OTK Kart Group and the karting manufacturer’s Tony Kart Racing Team has formalised its long-standing relationship with Hitech, the British single-seater racing team by collaborating on the creation of an official ‘Karts to Cars Programme’. The long-term partnership is aimed at identifying, providing opportunities for, and developing Tony Kart Racing Team drivers as they look to progress to single-seater racing.
The Tony Kart Racing Team is the official OTK Kart Group team and one of the most prestigious and decorated racing teams in the karting world. It operates with a highly professional structure, supported by top-level engineers, resources, and cutting-edge technologies. Across more than 30 years of competition, the team has claimed more than 50 World and European Titles. The Tony Kart Racing Team also nurtured the early careers of young motorsport talents, guiding their development in karting before many progressed to – and succeeded in – the top categories of world motorsport.
For a decade, Hitech has helped the talent of tomorrow progress from karting, through the single-seater ladder, and ultimately catch the eye of teams at the highest echelon, Formula 1. George Russell, Isack Hadjar, Paul Aron, and Luke Browning are among the Hitech graduates now making their mark at the pinnacle of the sport.
The Karts to Cars Programme will provide promising and selected Tony Kart Racing Team drivers who are at the transition age of 13 to 15 years with access to Hitech’s excellent facilities and resources to help them develop and progress, including its F1-grade simulator, driver workshops, experienced engineers, technicians, and human performance specialists.
As the top talents progress through the Programme, they will also be given the opportunity of testing time in a Formula 4 car, allowing them to demonstrate their potential for securing a full-time race seat on the first rung of the single-seater ladder. With expert coaching from Hitech personnel, the goal is to guide young drivers on their journey from karting into car-racing categories, supported by the combined expertise of two recognised leaders in their fields: Tony Kart in karting and Hitech in single-seaters.
Commenting on the new collaboration with Tony Kart, Oliver Oakes, Director of Hitech Grand Prix Limited, said: “Our relationship with Tony Kart goes back to my own formative years racing karts and has gone from strength to strength over the years since I first established Hitech. Both organisations are dedicated to nurturing and developing young and aspiring drivers, and we are very much aligned in terms of our mission and values, but also our methodology.”
“The Kart to Cars Programme is the result of a great deal of careful consideration as to how we can create a really significant academy programme to help emerging talents advance their fledgling motorsport careers. As Hitech celebrates a decade of racing, I’m delighted that this partnership with Tony Kart reflects our continued growth as a team and strength at every level of the junior spectrum.”
Roberto Robazzi, CEO of OTK Kart Group, commented: “The Tony Kart Racing Team wants to create a link between its karting activity and single-seater competitions, so as to guarantee its most talented drivers a natural outlet into formula racing at the peak of their karting career.”
“Our aim is to accompany and guide our talents in the best possible way in this crucial transition, which is notoriously one of the important moments for the career of every young driver. For this reason, we have decided to start this partnership with Hitech, a serious, professional and experienced team, which competes at the highest levels in single-seaters. We want to give a further opportunity to our drivers, allowing them to make their first experiences following a premium development path.”