Gennaio

Rotax Grand Finals

The annual spectacular get-together for top Rotax racers from around the globe was held at Viana do Castelo in Portugal, the first time the event has been held in mainland Europe. Despite only having three drivers the UK ‘team' of Hawksworth, Pierce and Simpson won the Nations Cup from countries with much larger representation. Well done guys!

World Champs Update

We thought the World Karting Champion had been decided back on October 1st but we were wrong. As a result of video evidence, Francesco Antonucci and three others were summoned to a hearing in mid-November and were excluded for unauthorised mechanical interventions”. Antonucci's entrant Vortex appealed but lost, so runner-up Davide Fore becomes champion. Full story in this issue.

Litchfield & Allen Switch Karts

Mark Litchfield and Ross Allen have this year both won their respective national championship for an incredible third

Febbraio

PCR Windfire

In a move that will change karting around the globe, the CIK are going TAG in 2007. Out go the familiar 100cc engined classes to be replaced by new ‘KF' designated categories using 125cc TAG (‘Touch and Go' on-board electric starter) reed-valve motors with clutch, integral water pump, balance shaft, rev limited ignition and exhaust power valve. Thanks to PCR we can bring you a preview of what's in store for 2007 and beyond!

Terry Fullerton

Britain's first Junior champion, the only person ever to win that title in three consecutive seasons and Britain's first karting world champion. Dave Bewley and Abigail Gerry interview the original ‘Weetabix Kid'!

Biland World Finals

Dubai Kartdrome was the venue for this year's top event for the Biland classes. As you would expect, Dubai has minimal rainfall and it hadn't rained since March. So, no surprise then that when karting came to town, the heaven

Marzo

CIK TAG Engines Launch

Finally, they're ready! The new generation of CIK TAG (Touch and Go) engines were launched at Paul Ricard in the south of France on February 5th. All ten homologated engines were on show with five of them brave enough to hit the circuit, and no they didn't break down!

Autosport International

The traditional opener to the motorsport season, Autosport International at the NEC, Birmingham is a great place to see cars and karts up close and do all those important deals. Our 5 page show report starts on page 4.

IAME Parilla Reedster

Now that the CIK engine homologation has taken place, manufacturers are more forthcoming about their new babies. Following last month's look at PCR's creation, this time it is the turn of the bookies' favourite, the Parilla Reedster, to be examined by Dr. Forni.

Guinness World Record

Like driving a kart? Silly question.

Aprile

Winter Cup

South Garda in mid-February was the first time the new CIK TAG engines had raced in anger and so warranted plenty of attention. Our new columnist Gary Catt dominated KF1, the premier class, right up until the Final! Find out who did win and on what in our 4-page feature.

Three Sisters 'O’ Plate

Winning two classes at the same event is difficult enough, but achieving it having spun in qualifying in one class and starting from the back in the other is pretty exceptional. Congratulations then to double Senior winner Scott Jenkins and also to Tom Joyner who was victorious in JICA.

MRC XTR X1

Having looked at the latest offerings from PCR and IAME in the previous two issues, this month it is the turn of MRC's XTR X1 to come under the spotlight. Timely that, as an MRC won KF3 at the Winter Cup.

Mechanics

While drivers get all the glory, they couldn't do it with

Maggio

Rotax Euro Challenge

The Euro Challenge goes from strength to strength with this year's opening round at Salbris entertaining 176 Rotax drivers from 31 countries and five continents. The Brits made a great start, locking out the Senior podium, winning the Masters category and taking 3rd place in Juniors.

The Karting Manual

New books on karting don't appear that often and, when they do, tend to be from the USA. So well done to Haynes for bringing out a new title that focuses on the UK. The 160 pages are crammed full of useful information and over 200 colour illustrations and in this month's free competition we've got six copies to give away!

Vortex RAV

So far this year we've taken a look inside the new CIK TAG engines from PCR, IAME and MRC. This month we turn our attention to the Vortex RAV, the only engine so far to have recorded leading results across all three KF classes.

Giugno

Kimbolton Stars

The BRDC Stars of Tomorrow series incorporating the MSA British Cadet Championship got under way at Kimbolton over the Easter weekend. Great weather, great racing and an excellent entry but too many penalties, reprimands, protests and appeals.

VKR K125A

Another CIK KF engine for you this month, the VKR K125A. Villa Kart Racing's baby differs greatly from its competitors and bristles with loads of innovations to aid performance and make maintenance easier. Carlo Forni highlights its all important features.

