Registration now open for  30th annual Xtream Rock Island Grand Prix
Registration now open for  30th annual Xtream Rock Island Grand Prix

Registration now open for 30th annual...

Registration now open for 30th annual Xtream Rock Island Grand Prix

Registration now open for 30th annual Xtream Rock Island Grand Prix

Registration is now open for the 30th annual The Xtream Rock Island Grand Prix, the world’s largest and most prestigious karting street race. This year’s race is August 30-31, 2025 and...
ROK Cup Italy, Round 5 – The race report
ROK Cup Italy, Round 5 – The race report

ROK Cup Italy, Round 5 – The race report

ROK Cup Italy, Round 5 – The race report

ROK Cup Italy, Round 5 – The race report

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A brilliant start to the International...

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Preston and Burke win at Australian Kart...

Preston and Burke win at Australian Kart Championship round two

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Race Report: The ROK Cup Italy with Round 2 held at the 7 Laghi Kart in Castelletto di Branduzzo
Race Report: The ROK Cup Italy with Round 2 held at the 7 Laghi Kart in Castelletto di Branduzzo

Race Report: The ROK Cup Italy with...

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Since its creation in 2010, the IPK factory has rapidly established itself as one of the leading companies in the global karting market, thanks to its innovative technology and the quality of the...
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Young Queenslander, Cooper Folley has stunned the field in his first KA2 Junior round at the opening SP Tools Australian Kart Championship, presented by Castrol event sweeping to the win at the...
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Great weekend for Kalì Kart colours at the 36th Margutti Trophy that took place this weekend in Lonato. In the OK Junior category, Ilia Berezkin dominated the OK Junior by winning all 3 qualifying...
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Italian Champion Moritz Ebner is set to make his Australian debut at the opening round of the 2025 SP Tools Australian Kart Championship presented by Castrol in Melbourne next weekend (March 28-30).
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Stars of Karting take centre stage in...

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Melbourne’s Grand Prix week started off with a bang with the Stars of Karting Event at Port Melbourne’s Todd Road facility on Monday. The short and sharp format saw qualifying followed up...
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The first event of the 2025 ProKart Challenge program was held on the February 28-March 2 weekend at the new K1 Circuit. The Winchester, California facility welcomed the Superkarts! USA regional...
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Kennedy and Campbell announced for 2025...

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Karting Australia is proud to announce that Annabel Kennedy (Brisbane, QLD) and Hamish Campbell (Gold Coast, QLD) have been selected to represent the nation in the 2025 FIA Karting Academy Trophy...
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WKA Realigns National Road Racing...

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With a very busy Road Racing Calendar and events so close to each other throughout the year, racers have expressed their concerns that some events are simply not feasible to attend.  Responding...
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Stars of Karting to kick off Formula 1...

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Rock Island Grand Prix: Come for the races, stay for the party!

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Back in 1978, The Blues Brothers took the world by storm with a skit on Saturday Night Live. A movie followed in 1980, then a sequel and some albums as Dan Aykroyd (Elwood) and John Belushi (Joliet...
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Karting Australia has released its detailed blueprint for the recommencement of Karting in the COVID-19 Environment. The two documents “Restart Your Kart” and “COVIDSafe Karting Events” outline in detail the requirements that the sport must meet at all levels to restart and then continue to progress as Government restrictions are gradually eased around the country.

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In this unprecedented period of forced stop due to Covid-19, and waiting to resume competitions on circuit as soon as possible with the restart of the 2020 season, Tatuus has wanted to keep passion high with an event, the EWSK Formula Super Masters, approved by ACI Sport and ACI Esport, which will see professional drivers of yesterday and today compete with F4 and Formula Regional cars, but this time in the virtual world.

A-Maxx Racing WKA eSports Series Presented by Summit Racing Equipment heads to Road America

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The championship contenders in the first ever A-Maxx Racing WKA eSports Series Presented by Summit Racing Equipment will come to the forefront as the series heads north to the virtual Road America for the third of five events.

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Successful KartSport New Zealand graduates Brendon Leitch from Invercargill and Billy Frazer from Auckland won a race apiece at the latest round of the Giltrap Group/Carter’s Tyre Service-backed, iRacing platform-based ‘Virtual Club Race’ series held on Tuesday evening.

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Marco Parolin discusses the situation of karting in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

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KartSport New Zealand comes with an event calendar update

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Since our last club events were held on the 15th March 2020, before Covid-19 came along, we have all been forced to adapt to a different way of living. We have all been required to dramatically change the way we do things in our personal life, our businesses, our careers and we are all missing the sports and recreational activities we enjoyed so much prior to Covid-19.

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Over the past six weeks, Karting Australia has continually worked closely with State Associations and Clubs across the country to ensure the sport gets back on track as soon as possible. Earlier this week, Karting Australia released a five-stage return to the ‘new normal’ and we’re pleased to advise that two Clubs are ready to go at Stage 1 – Small Scale Social Karting.

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Fabienne Wohlwend might be tucked away in the Liechtenstein countryside, but she too is feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The 22-year-old is looking forward to returning to the car…

FIA Karting Interview with James Geidel, President of the RGMMC Group

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A dynamic young man in his thirties, James Geidel, as President of the RGMMC Group, has been the Promoter of the FIA Karting Championships since 2018. RGMMC also promotes and organises other Competitions such as the IAME Euro Series, the Spanish Karting Championship and the new international Champions of the Future series launched in 2020.

