The FIA Karting World Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a

kart racing 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 kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Hosted annually since 1964, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious karting competition in the world. Alongside the Karting European Championship, it is one of two major karting competitions sanctioned by the FIA. In recent years, the World Championship has been hosted as a single event, where the European Championship is contested across a season. The championship is notable for being the only FIA World Championship with a female champion: Italian driver Susanna Raganelli in 1966.

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he w ...

(2013, KZ) is the only past World Champion to progress to win the

Formula One World Drivers' Championship Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of Open wheel car, open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of r ...

. As of 2024, the World Championship is held across three direct-drive and three

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

classes. The primary direct-drive class is OK, and the primary gearbox class is KZ. Secondary classes at the World Championship have traditionally been hosted as the Karting World Cup—which was historically a separate event at Suzuka from 1991 to 2000—or International Super Cup.

History

The first two World Championships in 1964 and 1965 were held over one final round, there after the world's best kart drivers competed for the title over an extended weekend, from Thursday to Saturday, including free and qualifying practice sessions, qualification heats, a pre-final and a final were common. The championship is notable for having the only female FIA World Champion with Susanna Raganelli winning the 1966 World Championship. From 2011 the championship has been disputed over five rounds, each of them in a different country. From 2014 the world championships returned to a single event with one venue each year organizing the CIK-FIA OK and OK Junior World Championships in one weekend and another venue in a different weekend holding the CIK-FIA KZ World Championships together with the CIK-FIA KZ2 Super Cup and the third and final round of the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy. There is a separate CIK-FIA Endurance Championship, normally held each year at

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and there are separate Continental Championships like the CIK-FIA European Championships (OK, OK junior, KZ, KZ2 and Superkart) and the CIK-FIA Asia Pacific Championships. In 1968 CIK-FIA launched the first World Cup for Juniors.

Categories

From 1981 to 1987 the World Championship was raced only with 135 cc Formula K Engines. Before and after the short inaugural return to 100 cc( 1988 and 1989 with Formula SuperCent (FS100) a category that anticipated the so-called Formula Super A) the 100 cc direct-drive karts was the prevailing standard. In 2007, a change in regulations introduced the KF1 category carts, 125 cc karts equipped with electric starters, clutch and rpm limiters set at rpm, to replace the Formula A karts. The 2010 edition was raced with KF2 karts where the engine rpm is limited at rpm.CIK World Karting Championship For Drivers Zuera (ESP) – 16–19.09.2010
– KartCafe, 16 September 2010 The FIA Karting categories at the world championships are now divided into three main families: direct-drive karts, gearbox karts and Superkarts. All these karts have the technology in common of the 2-stroke engine. Since 2016 the new generation of Original Karts (OK) machines have taken over from the old KF engines. The top category OK at the World Championships is available for drivers from 14 years old in the year they participate. The OK Junior category is aimed at drivers aged between 12 and 14 years old. The gearbox categories KZ and

KZ2 KZ2 is a kart racing class using 125 cc water-cooled two-stroke engines yielding about . 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 ...

share the same specification except for chassis and brakes which are open in the KZ World Championship. The Superkart category is the most unusual discipline of Karting because it can only express itself fully on long racing tracks. With its complete bodywork and twin-cylinder 250 cc engines, developing nearly , these Superkarts are capable of extraordinary performances. Simeon Ivanov karting

Karting promotion

In 2013 for the first time in its history CIK-FIA called a promoter, WSK Promotion, to perfect the organisation of the major international karting competitions. The Swiss RGMMC Group is now the Official Promoter of the FIA Karting European and World Championships for the period of 2018-2020 (with the exception of Superkart and Endurance). They try increasing the audience for Karting Competitions worldwide, attracting new partners and working closely with ASNs (National Federations), these are the priorities of RGMMC Group. They also develop the communication and media coverage of the events by providing live video viewing during the events and by partnering with Motorsport.tv for broadcast around the world. From 2022 all the events of the FIA Karting World Championship were sponsored by the website Mondokart.com and the official name of the competition become MONDOKART.COM FIA KARTING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

FIA Karting World champions (direct drive & primary category)

125 Gearbox FIA Karting world champions and World Cup winners

(*) indicates the years the World Championships were held as a World Cup Note: World Championship status from 1983 to 2000, and from 2012 onwards. World Cup status from 2003 onwards till 2012

Junior World Champions & Junior World Cup winners

(*) indicates the years the event status was as a World Cup and not FIA World Championship (**) Note: From 1992 - 1996 the Junior World Championships were held as the CIK-FIA Five Continents Cup Junior A

Secondary classes world champions

FIA Karting OK-N World Cup

CIK-FIA Karting KZ2 International Supercup

Formula A World Champions

Formula E SuperKart World Champions

Notes

References

External links

* {{Main world championships FIA world championships Kart racing series Recurring sporting events established in 1964