Loclan and Oskar Hennock are back in Europe among the Australian contingent participating in the FIA Champions of the Future Karting Academy Program this weekend in Valencia, while Loclan took part in the first QRDC Driver Academy event recently at Queensland Raceway.

The QRDC Academy took six drivers for an evaluation day at the Willowbank complex operated by well-known driving instructor and race coach, Stephen Robinson and his new venture On The Pace in a Toyota 86 racecar. Other drivers to take part included Romeo Nasr – who will also be competing at Valencia this weekend, Cooper Barnes, Misty Grimsley, Cody Grimsley and Summer Grace. 

It is understood the Driver Academy is a fresh Australian extension of the Tony Quinn Foundation which has been in operation in New Zealand for a number of years and dovetails with the Scotsman’s ownership of the Raceway.

The Hennocks are among 12 Australians that will take part in the Champions of the Future Academy Program event in Valencia, Spain after a gruelling travel schedule with stops in Dubai, Madrid and a final two hour flight to the seaside town – arriving early morning Australian time after all up around 30 hours of flying.

“The first event (last month in Italy) was the boys’ first overseas race meeting in what is a new series concept, so we went in not really too sure on what to expect,” father, Ben Hennock told Speedcafe.com. “So this time, we know what we’re facing, the boys had a great weekend at the Australian Kart Championship in Victoria, so hopefully it produces some good results.”

Australians scored multiple podiums at the first round, with Pip Casabene scoring two podiums in Seniors, while James Anagnostiadis crossed the line first in Juniors, however was handed a post race bodywork infringement – relegating him to third and handing the win to Ella Hakkinen – the daughter of double Formula 1 World Champion, Mika.

Oskar Hennock takes part in the Cadet event – along with Oscar and Koda Singh, while Loclan is a competitor in the Seniors with no less than five other Australians – including Casabene, Nasr, Charlotte Page, Isaac Demellweek and Brodie Norris. Anagnostiadis has Sujana and Sanjana Dandu in Juniors – Singaporean sisters entered under the Australian flag. The unique concept is run as two separate events across the Saturday and Sunday.

Australians at the FIA Champions of the Future Karting Academy Program this weekend:

Mini

815 Oscar Singh
816 Koda Singh
833 Oskar Hennock

Junior

31 Sujana Dandu
36 James Anagnostiadis
37 Sanjana Dandu

Senior

218 Charlotte Page
225 Brodie Norris
227 Isaac Demellweek
229 Romeo Nasr
233 Pip Casabene
240 Loclan Hennock

VIDEO: Highlights of the FIA Champions of the Future Academy Program Round 1: