Record field for flagship World Championship event in Franciacorta
Held in northern Italy on the Franciacorta track from 6th to 8th October 2023, the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship - OK & Junior has an exceptional field of 241 entrants from 57 nations breaking all previous records.
The Italian event underlines the healthy state of international karting and FIA Karting competitions in 2023. An absolute benchmark, the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship - OK & Junior has exceeded all expectations this year in terms of participation figures, with 115 OK and 126 Junior drivers expected in Franciacorta for the season's flagship event. Among the 57 countries represented, the presence of newcomers such as South Korea, Malta, Mozambique, Taiwan and Vietnam testifies to the growing interest in the discipline.
The Franciacorta circuit, which has been part of the FIA Karting calendar since 2022, has made a name for itself in the sport in just a few short years. With a length of 1,300 metres, its fast and demanding layout presents a unique challenge. In order to optimise performance right to the end, tyre management must be taken into account in both driving and chassis set-up. MG Tyres is the exclusive tyre supplier for the OK category, as is Vega for the OK-Junior category.
As has been the case in all FIA Karting competitions since the start of the year, the fuel used at Franciacorta is a 100% renewable product made from second-generation biological components and synthetic fuel produced by German manufacturer P1 Racing Fuels.
Dazzling line-up in OK
The Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship - OK brings together the best of the current drivers at Franciacorta, some of whom have already won at the highest level. Brazilian Matheus Morgatto will be defending the world title he won in 2022 at Sarno along with Thailand's Enzo Tarnvanichkul, reigning Junior World Champion, Japan's Kean Nakamura-Berta, 2022 OK European Champion and 2021 Junior World Champion, Jamaican Alex Powell, runner-up in the KZ2 World Cup last month, and Dutchman Rene' Lammers, winner of the European Championship earlier this season. Brazilian Gabriel Gomez, runner-up in the 2023 European Championship, is among the leading drivers, as are the experienced Joe Turney (GBR) and Luigi Coluccio (ITA). Among the many young talents competing in this World Championship, several recently had the opportunity to shine at Franciacorta: Tomass Stolcermanis (LVA), Kirill Kutskov, Sebastiano Pavan (ITA), Louis Iglesias (FRA), Emanuele Olivieri (ITA), Luviwe Sambudla (ZAF) and the astonishing Eliska Babickova (CZE), who has just been crowned Italian Champion on this circuit.
Blossoming talent in OK-Junior
The Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship - Junior is packed with young talent ready to do anything to shine at Franciacorta. The Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev perfectly embodies the talent of the new generation with his title of European Junior Champion and his 1st position in the FIA International Karting Ranking (IKR) against the Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers. Italy's Iacopo Martinese, Britain's Lewis Wherrell, Belgium's Dries van Langendonck and the Spaniard Christian Costoya are certainly among the drivers capable of achieving a good result in the World Championship. Among the drivers with great potential are Elliot Kaczynski (SWE) and Scott Kin Lindblom (SWE), Zac Drummond (GBR), Jack Illife (USA), Taym Saleh (DEU), Niklas Schaufler (AUT), Kirill Dzitiev, Stepan Antonov, Sebastian Lehtimäki (FIN), David Cosma Cristofor (ROU), Alp Aksoy (TUR) and many others.
Road to the OK-N World Cup
The FIA Karting welcomes the holding of the Road to the OK-N World Cup alongside the World Championship as a support event with the status of a national competition organised under the aegis of the Italian ASN. As such, it is primarily aimed at Italian OK-N and OKN-Junior drivers selected during the Italian Championship. Five places have been reserved for foreign drivers from countries such as South Africa and France. The ACI will manage all aspects of the event's organisation directly.
Provisional programme for the Franciacorta event
Friday 6th October
08.00 - 10.25: Free Practice
10.30 - 13.00: Qualifying Practice
14.00 - 18.51: Qualifying Heats
Saturday 7th October
08.00 - 09.25: Warm-up
09.30 - 18.49: Qualifying Heats
Sunday 8th October
09.00 - 10.05: Warm-up
10.50 - 12.25: Super Heats
15.15 - 16.30: Finals