• Info: Guillaume Alvarez
  • Photos: RGMMC / Champions of the Future

Champions of the Future, the new international karting series created in 2020 by the RGMMC Group and reserved exclusively to FIA Karting classes, is finally heading towards green light this weekend under the Spanish sun!

Circuit

Located in the north of Spain, between Bilbao and Barcelona, the International Karting Circuit of Zuera offers a unique challenge due to its fast and open layout made of 15 turns. The high speeds and flowing corners make maintaining speed crucial and smooth driving is required to extract the best lap times.

  • Name: Zuera International Circuit
  • Location: Zuera, Spain
  • Rotation: Clockwise
  • Length: 1700 m
  • Width: 8-10 m
  • Corners: 15 (right: 9, left: 6)
  • Straight lines: 4

Weather forecast

High temperatures and sunny weather should be expected for the duration of the event, which will provide drivers with ideal track conditions to extract the most of their material!

  • Friday: Sunny, 10% precipitation, 41% humidity, 14-31°C
  • Saturday: Sunny, 10% precipitation, 40% humidity, 17-33°C
  • Sunday: Sunny, 10% precipitation, 40% humidity, 19-36°C

Classes

The most important teams and factories on the international karting scene could not miss the First Round of Champions of the Future at Zuera, which represents an ideal preparation for the opener of the FIA Karting European Championship – OK/Junior, taking place on the same circuit from July 28th to August 2nd. Unsurprisingly, these two classes will be the most-represented this weekend with more than 70 drivers (entry-list below)!

Champions of the Future is also the only international karting series to welcome the Minis, marking a new step for the category since FIA Karting introduced from 2020 a new chassis homologation for the international scene.

OK

  • Drivers: 70
  • Nationalities: 20
  • Age: From 14 years old (in the year)
  • Chassis: CIK-FIA International homologation
  • Engine: 125cc direct-coupled, 2-stroke, mixed-lubrication engine
  • Cooling: Water
  • Exhaust: one-design with power valve
  • Carburetor: 24 mm butterfly
  • Horsepower: 39
  • Revolutions: 16000 rpm (limiter)
  • Brakes: Single rear with hydraulic control
  • Weight: Minimum 145 kg (driver included)
  • No gear shifting, clutch, starter or battery
  • Tires: LeCont (“prime”, medium)
  • Zuera lap time reference: 59″879 (Tom Joyner’s pole position, 2016 FIA Karting European Championship – OK)

Junior

  • Drivers: 75
  • Nationalities: 21
  • Age: 12-14 years old
  • Chassis: CIK-FIA International homologation
  • Engine: 125cc direct-coupled, 2-stroke, mixed-lubrication engine
  • Cooling: Water
  • Exhaust: One-design without valve
  • Carburetor: 20 mm butterfly
  • Horsepower: 29
  • Revolutions: 14 000 rpm (limiter)
  • Brakes: Single rear with hydraulic control
  • Weight: Minimum 140 kg (driver included)
  • No gear shifting, clutch, starter or battery
  • Tires: LeCont (“option”, hard)
  • Zuera lap time reference: 01’01″588 (Sami Taoufik’s pole position, 2016 FIA Karting European Championship – Junior)

Mini

  • Drivers: 20
  • Nationalities: 11
  • Age: 9-12 years old
  • Chassis: CIK-FIA international homologation
  • Engine: 60cc direct-coupled, 2-stroke
  • Horsepower: around 11
  • Cooling: Water
  • Brakes: Single rear with hydraulic control
  • No gear shifting, clutch, starter or battery
  • Weight: Minimum 110 kg (driver included)
  • Tires: MG

KZ2

  • Drivers: 10
  • Nationalities: 5
  • Age: From 15 years old (in the year)
  • Chassis: CIK-FIA international homologation
  • Engine: 125cc direct-coupled, 2-stroke, mixed-lubrication
  • Gearbox: Manual clutch, six-speed sequential
  • Power: Close to 50 HP
  • Cooling: Water
  • Carburetor: 30mm float bowl
  • Brakes: Front and rear with hydraulic foot control
  • Weight: Minimum 175 kg (Driver included)
  • Tires: Vega (“Premium”, medium)
  • Zuera lap time reference: 59″676”’ (Patrik Hajek’s pole position, 2016 FIA Karting European Championship – KZ2)

How to follow the event?

A live page will be at your disposal from Friday to Sunday, including top-quality live timing, provided by Apex Timing, and live streaming thanks to RGMMC.

Online streaming will begin from Friday’s Qualifying until each class’s Finals on Sunday, including all the Qualifying Heats, Prefinals, and Second Chance Heats.

Reports and complete results will also be published on a daily base.

Main schedule

Friday09:30 – 11:40 Non-Qualifying Practice
12:05 – 14:32 Qualifying Practice
15:50 – 18:30 Qualifying Heats
Saturday08:30 – 09:45 Warm-up
10:20 – 17:10 Qualifying Heats
Sunday08:30 – 09:35 Warm-up
10:00 – 10:40 Second Chance Heats (Junior / Senior)
11:10 – 12:30 Prefinals
13:20 – 15:40 Finals

Documents

2020 calendar

1July 16-19Zuera (Spain)
2October 22-25Portimao (Portugal)

More information on the official website of Champions of the Future.

You may also be interested in: First registration for the new Champions series reaches 200 drivers! Entries still open!

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