Karting Message from FIA President Jean Todt
| from CIK-FIA | 13 December 2016 |
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In 2016 Karting has just experienced a very interesting season which has been promising for the future. This discipline, that can be accessed from an early age, is still a great education in more ways than one.
Of course in Karting young people are discovering the basics of motorsport and learning the rules and behaviours needed to progress in the sharp end of racing. It is worth remembering that most major car champions have been and are formed by Karting. But there is also the school of life which allows young people to reach maturity under realistic conditions where the values of work and effort values are paramount. Faced with the risk inherent in speed, they are very soon made aware of the importance of safety rules which will lead them to become responsible citizens.
In strictly sporting terms, I extend my congratulations to the 2016 winners who shone in the Championships, Cups and Trophies of the CIK-FIA. I know the Races were hard fought and competition is tighter than ever in different categories.
In this regard, I welcome the introduction this year of two new engines, the OK and OK-Junior, combining performance and simplicity in the purest spirit of the origins of the discipline. I hope this will give new impetus to and enhance the popular appeal of direct-drive karts.
The CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, for detecting young talent from around the world, has benefited from this technical innovation and confirmed its international success thanks to the arrival of a new partner for the supply of Exprit chassis and Vortex engines. OTK Kart Group has fulfilled its mission with a commendable seriousness and efficiency.
2016 also saw the entry of the 24 hours of Le Mans Karting on to the CIK-FIA calendar as the Endurance Championship for new OK engines, thanks to increasing investment by the ACO in Karting. The 31st edition of this legendary race was also a complete success.
The future of Competition Karting is auspicious due to the measures recently adopted by the World Motor Sport Council regarding the lowering of the age for Junior and Senior categories. These are important decisions, well thought out, to strengthen the number of participants and better train those who wish to pursue their career in single-seaters.