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After a race-long battle with Auckland-based kart-turned-car racer Taylor Cockerton, it was young Wellington karter Ryan Wood who won  KartSport New Zealand’s latest Giltrap Group & Carter’s Tyre Service-backed ‘Virtual Club Day’ on the iRacing sim (simulator) platform’s Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course on Saturday evening.

Karting Australia maps the road out - from COVID-19 Lockdown to Full Competition Karting

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KartSport NZ: Covid-19 alert level 3 update

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Great work - Karting community, we've done our part with our Lockdown behaviour and as a result, next week our country moves to Alert Level 3. 

PHOTOS: 2020 chassis Compkart

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World Karting Association Launches A-Maxx Racing WKA eSports Series Presented by Summit Racing Equipment

World Karting Association Launches A-Maxx Racing WKA eSports Series Presented by Summit Racing Equipment Read more

Keeping up with the changing times in our world, the World Karting Association is pleased to announce the A-Maxx Racing WKA eSports Series Presented by Summit Racing Equipment. Set to go green on April 27th, WKA racers will have the opportunity to compete in a five-race series via the popular iRacing platform and pilot a Skip Barber F2000 car on familiar WKA road racecourses.

Young Aussie Dominates Second Kartsport NZ ‘Virtual Club Day’

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Enthralling climax to Motorsport UK Karting Esports Finale Read more

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The Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy starts strong at Le Mans
Heert-Jan van Keulen
/ Categories: Rotax

The Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy starts strong at Le Mans

For its first edition, the Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy is already attracting drivers, teams and coaches from around the world. While the Qualifying sessions have just finished, the pleasure of participating in the new world-wide Rotax event is obvious in the Le Mans paddock. The organisation by 3MK Events, in close collaboration with BRP-Rotax, set the bar very high by giving the Le Mans International Circuit Karting a stature it had not yet reached.

In warm summer sunshine, the battle for the Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy began with Qualifying Practice for the six categories in the presence of 296 drivers. The biggest international teams found a great arena to show their skills in a very competitive environment. It is already clear that the winners on Sunday night will be champions to watch. Drivers and teams began to compete under the ruthless eye of the clock on Wednesday night in the Senior and Junior categories after nine Free Practice sessions.

 

Gazeau on pole in the Senior category

The 91 drivers entered in Senior were divided into three groups. It was the third session that proved to be the fastest with César Gazeau (FRA - FA Kart) taking pole position with 52''932 ahead of Illian Bruynseels (BEL - Tony Kart). Oscar Pellemele (FRA - Sodi) completed the top three ahead of Matilda Olsson (SWE - Tony Kart), Dylan Léger (FRA - OTK) and Guilherme De Oliveira (PRT - Kosmic), the top six overall. Leader of the first session, Lachlan Robinson (ARE - OTK) was 8th while Vincent France (DEU - Exprit), 1st in session 2, was 9th.

 

Van Vugt impresses in Junior

With 84 participants, the Junior category also needed three sessions for their Qualifying. The performances improved up until the third group in which Mike Van Vugt (NLD - Exprit) ended up achieving a benchmark of 53''452, relegating his direct pursuer, Ryan Shehan (USA - OTK), by more than three tenths of a second, not far from Dani Van Dijk (NLD - Exprit). In the second group, Oli Pylka (POL - FA Kart) had a fastest lap of 53''984 ahead of Florian Rousseau Ricci (FRA - Kosmic) and Callum Voisin (GBR - Tony Kart). The third session was dominated by Sacha Clavadetscher (CHE - Tony Kart), who posted 54''470 on the very last lap, against Theo Antonio Kekati (ARE - Tony Kart) and Miska Kaskinen (FIN - Exprit).

The gap of more than one second between the three sessions led to the application of the 101% rule, which in this case allows the respective positions of the groups to be alternated instead of a ranking on the basis of the clock. Van Vugt was on pole position, followed by Pylka and Clavadetscher.

 

Cleirbaut fastest of the DD2 Masters

Carl Cleirbaut (BEL - Tony Kart) was ultimately the fastest of the 24 drivers aged 30 and over with a time of 53''095. Primoz Matelic (SVN - Praga) followed by less than a tenth while Scott Howard (AUS - Sodi) was 3rd by 0.171''.

 

Pole Position in DD2 for Munaretto

Paolo Besancenez (FRA - Sodi) fought with Daniel Machacek (AUT - Tony Kart) at the top of the table, then Lucas Munaretto (ITA - Birel ART) joined the fight, while Xen De Ruwe (SVN - Intrepid) did not finish the session. Munaretto finally secured pole position with a time of 52''392, Besancenez took 2nd place by 37 thousandths and Machacek finished 3rd by 0.129''

 

Hervas the poleman in Mini at the finish

The young French competed against each other in the Qualifying, joined by Andres Cardenas (PER - Flandria Kart) and Simon Birch Kristensen (DNK - Birel ART). Arthur Poulain (FRA - KR) was for a long time the fastest in front of Jolan Raccamier (FRA - Birel ART), but Valentin Hervas (FRA - Birel ART) clinched pole position in the very last seconds with a last lap of 58''220.

 

Micro: perfect equality between Strauven and Nijs

Thomas Strauven (BEL - Exprit) and Lenn Nijs (BEL - Exprit) competed for several laps before finishing in the lead with an absolutely identical time of 1'00''949. Christopher El Feghali (LBN - KR) reduced the gap to 59 thousandths and took 3rd place in the closing seconds.


The Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy continues with the Qualifying Heats until Friday evening and a Saturday dedicated to the Finals.

 

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