings, one of the best results of his career to date, and Drummond secures third in the OK championship after recovering from 24th to 16th in the Final. His teammate Daniel Miron Lorente takes the OK Junior title.

Daniel Miron Lorente and Noah Baglin are officially the 2026 standings winners. The journey to seek out the Champions of the Future is complete, for now.

USA Driver Results

OK Junior:

Alessandro Truchot (KR Motorsport) – 7th
Liam Nachawati (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) – 15th

OK:

Jude Thirumalaiswamy (Victorylane Karting) – 29th
Max Weiland (KR Motorsport) – 30th

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