After finishing seventh overall in the Supercar Lites championship last season – his first at this level – Kevin Daarbak delivered a much more commanding performance at Montalegre last weekend.

Last year, the 17-year-old Danish driver managed to qualify for just four finals, with a fourth-place finish on his home track in Nysum as his best result. But the seven-time Danish CrossCar champion clearly took a major step forward in his development.

Daarbak reached his first career podium in Race 1 and carried that momentum into the following day. In Race 2, he claimed his first qualifying victory in Q2 and set the fastest lap in the race—a clear sign of his growing pace and confidence.

While he couldn’t quite repeat his podium performance in Sunday’s final, finishing fourth just ahead of Lukas Andersson, it’s clear that he’ll be approaching the next round at Valkenswaard with a different mindset.

“We had a really strong first day of racing in Montalegre,” said Kevin Daarbak.

“The race was intense, but we quickly realized we were on the pace, and that was confirmed when I got my first Supercar Lites podium. Ending the opening round of the season like that was an incredible moment.”

“On Sunday, my goal was clearly to fight for another podium, and I gave it everything I had. I ended up second in the intermediate standings after winning my first qualifying heat in Supercar Lites,” he continued.

“In the final, our race strategy was solid—I was behind my brother Tobias on the second lap. Unfortunately, contact set me back, and although I managed to close the gap to Bello-Alonso, it just wasn’t quite enough to finish higher than fourth in Race 2.”

Despite narrowly missing out on a second podium, Daarbak remains upbeat and focused ahead of the next round in Valkenswaard on April 26–27.

“The team did an outstanding job all weekend. I now know I’ve got the speed to compete at the front, and I’m also aware that I still have a lot of room to grow. That only fuels my motivation for the next round. I feel like I’m in the fight now, and the goal in the Netherlands will definitely be to chase more podiums.”