To add to the subject covered last week, we have received more precise information from Italy. To begin with, it turns out that we had misunderstood the total cost of entries for the ACI Karting OK-N / OKN-J Italian Championship. In Italy, drivers have to pay a double entry fee, firstly to the championship organiser, ACI Sport, and secondly to the event organiser itself. The total is €500 + VAT per single race or €430 + VAT for each of the five championship events. The entry fees charged by WSK Promotion are therefore at the same level as those for ACI Sport races. So this is not the reason for the lower OK-N participation at the WSK Open Series in Sarno.
Circumstantial reasons could justify the limited field at Sarno, such as its proximity to an ACI Sport competition or an exam period for Italian students at the end of the school year. The first two rounds of the Italian Championship saw a total of 37 different drivers in OK-N and 43 different drivers in OKN-Junior, which represents some interesting figures. The majority of them are not high-level drivers who have switched to these new categories, and not all of them are seeking the support of a professional team. The Italian Federation’s objective has therefore been achieved with the integration of the OK-N and OKN-Junior categories.
Like other federations, Italy has suffered in recent years from a drop in entries at national level in the Senior and Junior categories. This problem arose when the KF categories were introduced in 2007, replacing the popular ICA/Formula A categories. OK and OK-Junior, which were supposed to correct the situation, arrived too late, in 2016. Each federation had to find a solution to keep its national championships alive by turning to branded cups. Rotax Max Challenge, IAME X30 Series, Rok Cup and, to a lesser extent, Easy Kart all flourished within a federal framework, each in a different way from country to country. During this period, more and more voices were raised against the promotion of a single-make cup by federations, with the risks of collusion that could ensue. Logically, each federation wanted to be able to retain control over the technical regulations and avoid purely commercial excesses with regard to new parts and consumables such as tyres. The question of breaking away from this private monopoly then arose. A consensus grew around the idea that a federation should rely on federal categories, as was the case in the recent past.
The introduction of OK-N and OKN-Junior categories by the FIA Karting in 2022 opened up a new avenue with high-performance but affordable equipment involving several manufacturers. The Italian Federation had the solution to its questions. Other federations are taking a serious look at the subject and are considering their options before taking the plunge. In all cases, the aim is not to oppose branded cups, but to put them back where they belong, within private and independent series that find their own audience. The current situation in karting allows these different approaches to competition to coexist, while the federal framework should be able to offer the greatest technical fairness in order to award the most rewarding official titles. The participation of several manufacturers in the same championship is an important point for the health of the sport, and many teams have welcomed it.
While Italy seems set to succeed with the OK-N and OKN-Junior, we will have to wait for the development of these categories in more countries before we can claim victory.
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