Parolin’s Christian Costoya has secured the FIA Karting European Championship in the OK category despite extremely difficult weather conditions on Final day on the Danish coastal circuit.

Spanish hopeful Costoya had been incisive enough in the first three rounds of the Championship to be able to stay out of trouble at Rodby as his main rival had struggled in Qualifying. Both Friday for Qualifying and Saturdays heats were run in damp conditions in the morning and drying out later in the day, and Christian took 3rd in Timed Qualifying. Despite a P1 and P3 in the heats, a DNF dropped him down the order. 

On Sunday the rain was heavier and the Super Heat took place in full wet conditions. But once the drivers were on the grid for the Final, it was just edging into the right conditions for slick tyres, then the rain started again. It turned out to be a brief shower so Costoya, along with just over half the grid, opted to fit slicks, knowing that halfway through the race they would be much faster. Unfortunately that tipping point was exactly when it started to rain again and Costoya was unable to take the chequered flag as European Champion, although he was delighted to secure the title by 57 points. 

Also in OK, Beau Lowette once again made an amazing recovery to gain 18 places to 12th in the Final, after gaining no less than 34 places during the heats and Super Heats. 

In OK-Junior, Priam Bruno made another breakthrough by qualifying fastest in his group (2nd overall), managing the difficult drying track conditions perfectly. He held his own in the heats then finished 4th in the wet Super Heat against much more experienced drivers. In the Final the track was different again and Bruno fought well to finish 13th, his best result in an FIA Karting Final. Gioele Girardello finished 18th in the Final, gaining 12 places after having to retire at the start of his Super Heat. Juan Garciarce also moved forward in the Final.

Marco Parolin was elated at the result

“I am proud to have achieved what was our most important goal of the season, the European Championship. This is a competition that takes place over four rounds with no room for error, so it requires the highest level of performance and few mistakes. Although this weekend in Rodby was not one of our best, we were able to count on the excellent performances in Portimao and Viterbo, where the team was flawless and scored maximum points, and the podium finish in Campillos on a weekend that was truly challenging due to the weather and tyre wear. Costoya has achieved an important and well-deserved milestone in his career, and the team can celebrate this well-earned success.”

Top level karting will take a well-earned break until the World Championships at Kristianstad in Sweden at the start of September, preceded by the usual Champions of the Future Euro Series race.