KARTING IN 2007 AND THE FUTURE

15.01.2007

CIK KF1 38bhp engine

Karting has progressed from home made tubular frames with lawn mower motors to factory produced racing machines with beautiful bodywork and modern engines with all the bells and whistles. The added weight of the body work (safety being it's main function) saw the 100cc traditional formulae slowly die as the new FR125 MAX delivered not only more power but far superior reliability thanks to modern technology and a modest 14 000 RPM limit (100cc were revving over 20 000 RPM in latter years).

ROTAX introduced ''New Age Karting'' for the new Millennium. Their one make series with strict control, sealed engines and level playing field seemed to give kart racing the lift that it needed. Many more countries became involved and competing in the Olympic style World Finals is a highly sought after privilege. The Euro Challenge and Nationals in many countries are very competitive and popular but what else has happened and where to next?

CIK / MSA

The international and national governing bodies have played their part in these changes but this process has been difficult and complicated.

Initially the governing bodies rejected the ROTAX New Age concept but it soon became clear that competitors saw the advantages. Italian manufacturer IAME (Parilla, Komet, Sirio, etc. established in the 1960's) were the first to copy the New Age concept with their 125cc Leopard engine, followed by Vortex with the Rok, etc.

The CIK at one stage declared that 4-strokes would be mandatory by 2006. Resistance from Italian engine manufacturers and based on repair costs experienced in MotoX saw this decision being rescinded and the CIK started looking closely at ROTAX's success.

CIK "LONG LIFE" TAG ENGINES

The governing body is obliged to provide international formulae that are open to all manufacturers like Formula 1 or Touring Cars. Formula Renault for example is approved by FIA in the same way that ROTAX MAX, ROK, Biland, etc. are approved by CIK, but there has to be open competition in the CIK/FIA World Championship.

After several years of investigation the CIK firmed up the rules for 2007 for the ''open'' classes. The outline is:

1. 125cc water cooled, balance shaft, electric start, centrifugal clutch series productions based model. Four variants of this model.
2. KF1 highest performance version 16 000 RPM, 30mm carburetors, exhaust power valve, dry clutch, about 38 BHP for World Championship
3. KF2 medium performance 15 000 RPM, butterfly carburettor diam 24, exhaust valve, countershaft, dry clutch, about 36 BHP for European Championship
4. KF3 lower performance 14 000 RPM, butterfly carburettor diam 20, no exhaust valve, countershaft, dry clutch, about 26 BHP for European Junior Championship
5. KF4 lower performance 14 000 RPM, DellÓrto carburettor diam 30, exhaust valve, counterhaft, dry clutch, about 32 BHP for National Championships

1. MAXTER
2. PCR
3. IAME
4. VORTEX (Not to be confused with Rok and Super Rok)
5. TM
6. MERLIN
7. BALEN
8. DINO
9. VKR

1. sophisticated digital ignition, no adjustments possible
2. Nikasil cylinder lining - for hard wearing properties allowing long life
3. Pneumatic powervalve - increased low speed power - Rok and several CIK long life motors will use this ROTAX component
4. The two-speed ROTAX DD2 gives overall performance exceeding KF1 but at a lower initial cost and much lower running costs thanks to 13 600 RPM limit.