A day of familiarisation, fine tuning and fast laps in the Belgian sunshine characterised the first day of the 2026 Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship for KZ, KZ2 and Academy Junior drivers.
The first track sessions of the FIA Karting season for the gearbox categories got underway with many KZ2 drivers banking important practice time as they grew accustomed to their gearbox karts with added power, four-wheel braking and a clutch to master.
After qualifying practice, in KZ and KZ2 it was a KR Motorsport masterpiece with their drivers Danilo Albanese and Arthur Lehouck securing pole positions across both categories. In the Academy Trophy Junior, Switzerland was on top again following Genolet’s storming performance in the Senior category a fortnight ago. Zoltan Coigny set the pace in a tight field, clinching pole by just 0.07 seconds.
KZ
There’s no shortage of experience and skill across the 2026 KZ grid and the 1.3km Genk track allowed the drivers to unleash the speed and power of their gearbox karts during qualifying practice this afternoon.
All 25 karts went out together for the six-minute timed session as World and European champions battled to master the ‘Home of Champions’ track. Gustafsson set the early pace as the first driver to break into the sub-51-second mark during the early laps of Qualifying Practice. The former European champion looked at ease around the Belgian track as the pack chased his impressive time.
As the session progressed drivers began to knock on the door of the Swedish driver’s time and when the chequered flag fell Sprigel was the first driver to join Gustafsson in the 50 second club to take provisional pole by 0.016 seconds.
Just moments later the field further closed in and both Stan Pex and Maxsim Orlov set respectable times just under 51 seconds but short of the benchmark set by Gustafsson and Sprigel.
Orlov can be especially proud of his qualifying practice in the KZ class which placed him in fifth position for the start of the qualifying heats tomorrow. Heading into this weekend, reigning KZ2 European Champion Maxsim Orlov reflected on his transition from KZ2 to KZ and said “everyone is so experienced and for me it will be a hard one so let’s see how it will be”
However, without even setting any purple sectors, Danilo Albanese sprung into the lead with a mighty 50.867, a hundredth of a second clear of Spirgel, which secured him the first pole position of the 2026 season.
After qualifying, Danilo Albanese said “The lap was good, I tried to make all the best on the last lap and we are on pole! We tried to make a good package for this weekend, at the moment we are p.1 but the race is long and we will see tomorrow”
The top 5 in KZ after qualifying practice are:
1. Danilo Albanese (ITA, KR)
2. Matteo Spirgel (FRA, Sodikart)
3. Viktor Gustafsson (SWE, CRG)
4. Maxsim Orlov (Sodikart)
5. Adrian Malheiro Suñe (ESP, CRG)
The first of three KZ qualifying heats begin tomorrow at 13:20.
KZ2
In KZ2, experience offered a marginal advantage over drivers taking the step up from direct drive karting, but many of the debutants of the gearbox categories showed signs of steady improvement to leave them in a healthy position headed into the heats.
Goldstein was the driver to beat during the closing stages of the first qualifying session for the category with only Michael Ider ultimately able to beat the time as the chequered flag fell with a time of 51.082. Wildcard entry Guldenfels completed the top three.
James Anagnostiadis, who yesterday said “it’s a big difference from OK to KZ shifter karts, a lot more power and really physical”, was 0.275 seconds off the pace during his group, a solid performance from the Australian who makes his KZ2 debut this weekend and begins the heats in 30th position.
During the second session, the times began to tumble as drivers closed in on the qualifying times set by the KZ category with multiple drivers hovering around the 51 second mark. Schleimer managed to beat Ider’s time to take the provisional pole but a surging Teo Blin went one step further to head into the sub-51-second time with an impressive 50.891 which unleashed the power of the KZ2 kart.
In the final session, it was a French domination as three of the top four times were all banked by French drivers. Three drivers managed to break into the sub-51 second mark as Broggio, Sala and Lehouck all put themselves in top contention. However, it was Lehouk with a rapid 50.865 that managed to topple Blin, claim the pole position and even outpace the KZ pole position time.
Lehouck later said “I’m super happy, it’s my third major pole position. We did a great job together. When chassis is working, engine is working, driver is ok – everything is good, life is good now!”
The top 5 in KZ after qualifying practice are:
1. Arthur Lehouck (FRA, KR)
2. Teo Blin (FRA, Birel Art)
3. Michael Ider (ITA, Birel Art)
4. Filippo Sala (CL Racing Team, Birel Art)
5. Maximillian Schleimer (GER, Tony Kart)
KZ2 Qualifying Heats continue tomorrow morning.
Academy Junior
As qualifying practice got underway it became clear how tight the field is with drivers searching for small advantages in the timings. During the first session the first 23 drivers were separated by 0.7 seconds with three tenths separating the top 10. Noah Grignet was narrowly denied a home soil provisional pole as Zoltan Coigny from Switzerland took provisional pole.
Psaroudakis from Greece performed strongly in the Greek like temperatures of Belgium today and Paraguay’s first ever Academy Trophy driver, Galeano Grinó, crossed the line with the third best time. During the second session, times began to fall rapidly as Aleksander Praizovic from South Africa held the top time heading into the final minute. As the drivers gave it a final push Praizovic’s time was insurmountable with only Kevin Pentell from Sweden able to get close to the time – crossing the line with a time 0.002 seconds behind the South African.
However, nobody in the second session could match the time earlier set by Coigny who emulates his compatriot Alexis Genolet in the Academy Senior who took pole position two weeks ago. Coigny will be hoping for a similar run of success this weekend after Genolet won all his heats and crossed the line with six seconds to spare in the final.
Zoltan Coigny said after taking pole position “It’s really hot out there, really tough but I know the OKNJ kart quite well. I hope we can do the same as in Valencia!”
The top 5 after qualifying practice are:
1. Zoltan Coigny (SUI)
2. Aleksander Praizovic (RSA)
3. Georgios Psaroudakis (GRE)
4. Kevin Pentell (SWE)
5. Sebastián Galeano Grinó (PAR)
Qualifying heats for the Academy Junior commence tomorrow morning in Belgium.