Report
Champions of the Future Academy Round 3 Recap: Hunting down podiums
Our nine F1 ACADEMY DISCOVER YOUR DRIVE supported karters picked up where they left off as the 2025 Champions of the Future Academy Program season resumed for Round 3.
The Pista Azzurra in Jesolo, Italy provided a true test of the karters’ skills with its quick changes in direction complimented by several tight hairpins. There were many twists and turns in store as Juniors’ Angelina Simons Torres and Seniors’ Chiara Bättig and Klara Kowalczyk pulled out all the stops to deliver podium finishes.
MINI 60 (8 TO 11 YEARS OLD)
Saturday got off to a mixed start for the Mini 60 trio, with Ava Lawrence showing consistently strong pace throughout. Qualifying in P8, the Emirati racer had a great run and made up three places across both Heats, rewarding her with a P5 starting position for the Final. Despite losing one place in the opening laps. Lawrence got her elbows out to defend her P6 spot all the way to the chequered flag.
Atiqa Mir and Alba Cueva showed their fighting spirit after qualifying down in P18 and P19, respectively. Mir made the most progress across both Heats, gaining a total of 13 places, to line up 11th for the Final, but the Indian karter dropped back to end the opening day in P16.
Cueva also climbed up the order in Heat 1 to secure a top-12 result, but suffered a setback in Heat 2, in which she finished in P25. Starting 20th, the Spaniard battled hard in the mid-pack, moving up three places to finish in P17.
Day 2 saw Lawrence once again leading the trio in the Time Qualifying session, securing the 10th fastest time. After climbing up five places in Heat 1, her progress was derailed in Heat 2, getting caught up in a tangle at Turn 1 and eventually finished down in P22.
Meanwhile, Mir and Cueva battled hard from their P16 and P24 Qualifying results, with Cueva breaking into the top 15 in Heat 2. All three put up a good fight in the Final, with Lawrence leading them home in P11 ahead of Mir in 13th and Cueva in 16th place. Another solid points-scoring weekend for Lawrence has seen her hold on to eighth in the Championship.
OK-N JUNIOR (11 TO 14 YEARS OLD)
The Juniors’ fortunes varied dramatically on the first day of Round 3. Angelina Simons was the quickest out of the box, qualifying in P6. Her pace remained consistent across both Heats as the Spaniard delivered P8 and P7 finishes, handing her a third row spot on the Final grid.
Forced to take avoiding action after a second rolling start, Simons dropped down to 10th. Undeterred, she kept her head down and bided her time. Taking full advantage of the battle for the podium, Simons snatched third just before the finish line to score the Junior trio’s first silverware of the season.
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Time Qualifying didn’t go according to plan for Victoria Farfus and Vanesa Silkunaite, with the Brazilian being disqualified for a bad manoeuvre whilst the Lithuanian karter was unable to set a time. Climbing up 36 places across both Heats, Farfus put herself back on track with a P15 start for the Final.
Silkunaite suffered further misfortune in the Heats, getting caught up in multi-kart incident on Lap 2 of the first Heat before being disqualified from Heat 2 for a bad manoeuvre which relegated her to the back of the Final grid. Putting the disappointments behind them, the pair sliced their way through the pack and into the points, with Farfus in P6 and Silkunaite rocketing up 23 places to finish in P11.
Simons was once again at the forefront of the action on Day 2, qualifying in third and narrowly missing out on pole for the Heats by 0.061s. Securing two top-three finishes slotted her into the P3 spot for the Final. Despite her best efforts, the Spanish karter couldn’t bring home back-to-back podium finishes, but her P4 result helped her move up to seventh in the OK-N Junior Standings.
Farfus’ day steadily improved as Sunday went on after qualifying in P18. An upturn in pace in Heat 1 saw her gain four positions, but the Brazilian did slip back to P21 in Heat 2. Lining up in P17 for the Final, it was eyes forward for Farfus, who put in in plenty of overtakes to take the chequered flag in P12.
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Meanwhile, Silkunaite’s unlucky weekend was brought to an early end. Capitalising on a solid P13 result in Qualifying, she managed to move forward three places in Heat 1. However, a heavy crash in the latter stages of Heat 2 meant she had to take the difficult decision to pull out of the Final.
OK-N SENIOR (14 TO 17 YEARS OLD)
The Senior trio were all found towards the top end of the timing sheets on the opening day. A highly competitive Time Qualifying saw Ella Hakkinen claim the third-fastest time, with Chiara Bättig and Klara Kowalczyk close behind in P4 and P6 — and all three karters were less than nine thousandths off pole.
Their collective pace showed no signs of slowing in Heat 1, with Hakkinen leading Bättig and Kowalczyk to the finish line in second. However, it was Kowalczyk who would lead the trio home in Heat 2, with the Polish karter finishing third ahead of Hakkinen and Bättig.
As a result, all three F1 ACADEMY DISCOVER YOUR DRIVE Senior karters would line up inside the top four for the first time, with Hakkinen in P2 followed by Kowalczyk and Bättig on the second row.
Despite some fierce battles out on track and Kowalczyk grabbing the lead early on, Hakkinen and Kowalczyk just missed out on the podium in fourth and fifth, with Bättig completing the top seven. Fortunately, the double-header weekend meant there was another shot at silverware on Sunday and the trio all looked to be in contention once more.
A strong Qualifying for Bättig put her inside the top three for both Heats, with fifth-fastest Kowalczyk and seventh-fastest Hakkinen not far behind.
Showing blistering pace, it would be Kowalczyk who seized victory in Heat 1. Following that up with a P2 finish in Heat 2, she secured the P1 spot for the Final, with Swiss karter Bättig in third. Unfortunately for Hakkinen, contact in Heat 2 ended her race early and dropped the Monégasque karter down to P15 for the Final.
Kowalczyk put together a fierce defence of the lead, but her resistance couldn’t hold to the end and she brought her #229 kart home in second. A late overtake for Bättig was rewarded with third, whilst Hakkinen gained five positions to complete the top 10.
Although Bättig remains third in the Championships, she has crucially reduced the gap to the leader by 20 points. Kowalczyk’s podium has helped her climb three places to fourth, two places ahead of Hakkinen.
As the 2025 COTFA season passes the halfway mark, the action will resume in the Autumn when the field head to the Slovakia Ring from September 19-21. To see the full list of results from Round 3 and to view the remaining rounds on the calendar, visit the COTFA website here.