International
Ardigo Takes 2nd Karting World Championship
Italian driver Marco Ardigo (TonyKart/Vortex/B'stone) has been crowned the 2008 CIK-FIA Karting World Champion. This makes it two in a row for the Italian, and three in a row for TonyKart and Vortex. The last time a driver has won two Karting World Championships in a row was Mike Wilson in the late '80s!
Mojo D3 and W2 Tyres to be Introduced
More Rotax News: Mojo have developed a new dry "D3" tyre which is intended for the Rotax Max DD2 category. It is supposed to be similar in grip levels to the medium compound Bridgestone (YKB) and Vega (Blue) dry tyres. Rotax has confirmed that this tyre will be used at the 2008 Grand Finals and the 2009 Grand Finals as well. They have also confirmed that the tyres used for 2008 and 2009 Grand Finals for Juniors will be D1, and Seniors will be on D2.
They have also developed a new "W2" wet tyre (finally!), which will hopefully be a big improvement over the W1. From my experience the W1 worked very well in monsoon-weather, but on a normal wet or damp track they were very difficult. This will also be used at the Grand Finals in case of rain.
Zanardi Replaces Intrepid for Rotax Grand Finals
In a surprise announcement from BRP Rotax, Intrepid will no longer be the Junior category chassis supplier for the Rotax Max Grand Finals. On the Max Challenge website Rotax state that "due to unforeseeable reasons we have decided to change our chassis partner for thejunior category at the Rotax MAX Challenge GRAND FINALS 2008."Zanardi karts will replace the Intrepid karts for the Junior category, and Rotax also mentions that they hope to have Alex Zanardi present at the Grand Finals to honor the event.The current lineup of chassis suppliers will be CRG for DD2, Maranello for Seniors, and Zanardi for Juniors. The CRG factory must be almost ready to split at the seams working in overtime to get the karts on the grid! Maranello and Zanardi karts are both manufactured at the CRG factory effectively making it an all-CRG event!
Karting World Championship in Macau!
CIK-FIA has announced the latest decisions by the World Motorsport Council on Karting and the real interesting decision is that the 2009 Karting World Championships will be held on the 8th-11th October 2009 at the Kartodromo de Coloane, in Macau! This will be the first time that the Karting World Championships will be held in Asia.
Niki Laa Shines in Austria
Press Release: The third round of the national Rotax championship near Graz in Austria’s south has seen the Intrepid Force Rotax team take the honours over the weekend, as 14 year-old Niki Laa secured 1st place in Senior Max.
Fore Takes the World Cup!
Maranello driver Davide Fore grabbed victory at the CIK-FIA World Cup for KF1 held in Suzuka, Japan last weekend. While only 18 drivers were in attendance the grid didn't lack any quality as Birel, TonyKart, Kosmic, FA Kart, Zanardi, Wright, and of course Maranello were all there with a factory presence.
