- The first event of the Spanish Karting Championship, held in Campillos, stands out for the complete victory of the Barcelona team in the Junior, Mini and Mini Rookie categories.
- The 2026 record includes a hat trick in the Junior Final 1 and a double in the second Mini event.
- “We returned from Campillos very satisfied. Both drivers and staff have worked in the right direction, and the culmination has been this ten podium finishes, six of which were on the top step,” highlights Rubén Simón, Team Manager of the Monlau Motul Karting Team.
- “Starting the championship with such a high bar should serve as an incentive for us to maintain the intensity and level in the upcoming CEK tests, a championship with only four rounds that does not forgive mistakes,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul Technical School.
The Monlau Motul Karting Team got off to the best possible start in the 2026 Spanish Karting Championship (CEK), which held its opening round at the Campillos circuit in Málaga. The Barcelona-based team, fielding 14 drivers, racked up ten podium finishes, six of them on the top step. In fact, Monlau Motul begins the championship leading the Junior category, thanks to Iván González ‘s two victories; the Mini Rookie category, with Sergio Barreda ‘s double win ; and the Mini category, with Thiago Huertas securing a first and a second place.
The CEK kicked off its 2026 season with a historic figure: 197 entries, an absolute record for the discipline and far surpassing the 186 of MotorLand in 2025. Monlau Motul Karting Team contributed 14 of these names to the list, a very competitive team that, from the first meeting , proved that it will be in the battle for the different titles.
The Junior category bore the unmistakable mark of Iván González from the very beginning of the event . The Monlau Motul Karting Team driver, in his second year in this division, dominated practice and took the victory in one of the two qualifying sessions (finishing fourth in the other), which secured him pole position for the first final on Sunday. The driver from Málaga controlled the race from start to finish, leaving behind a memorable image at the end: a resounding Monlau Motul sweep alongside Nilas Malik , the Danish driver based in Marbella , and Nuvola Morales , who staged a remarkable comeback from 13th on the grid. In the afternoon, González repeated his victory to solidify his lead in the championship, with Nuvola Morales finishing 4th and Juan Alameda adding a noteworthy 8th place.
In the Mini category, the 2026 generation of the Monlau Motul Karting Team reaped the rewards of the hard work put in by drivers, mechanics, and engineers in the days leading up to the event. Sergio Barreda dominated the weekend among the rookies, taking both victories. The Castellón native’s impressive performance was mirrored by his returning teammates, starting with the 2025 Mini Rookie champion, Thiago Huertas , who dominated the first final from pole position and secured second place in the second. Marc Cruz , who had finished sixth in the morning, topped the podium in the afternoon race, giving Monlau Motul their sixth victory of the event. Rounding out the results were solid performances from Pablo Segura (7th and 10th) and Guillem Coll (9th and 8th).
The Monlau Motul Karting Team also had a podium finish in the KZ category, which this year will have two representatives in the CEK: Asier García and Hugo Martí . Their performance throughout the weekend was very consistent, with both drivers consistently in the top five from practice onwards. Martí, making his debut with the team, secured a fourth-place finish in the first final and staged a remarkable comeback in the final race to claim second place. García, for his part, achieved two fifth-place finishes.
In the Senior category, Nico García and Cristian Fuente didn’t have the luck they were hoping for in Campillos. The Andalusian driver had to settle for 11th and 7th place respectively in his home race, while Fuente, making his debut with the Monlau Motul Karting Team, could only manage 29th in the first final. A similar story unfolded for Lorenzo Pastoressa in the entry-level CS55 Racing Karting Academy, as he only achieved 21st place in the second final.
Rubén Simón , Team Manager of Monlau Motul Karting Team, reflected on the team’s debut in Málaga: “We return from Campillos very satisfied, and both drivers and staff worked in the right direction throughout the entire event. We are especially pleased with our 10 podium finishes, 6 of them first place, and the competitiveness shown in the Mini, Mini Rookie, Junior, and KZ categories. We also return with important lessons learned and a lot of work to do in the Senior and Academy divisions, but we know that our direction and working methods are on the right track.”
Monlau Motul CEO Jaime Serrano added: “Starting the championship with such a high bar should motivate us to maintain our focus and level in the upcoming races. The results achieved so far prove that the work of the riders and technicians is on the right track, but we are in a championship with only four rounds that doesn’t forgive even the slightest mistake.”
The Monlau Motul Karting Team is traveling back to its base to fine-tune its karts for the next competition, scheduled for April 15-18 in Franciacorta, Italy, for the IAME Euro Series. The CEK will hold its second points-scoring event just a month later, from May 15-18, at MotorLand Aragón.
