After eight months of waiting, Aquila Formula 1000 — the Nordic region’s premier entry-level formula car racing series — returned to competition as the season opener was decided at the Gelleråsen race weekend in Karlskoga. The weekend produced three different winners in the battle for the first championship points of the 2026 season.
Already in qualifying, Norwegian racing debutant Even Hoff Knai showed he will be a driver to watch this year. The crosskart champion, making his first full season in Aquila Formula 1000, set the fastest time and claimed the series’ first pole position of the season ahead of experienced campaigner Andreas Skatteboe and Albin Gustafsson.
Race 1 was a closely fought affair, with Andreas Skatteboe coming out on top. The reigning overall and senior champion took the win ahead of Hoff Knai and Gustafsson, with only a few tenths of a second separating the top three after 12 laps of racing.
When rain arrived at Gelleråsen on Saturday afternoon, the conditions changed dramatically. On the wet circuit, Hoff Knai took his first Aquila Formula 1000 victory, ahead of Albin Gustafsson and Andreas Skatteboe. Several of the series’ new drivers continued to impress, with Mason Bjerring finishing fifth and Agnes Varland taking her best result of the weekend in seventh.
Sunday’s closing race was another tight contest. Albin Gustafsson took his first win of the season after a hard-fought battle with Skatteboe, with just 0.123 seconds separating the two drivers at the finish line. Hoff Knai secured third place, completing a weekend in which he stood on the podium in all three races.
“The weekend started surprisingly well. Already in practice I could feel the pace was there and the car was working really well on the new tyres. To then take pole position in my very first qualifying session ever was of course a fantastic feeling. The racing was something completely new to me with so much slipstreaming, and I learned a lot over the weekend. The win in Race 2 means a lot, especially since it was my first time driving the Aquila car in the rain. I got good confidence straight away, could take the lead and control the race. Leaving the opening weekend with pole position, a win and the championship lead is more than I could have hoped for,” says Even Hoff Knai.
“Qualifying didn’t go quite as I’d hoped — I couldn’t get the slipstream and my push lap to line up at the same time — but third place was still a good start to the weekend. Race 1 was incredibly tight with lots of position changes between me, Skatteboe and Even. In the wet in Race 2 I managed to work my way up to second, and in Race 3 I really had to fight for it. When the opportunity came on the final lap I managed to out-brake Andreas into the first corner and then defend the lead all the way to the flag. Finishing the weekend with a win feels really good,” says Albin Gustafsson.
Behind the top three there were several strong performances. William Eriksson recorded two fourth-place finishes and also set the fastest lap in both Race 1 and Race 3. Claes Hoffsten opened his Aquila campaign with results of fifth, sixth and fifth, while Pete Norbäck closed the weekend strongly with a sixth place in Race 3.
After the opening weekend, Hoff Knai leads the Overall Championship, the Junior Championship and the Rookie standings. Andreas Skatteboe follows him in the overall standings, while Albin Gustafsson leaves Karlskoga third overall and second in the Junior Championship. In the Senior Championship, Skatteboe heads the table after winning two of the weekend’s three races.
The season continues next at Mittsverigebanan outside Härnösand, 11–14 June.
