MARCH 17, 2003

Sorting out karting

Most of the Formula 1 stars of today come from the world of karting and in recent weeks this has been in tumult because of a dispute between the major kart manufacturers and the international karting federation, the CIK-FIA. This resulted in a boycott of the major championships by the kart manufacturers. The FIA has now stepped into the dispute and a compromise has been found but the grandiose plans put forward for the future of karting by CIK-FIA President Yvon Leon are gone and the World Championship has returned to being a single event. This will be held at Sarno in Italy on October 27.

This means that the European Championship will receive a big boost although this will consist of only four events. Because of the upheavals the series will now kick off at Angerville in France on May 11 with events at Alaharma, Finland (June 8), Braga, Portugal (June 29) and Mariembourg, Belgium (September 21).

There will be a new commission established to run the Karting World Championship, structured in the same way as the Formula 1 Commission with representatives of the manufacturers, organisers, sponsors and the CIK-FIA. It is not clear exactly how this will work but there is no doubt that the CIK-FIA has been forced to give up some of his power as a result of the dispute.

The compromise was hammered out at a meeting in Geneva between the CIK-FIA and the kart manufacturers. The event was chaired by Gino Macaluso, the head of the Italian national sporting authority with the FIA's Deputy President Marco Piccinini in attendance.