Parolin Motorsport made a flying start at the FIA Karting European Championship with a 3rd place for Christian Costoya in OK at the Spanish circuit of Campillos. 89 drivers were competing in OK and 82 in OK-Junior, meaning competition was fierce for the leading positions. 

Costoya comes through the pack
Costoya took 3rd in the Final at Campillos after a masterful recovery from a wet Qualifying session. He was unlucky to be in the only group hit by a sudden shower and found himself 18th overall in the timed session. However, on home soil he recovered well, winning a heat and finishing 4th in Super Heat A with the fastest lap. In the Final he started 10th and by the close of the race was among the frontrunners, taking 3rd after intense battles although the leader had escaped. Costoya is now 6th in the Championship with three more events to go. 

Hugo Martì and Beau Lowette were unlucky not to qualify for the Final despite strong gains in their Super Heat while Qarrar Firhand was unable to start his Super Heat due to technical reasons.

OK-Junior drivers on a steep learning curve
Giacomo Giusto made great strides this weekend at Campillos, qualifying 6th in his group and taking his first heat win, then going on to finish 25th in the Final. Priam Bruno, still recovering from a wrist injury, took three top six finishes in the heats then came home 22nd in the Final.

Alessandro Truchot qualified for the Final and gained places despite having a tough time and Bruno Blanco was as rapid as ever, setting the fastest lap in his Super Heat, but just missed out on the Final.

“Every driver in the team was tested to the limit at Campillos,” said team manager Marco Parolin, “The OK drivers had to contend with rain showers on Friday and the team also had to work hard to manage tyre wear when the temperatures rose, but this podium position is testament to the whole team’s relentless determination to get the job done. Our young drivers in OK-Junior also made their mark with heat wins and fastest laps and we look forward to the results to come as they follow in Christian’s footsteps.”

The team’s focus will now switch to Portugal and the second round of the European Championship at Portimao from 1st-4th May, preceded by the dress rehearsal of the Champions of the Future Euro Series second round the weekend before.

Christian Costoya of Parolin Motorsport won the first round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series in OK after a hard fought weekend. Drivers had to contend with the warmest temperatures of the year and a different tyre compound to those that they have raced on so far but they were well supported by the entire Parolin team.

Costoya shows his mettle
The Spanish driver set an outright lap record in Qualifying as the only driver to lap below a minute with 59.897s. As poleman he won all but one heat then took the Super Heat victory after leading from lights to flag. In the Final Christian retook the lead on lap 4 and judiciously balanced wear to the Maxxis tyres and speed to win by over two seconds. He is now leading in the series standings by 24 points.

Also in OK, Efim Derunov made great progress with a top six result in the heats.

Promising Junior drivers
Of the rookie OK-Junior drivers, Bruno Blanco on his first race outside of Italy took 8th in Qualifying and impressed with three 2nd places in the heats to start 3rd on the grid for Prefinal A. He finished 5th in the Prefinal, 10th in the Final and is now 8th overall in the points.

Also in Junior, Gioele Girardello qualified 5th and took 2nd in his final heat but after 6th in his Super Heat was unlucky not to finish the Final.

Giacomo Giusto had a lot to contend with in his heats but qualified for the Final and made up 15 places, while Alessandro Truchot was fast after an unlucky Qualifying and despite many places gained in the heats didn’t qualify for the Final. Priam Bruno was recovering from injury and the team is confident he will be on form next weekend.

Marco Parolin said:

“This weekend was very positive, we were starting on the new tyres and at the beginning we had to make some adaptations compared to the Vega in Junior and the LeCont in OK that we used in WSK. So far it has been a great start, in Junior we had two drivers in the top ten in Qualifying and considering their experience I’m happy that they were able to stay in the top ten until the very last part of the race so a positive balance for the Juniors. In OK I am very happy for Christian, who is constantly demonstrating that he is one of the top drivers of the series. He did a flawless job all weekend and won all the heats except one where he wasn’t on the new tyres. In the Final we knew that at the beginning our competitors were trying to put us under pressure but with a cooler mindset he made his way to the top. A super weekend by Christian. All the team did a super job from testing until today and hopefully we can continue along the same lines next week.”

The team will spend the week analysing the data from this weekend before the FIA Karting European Championship starts next weekend also at Campillos, with Qualifying on Friday.