The 2026 FIA Karting World Cup has concluded with victory for Yuri Morelli in the OK-N category. The Brazilian delivered a perfect weekend, winning every one of his heats, his Super Heat and the final.
Morelli becomes the third ever winner of the title in OK-N, adding his name on the cup alongside 2024 winner Kyuho Lee and 2025 winner Manuel Scognamiglio. He converted pole to three heat wins, a Super Heat win and a final victory to secure the title in spectacular style.
Super Heats: Morelli and Blandino level on 150 points
Heading into the final day of action, Cristian Blandino and Yuri Morelli were tied on a perfect 150 points with three heat wins each, leaving the Super Heats to unbreak the deadlock and determine the polesitter for the final race.
Morelli was first to defend his Super Heat lead and delivered a statement drive, crossing the line over a second ahead of Manuel Scognamiglio, who gained two places to stay well in contention to retain his 2025 title. Morelli’s Super Heat victory, along with a perfect record in the heats and his fastest time in timed qualifying, guaranteed the Brazilian pole position in the final before Blandino even contested his Super Heat.
The contest for the remaining front-row position played out between Lamberto Ferrari and Cristian Blandino, who held a 14-point advantage in the intermediate classification standings. Ferrari’s first-lap overtake into the lead left him just two points behind Blandino, relying on Blandino dropping a further place if he was to dent his perfect run of heat wins.
Jercan’s gain of five positions and into third provided the most hope for Ferrari, but in a final charge to retain his run of victories, Blandino regained control of the heat to take the chequered flag and secure a second-place start for the final alongside Morelli. That set up a blockbuster finale between the two drivers who were unbeaten in OK-N all weekend.
The final: Morelli sets the pace
Off the line Blandino had the better start to claim the lead by the first corner, but on the second lap a three-way scrap for the lead ensued, with Morelli, Blandino and Ferrari all aware of the finality of this race in determining the 2026 World Cup winner.
Morelli immediately turned offensive to regain the lead, unwilling to allow a gap to build to the Italian duo of Ferrari and Blandino. 2025 winner Scognamiglio initially fell down the order but soon recovered into fourth to join his compatriots in their quest to keep the World Cup Italian in 2026.
Morelli’s tactics paid off as he found pace and eased into the race, allowing the Italians behind to choose their challenger. Following an exchange of positions, Scognamiglio emerged as the Italian to mount the strongest challenge. However, by this point a two-second gap had already built to Morelli, presenting a mountain to climb for anyone hoping to unseat him from the top step of the podium.
Scognamiglio and Morelli raced through the middle section of the race as the quickest drivers on track, matching each other’s sectors and leaving the field behind. For the polesitter and unbeaten heat winner, the time to Scognamiglio never dropped, and as he rounded the final corners he could taste the World Cup glory ahead of him. He secured his status as the third ever FIA Karting World Cup winner in OK-N and, after a faultless and assured performance all weekend, earned his place in FIA Karting history, inheriting the title Scognamiglio won so memorably in Cremona last year.
For Blandino, the final turned into the first hurdle of the weekend he couldn’t leap over. After losing control of the race at the start, he wasn’t able to recover and spent most of his race in a battle for third with Lamberto Ferrari, ultimately won by Ferrari, who completed the podium positions.
Reigning Academy Trophy Senior winner Albie Lapper, who scraped into the final, made it up into 28th position with a gain of 11 spots, whilst Giuseppe Piccolo’s race ended early for a technical infringement after he had been enjoying a decent run in the final.
Morelli: “I have no words”
Yuri Morelli, FIA Karting World Cup winner (OK-N), said: “I have no words to describe this feeling, it’s a unique feeling, I think I’ve never felt anything like that before. For me the race was pretty automatic, I was focused on the main objective which was winning the race, which was hard, but I tried my best and thankfully everything went right.”
Top 3 in the FIA Karting World Cup (OK-N)
- Yuri Morelli (BRA, CRG Racing Team)
- Manuel Scognamiglio (ITA, Pantano by Dam)
- Lamberto Ferrari (ITA, ASD Monster K Factory Team)
FIA Karting next returns for the 2026 Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship (OK, Junior) in La Conca, Italy, over 5-8 November 2026.
Source: FIA Karting.
