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.
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.
The Commission Internationale de Karting, also known as the CIK-FIA, is the primary governing body for international kart racing. Founded in 1962, it is one of seven World Championship commissions of the FIA.
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.
Erik Janiš is Czech racing driver, currently driving in International Formula Master. To his biggest achievements belongs winning rookie rankings in F3 Euro Series. His manager is Antonín Charouz. He is the younger brother of racing driver Jaroslav Janiš.
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.
Michael Klitgaard Christensen is a Danish racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in the Hypercar class in the #5 Porsche 963.
Aaro Vainio is a Finnish racing driver, currently contesting in ADAC GT Masters.
KF1 was the top level of karting. It is open to drivers aged 15 and up.
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 formerly in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. He currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with IDEC Sport.
Joey Hanssen is a Dutch racing driver. He currently races in the CIK Stars of Karting Series in the KZ2 class.
Philo Paz Patric Armand is an Indonesian former racing driver.
Kang Ling is a Chinese racing driver.
Leonardo Pulcini is an Italian racing driver and the 2016 Euroformula Open champion.
Artem Sergeevich Petrov is a Russian racing driver who is currently competing in the International GT Open. He previously competed in the 2021 Indy Pro 2000 Championship for Exclusive Autosport.
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.
Oleksandr Bondarev is a Ukrainian racing driver competing in the Italian F4 Championship for Prema Racing. He is a member of the Williams Driver Academy. He is a winner of several karting championships including 2024 WSK Champions Cup in OK class. His earlier achievements comprise the 2022 WSK Super Master Series and the 2023 CIK-FIA European Championship, both in the OKJ class.
