Just thought it would be nice to have an FIA/WSK discussion thread since we also have one for F1. I find the races to be very entertaining : )
Here’s just a convo kickstarter: what’s gone wrong for Turney in all these years? Tony Kart and Kart Republic, both the biggest brands of karting right now. So many wins, but he’s never gotten that Euro Championship or World Championship.
I feel like I’m just starting to get to know pro karting here in the states, mostly thanks to @XanderClements
I’ll be interested to follow the discussion as Turney did quite well here in the races I saw and was a terrific competitor it seemed. Curious to hear more of his and other non-us folks exploits.
Yeah, I am quite excited for Turney’s return to karting. I feel more drivers are coming to the US in order to fill the gaps in between their races in Europe. Anyone excited for Hannah vs. Bondarev this season? Right now them and Turney would be my picks so far.
I like that more pro-europeans are coming over to race.
Also I’d like see some of the guys that switched over to cars race one main karting event… Supernats? Alex Powel, Kimi Antonelli, Ugo, Zilich …
The thing I think has been interesting is Marijn Kremers jumping ship from Birel and going to Tony Kart.
He was been with the brand for so long, spent a long time with Patrizicorse in Australia, moved to the US, did well and won the world title, and been close to the front in every major event.
Seems “disloyal” or something. Not that that really matters, but it will take some time to get used to him in green.
How many years kremers has been with Birel art team?
Yeah, certainly strange. Could be compared to Turney’s move to KR!
Kremers was in Australia with Patrizicorse in about 2015 or 16 from memory.
He was the “Team Driver” for them both here and overseas for a few years, so with Birel from then that I know about.
CIK-FIA President Akbar Ebrahim said: “This revised European Championship calendar for the KZ categories is the culmination of several months of negotiations, following an exceptional situation on the tyre supply that the CIK-FIA has dealt with… The maintenance of the competitions was made possible
thanks to the agreement reached with Anderson CSK and Dunlop for the supply of tyres"
I don’t know exactly what has gone here but it’s very strange that a UK distributor for Dunlop tyres is coming to save the day. Where’s Vega, Le Cont etc… in all this?
Alessandro Manetti said on a comment on the FIA Karting Facebook Page “I think this situation is not good for karting!! For me, a situation like this is unacceptable!!!”
Yeah i wonder what happened to Maxxis, because they where supposed to supply the tyres for the OK classes, but cant remeber who where to supply the KZ classes.
It seems strange that Dunlop is chosen they are largely unknown In Europe.
As far as I know no announcement had been made regarding tyres and everyone was waiting for news. Not sure anyone expected this.
The weird thing I would like to know is why Anderson are involved. I know they distribute Dunlops, but I presumed this was purely a National thing. Maybe they are closer to Dunlop than being just distributors.
I think they used to be one of the biggest Dunlop kart tyre distributors in the world. Maybe they still are.
And Dunlop did used to be a major player in the kart tyre world.
Maybe this is why OTK needed to buy Vega, maybe they were in trouble.
Its been years since Dunlop, at least In Europe, has been active In Karting. Only the UK uses them, its strange that Lecont or Vega have not been picked ro supply,
How comfortable would factory competitors be knowing that one of the competitors was the sole supplier of tires? That would potentially be a road block. Vega is the obvious choice, othwewise, unless…
Maybe this is all about money, who knows.
Interesting reading about the general State of FIA karting, and the KZ championchip tyres
I dont think the FIA are really putting the effort in with the elite level. It desperately needs a new direction. Right now FIA Karting is all about F1 or using karting as a tool to show how they are developing into new regions. The latter is fine, the former not so.
I missed this article last year. It’s a bit harsh maybe… but I’m not sure it’s incorrect
In my opinion FIA has completely lost the plot, the FIA classes In the “big” Series is only for the filthy rich. They know it perfectly Well and are trying to “fix” it with the OKN but In reallity they changed nothing, the teams running the “N” classes is the same and prices close to the same, result is very limited fields.
They completely tunnelvisionec into focusing on F1 and how you get there, FIA have been talking about this for years but has done absolutely nothing to change it.
In my opinion its spot on
Agreed.
I think the cold reality is that the OK classes, and let’s call them the single-gear categories, are absolutely reliant upon F1. This also makes it almost pointless to watch too. Without F1 there are no grids as it stands. KZ survives because it’s had a consistent adult flavour to it.
But its’s everyone, not just the FIA. It’s a cash grab out there. Teams can’t say no to 15,000 euros or whatever madness people are paying nowadays for the big events.
It just blows my mind the FIA cancel the first round of the Europeans because of tyre supply… it’s inconceivable when you think about it for a moment. We have multiple tyre companies homologating tyres, and the FIA are the ONLY championship on the planet that hasn’t secured a tyre supply for a full season of racing.
It’s all a bit too far gone though, no one is coming to save the day.