History
Organisation
The CIK was founded by the FIA in 1962 as a sister commission to their Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI). [3] In 1978, the FIA created a new governing body for automobile sport called the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) which consumed the CSI, however the CIK remained with the FIA and became known as CIK-FIA in short. [4] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, FISA was abolished, returning automobile sport control to the FIA and their new World Motor Sport Council, which also held authority over the CIK.
In 1998, the CIK gained some independence and it was renamed to Fédération Mondial de Karting (FMK, also known as FMK-FIA), distinct from both the FIA and the separate organisations International Kart Federation and World Karting Association . [5] [6] However the Federation was short lived and in 2000, reverted back to being known as the CIK, or CIK-FIA, [7] ultimately becoming one of seven World Championship commissions within the FIA. [8]
The modern era (2000–present)
The CIK-FIA attempted to re-brand global karting in 2007. The primary direct-drive class became KF1 and the primary gearbox class became KZ1. The secondary divisions KF2 and KZ2 each replaced ICA and ICC; both classes had been contested since the early 1980s. KF3 replaced ICA-J as the junior direct-drive class.
In 2013, Max Verstappen became the first driver to win three CIK championships in a single season, [10] winning both the KF and KZ European Championships, as well as the KZ World Championship. Verstappen also became the first driver to win CIK championships in both the primary direct-drive and gearbox classes in a single season, and the first driver to win multiple European Championships in a single season since his father Jos in 1989.
In 2016, Original Kart (OK) regulations replaced KF in the direct-drive category, after its perceived failure within the kart racing community and restrictive regulations resulted in reduced entries at international competitions. [11] OK-Junior (OK-J) also replaced KF-J as the junior class.
Organisation
Presidents
The commission's first official president was Jean-Marie Balestre, who would later become president of the FIA. He held the karting presidency for two years, being replaced by Belgian Pierre Ugeux in 1964. Ugeux's tenure lasted until 1971, when he was replaced by Charles Defrancesco of Switzerland.
Ernest Buser was the CIK president from 1978 until 1999, overseeing the CIK's expansion to five continents. World Championships were hosted in abundance outside of Europe, including in: South Africa in 1984 for FE, the United States in 1986 for FK, Argentina in 1994 for FA and FK, and the United States again in 1998 for FC, amongst several World Cups elsewhere. Buser also oversaw the systematic televised coverage of international kart racing via Eurosport. [3] [12]
Yvon Léon was appointed president in 2000 and stayed in office until 2004. During his term karting's rules, regulations and championships all changed and he received heavy criticism from manufacturers, drivers and fans. [13] Upon Léon's resignation, Vincent Caro was appointed interim president. [14] [15]
Luigi Macaluso held the office from October 2005 to October 2009, [16] prior to the reign of Nicolas Deschaux until October 2010. [17] Macaluso oversaw the re-branding of global karting to KF and KZ regulations. Shaikh Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa, from the ruling family of Bahrain, would then hold the office until December 2017. [18]
Felipe Massa took office in December 2017, becoming the first Formula One driver to hold the office. [19] Indian former racing driver Akbar Ebrahim succeeded Massa in February 2022, with Massa becoming the FIA Drivers’ Commission President. [20]
Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motorsport circuits. Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports, with most Formula One drivers—including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, and Max Verstappen—having begun their careers in karting.
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automotive industry and motor car users in the fields of road safety and traffic circulation. The sport division is a governing body for many international motorsport championships and disciplines, including Formula One.
CRG is a kart chassis manufacturer. Notable members include Alex Zanardi, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen.
OK-Junior is a kart racing class for top drivers aged 11 to 15.
Original Kart, commonly abbreviated as OK, is a kart racing class for drivers aged 14 and over, sanctioned by the CIK-FIA. OK is the primary direct-drive class in FIA championships.
Superkart is a form of motorsport road racing that uses karts on long circuits. The bigger difference between a superkart and most other forms of kart is that they have full aerodynamic bodykits, as well as having a longer wheel base than sprint chassis, and are generally raced on car circuits over 1,500 metres in length. The power unit, most often but not exclusively two-stroke 250 cc engines, can be specially designed kart engines or production motorcycle engines with either five- or six-speed sequential manual gearboxes. Owing to their high top speed and superb cornering ability, a superkart's aerodynamic bodywork includes a front fairing, larger sidepods, and a rear wing. They use either 130-or-150-millimetre-diameter tires and wheels and most often race on full size auto-racing circuits.
The FIA Karting World Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Hosted annually since 1964, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious karting competition in the world.
Oliver "Oli" Oakes is a British former racing driver, entrepreneur and team principal and director of Hitech GP. In July 2024 he was announced as Alpine F1 Team Principal for the remainder of the 2024 season onwards. He was the 2005 World Karting champion, and was once a part of the Red Bull Junior Team.
KZ is a kart racing class for drivers aged 15 and over, sanctioned by the CIK-FIA. KZ is the primary gearbox class in FIA championships.
The CIK-FIA Monaco Kart Cup was a kart racing competition organised by the ACM and sanctioned by the CIK-FIA, taking place at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo.
KZ2 is a kart racing class using 125 cc water-cooled two-stroke engines yielding about 52 hp (39 kW). The engines are equipped with a 6-speed gearbox. Z2 is the second fastest of the KZ karting racing categories, and technical regulations are similar to faster KZ1 except that in KZ2 the gearbox must be "hand-operated and exclusively mechanical without a servo system", as well as the use of medium tires. Both the engine and chassis must be approved by the CIK-FIA racing governing commission. The class is open to drivers aged 15 years and up with the minimum weight being 175 kg, this includes the kart and driver.
KF1 was the top level of karting. It is open to drivers aged 15 and up.
An electric go-kart is a type of go-kart powered by electric motors and batteries or supercapacitors, as opposed to a traditional petrol engine.
Joey Hanssen is a Dutch racing driver. He currently races in the CIK Stars of Karting Series in the KZ2 class.
Leonardo Pulcini is an Italian racing driver and the 2016 Euroformula Open champion.
The FIA Karting European Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Alongside the Karting World Championship, it is one of two major karting competitions sanctioned by the FIA.
The FIA Karting Academy Trophy is an international kart racing competition organised by the FIA. Its inaugural season took place in 2010. Notable champions have been Formula One driver Charles Leclerc and F2 driver Richard Verschoor.
Enzo Deligny is a French racing driver who most recently competed in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship with R-ace GP. He is a member of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Rokas Baciuška is a professional rally driver from Lithuania. He has won the Lithuania Kart racing championship, the European Rallycross Championship in the Super1600 class, and the World Rally-Raid Championship in the T4 SSV class.
Fionn McLaughlin is an Irish racing driver, who is set to compete in the F4 British Championship in 2025 for Hitech Pulse-Eight.
Akbar Ebrahim 
John Ryan
