Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with 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 drivers of the Formula One—including Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Ayrton Senna, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, and Fernando Alonso—having begun their careers in karting.
OK-Junior is a kart racing class for top drivers aged 11 to 15.
KF2, is a kart racing class for top drivers aged 14 and up.
Superkart is a form of motorsport road racing that uses karts on long circuits.
The Karting World Championship is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. It is held annually since 1964, and is karting's flagship event. The FIA created the CIK in 1962. The Current President of the Championship is former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa.
The Commission Internationale de Karting is the primary international sanctioning body for kart racing. It was founded in 1962, and is headquartered in Paris, France. In 2000, it joined with the FIA. Its most important event is the Karting World Championship.
KZ1 is a kart racing class using 125 cc water-cooled two-stroke engines yielding approximately 46–50 hp (34–37 kW), equipped with a six-speed gearbox. KZ1 is the fastest of the KZ karting racing categories, and technical regulations are similar to KZ2 except that KZ1 allows for the gearbox to be either manual or electro-mechanical as well as the wise use of soft tires. Both engines and chassis must be approved by the CIK-FIA racing governing commission. It is open to top drivers aged 15 and over. Minimum weight is 170 kg (370 lb), this includes the kart and driver. They can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3 seconds. KZ1 has a top speed of 180 km/h (110 mph).
The Junior Monaco Kart Cup was a kart racing event ruled by the CIK-FIA and organized by the Automobile Club de Monaco, it took place each year in Monaco.
The European KF1 Championship is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA.
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.
SWRD Ltd / Wright Karts is an English company founded by Simon Wright in 1978, manufacturing and racing racing kart chassis.
Aaro Vainio is a Finnish racing driver, currently contesting in ADAC GT Masters.
Edward Mackay "Eddie" Cheever III is an Italian-American racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for MR Racing in the LMGTE Am class. He is the son of retired Formula One driver and 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever.
Matias Köykkä is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 2012 F1600 Championship Series.
Richard Edward Bradley is a British racing driver. Bradley currently resides in Bangkok and races under a Singaporean racing license in Formula BMW Pacific and in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. He currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with IDEC Sport.
FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of rules and specifications.
Ben George Barnicoat is a British racing driver. He is a Lexus Racing USA factory racing driver, making his IMSA SportsCar Championship debut in 2022. He returns for a second season with Lexus and Vasser Sullivan Racing, and kicked off the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship with a podium finish at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Philo Paz Patric Armand is an Indonesian former racing driver.
Kang Ling is a Chinese racing driver.
The CIK-FIA Karting European Championship is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Its inaugural season took place in 1972. Today, the series holds championships in four karting categories: KZ, KF2, OK and OKJ. Notable champions have been Alex Zanardi, Jos Verstappen, Giorgio Pantano, Jarno Trulli, Sébastien Buemi, Alexander Albon, George Russell, Lando Norris and Formula One World Champions Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen.
