 | |
| Abbreviation | CIK CIK-FIA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1962; 63 years ago (1962) |
| Purpose | Kart racing |
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
Region served | International |
Official language | English French Spanish[1] |
President |  Akbar Ebrahim |
Vice-president |  John Ryan |
Parent organization | Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile |
| Website | Official website |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Kart racing |
|---|
 |
Championships |
Governance |
TheCommission Internationale de Karting (CIK; English: International Karting Commission), also known as theCIK-FIA, is the primarygoverning body for internationalkart racing.[2] Founded in 1962,[3] it is one of sevenWorld Championship commissions of theFIA.
Based inGeneva, the CIK-FIA holds responsibility for international kart racing rules and safety, as well as organising theKarting World Championship, amongstother competitions.
The CIK was founded by the FIA in 1962 as a sister commission to theirCommission Sportive Internationale (CSI).[3] In 1978, the FIA created a new governing body forautomobile sport called theFédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) which consumed the CSI, however the CIK remained with the FIA and became known as CIK-FIA in short.[4] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, FISA was abolished, returning automobile sport control to the FIA and their new World Motor Sport Council, which also held authority over the CIK.
In 1998, the CIK gained some independence and it was renamed toFédération Mondial de Karting (FMK, also known as FMK-FIA), distinct from both the FIA and the separate organisationsInternational Kart Federation andWorld Karting Association.[5][6] However the Federation was short lived and in 2000, reverted back to being known as the CIK, or CIK-FIA,[7] ultimately becoming one of sevenWorld Championship commissions within the FIA.[8]
Throughout the 20th century, kart racing became the proving ground for many drivers on the pathway to professionalauto racing; in particular,formula racing.[9] In1985,Alain Prost—the 1973 junior direct-drive Karting World Cup winner—became the first CIK champion to progress to win theFormula One World Drivers' Championship.
The CIK-FIA attempted to re-brand global karting in 2007. The primary direct-drive class becameKF1 and the primary gearbox class becameKZ1. The secondary divisionsKF2 andKZ2 each replaced ICA and ICC; both classes had been contested since the early 1980s.KF3 replaced ICA-J as the junior direct-drive class.
In 2013,Max Verstappen became the first driver to win three CIK championships in a single season,[10] winning both theKF andKZ European Championships, as well as theKZ World Championship. Verstappen also became the first driver to win CIK championships in both the primarydirect-drive andgearbox classes in a single season, and the first driver to win multiple European Championships in a single season since his fatherJos in 1989.
In 2016,Original Kart (OK) regulations replacedKF in the direct-drive category, after its perceived failure within the kart racing community and restrictive regulations resulted in reduced entries at international competitions.[11]OK-Junior (OK-J) also replaced KF-J as the junior class.
The commission's first official president wasJean-Marie Balestre, who would later become president of the FIA. He held the karting presidency for two years, being replaced by BelgianPierre Ugeux in 1964. Ugeux's tenure lasted until 1971, when he was replaced by Charles Defrancesco of Switzerland.
Ernest Buser was the CIK president from 1978 until 1999, overseeing the CIK's expansion to five continents. World Championships were hosted in abundance outside of Europe, including in:South Africa in 1984 for FE, theUnited States in 1986 for FK,Argentina in 1994 for FA and FK, and the United States again in 1998 for FC, amongst several World Cups elsewhere. Buser also oversaw the systematic televised coverage of international kart racing viaEurosport.[3][12]
Yvon Léon was appointed president in 2000 and stayed in office until 2004. During his term karting's rules, regulations and championships all changed and he received heavy criticism from manufacturers, drivers and fans.[13] Upon Léon's resignation, Vincent Caro was appointed interim president.[14][15]
Luigi Macaluso held the office from October 2005 to October 2009,[16] prior to the reign of Nicolas Deschaux until October 2010.[17] Macaluso oversaw the re-branding of global karting toKF andKZ regulations. ShaikhAbdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa, from theruling family of Bahrain, would then hold the office until December 2017.[18]
Felipe Massa took office in December 2017, becoming the firstFormula One driver to hold the office.[19] Indian former racing driverAkbar Ebrahim succeeded Massa in February 2022, with Massa becoming the FIA Drivers’ Commission President.[20]
| Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Term | President | Nationality |
| 1962–1964 | Jean-Marie Balestre |  France |
| 1964–1971 | Pierre Ugeux |  Belgium |
| 1971–1978 | Charles Defrancesco |  Switzerland |
| 1978–1999 | Ernest Buser | Switzerland |
| 2000–2004 | Yvon Léon |  France |
| 2004–2005 | Vincent Caro(interim) | Belgium |
| 2005–2009 | Luigi Macaluso |  Italy |
| 2009–2010 | Nicolas Deschaux | France |
| 2011–2017 | Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa |  Bahrain |
| 2017–2022 | Felipe Massa |  Brazil |
| 2022–present | Akbar Ebrahim | India |
The CIK-FIA currently sanction kart racing in eight categories: fivedirect-drive and threegearbox.
There are currently fivedirect-drive categories contested in CIK-FIA competition.OK is the primary direct-drive category.
There are currently threegearbox categories contested in CIK-FIA competition.KZ is the primary gearbox category, withKZ2 as the secondary.
The majorkarting competitions sanctioned by the CIK-FIA includes theWorld Championship and theEuropean Championship. They have also sanctioned several othercontinental titles. The CIK-FIA have also hosted theAcademy Trophy for junior drivers since 2010.
TheInternational Karting Ranking (IKR) is a points system operated by the CIK-FIA that ranks all kart racers registered to national governing bodies recognised by theFIA.[21][22] Established in 2023, the IKR assigns points to drivers based on their eight best results innational and international competition, weighted by class, age group, level of competition, andhomologation.[23] The year-end overall points leader is formally named theIKR Driver of the Year at theFIA Prize Giving Ceremony.[24]
| Year | IKR Driver of the Year | Year-end No. 1 by class | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Class(es) | OK | OK-J | KZ | KZ2 | KZ2-M | OK-N | OKN-J | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Lewis Wherrell | OK-J |  René Lammers* | Lewis Wherrell |  Viktor Gustavsson |  Niels Tröger† | Davide Forè† | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Dries Van Langendonck | OK,OK-J* | Joe Turney* | Dries Van Langendonck* | Senna van Walstijn | Cristian Bertuca† | Davide Forè |  Luna Fluxá |  James Anagnostiadis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source:[25] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* Driver won theEuropean Championship.
† Driver won theWorld Championship orWorld Cup.
‡ Driver won both the World and European titles.
TheFIA Karting Hall of Fame has 15 inductees, as of 2025:[26]
Giovanni Parrilla (b. 1911)Ernest Buser (b. 1932)François Goldstein [de] (b. 1945)Alain Prost (b. 1955)
World's firstgo-kart (b. 1956)Mike Wilson (b. 1959)Ayrton Senna (b. 1960)TecnoPiuma (b. 1963)Sala dynasty (b. 1964)Michael Schumacher (b. 1969)Jenson Button (b. 1980)Fernando Alonso (b. 1981)Lewis Hamilton (b. 1985)Nico Rosberg (b. 1985)Sebastian Vettel (b. 1987)