WSK Zuera

The WSK International series is now in its second year and this season's targets have been met with increased entries and more rounds. Mary-Ann Horley and Chris Walker travelled to the new Spanish circuit at Zuera for round 2 to find out more and, as it turned out, to witness more British success.



Karting in New Zealand

A report this month

Luglio

Lewis Hamilton

What more can we say that hasn't already been said in the last few months about Lewis! Everywhere you turn there is a news story about F1's new sensation. We talk to three karting personalities who always knew that he'd make a huge impression.

Ugento Euro Champs

The eagerly awaited first round of the CIK European Champs for the new KF1 class was held at Ugento at the beginning of May along with the opening rounds for the gearbox classes KZ1 and KZ2. We were there to report on all the action.

Easykart Junior & Shifter

Easykart Senior has been a great success since it arrived in the UK and now there are two other versions on their way to these shores, a 100cc Junior category and a 125cc Gearbox class for Seniors. We tested them both at Shenington.



Maxter MX TAG

Maxter have had a tough start to the season with their KF challenger, the MX TAG. However, ou

Agosto

World Cup

A good number of the current crop of F1 drivers raced at Suzuka when they were in karting such as Trulli, Fisichella, Button, Davidson, Liuzzi, Kovalainen and Hamilton. This year's World Cup for KF1 was won by Marco Ardigo and the KF2 Asia-Pacific Champs by Will Stevens. We wouldn't mind betting that one or even both of them will be knocking on the doors of F1 in a few years time.

TAG?

The introduction this year of the new CIK TAG classes has gone better than most would have predicted. The UK though was probably right to delay their introduction here until 2008. With less than six months to go before the new year we find out from a number of key figures how they feel about the new classes and how they should be fitted into the existing structure, and reveal what the governing bodies and championships have decided to do.

Varennes Euro Champs

The second event of the European Championships for KF

Settembre

Euro Qualifiers

British drivers travelled to Essay in France for their KF2 and KF3 European Championship Qualifier and dominated! Will Stevens won both KF2 finals while Jack Harvey, Tom Grice and Oliver Rowland locked out the KF3 podiums! Read all about it in this issue and enter our competition to win a cap signed by all four!

Hamilton at Daytona

Lewis Hamilton returned to his karting roots at a special Vodafone organised event at Daytona Milton Keynes. He said a few words, demonstrated a JICA outfit, passed on hints and tips to the top 10 in the Stars of Tomorrow Cadet championship and presided over a race featuring the youngsters. See our two-page feature on pages 18 and 19 and enter our competition to win a special Vodafone wash bag and Daytona karting voucher!

Superkart French Cup

It was a dream come true for the organisers of the French Cup when Superkarts took to the track at Magny Cours as a sup

Ottobre

Kartmasters GP

The first Kartmasters event back in 1996 saw Michael Simpson win Junior TKM and someone called Lewis Hamilton the victor in Cadet. Fast forward to this year's meeting and Simpson wrapped up his sixth title at PF International, this time in Rotax MAX, while Hamilton, well just about everyone on this planet knows what he is up to.

Euro Champs Salbris

Two classes at Salbris and both won by Brits. Will Stevens dominated KF2 to take the European Championship title while Gary Catt secured the runner-up spot in the KF1 champs by winning both French Finals. It has been an amazing year for British drivers.

Superkart GP

A bumper entry did battle at Cadwell Park for the prestigious GP plates for the gearbox classes. The weather put paid to any attempt at lowering the outright lap record, held by a Jedi, but the racing was as exciting as ever and drew the largest crowd to Cadwell this year for a four

Novembre

World Champs

There was to be no British victory at the World Champs as Marco Ardigo denied Gary Catt once again, but there was a Brit on top of the KF2 World Cup podium. Michael Ryall, who has been living in Belgium for most of this year, dominated the Pre-Final and Final at Mariembourg to take his biggest win to date. Our five-page report starts on page 4.

Super 1 Clay

The final round of the MSA S1 Series took place at Clay Pigeon in mid-September with all four champions still to be decided. Oliver Rowland wrapped up JICA, Chris Rogers secured the Formula A title again, six years after his previous win, Hazz Truelove took Cadet and Sam Tordoff came out on top in ICA.

Sarno Euro KF3

The Brits have been a real force abroad this year and none more so than in KF3. The European Championship Final at Sarno was no different with Jack Harvey, Tom Grice and James Thorp making it a 1-2-3. Thomas Knopper of Holla

Dicembre

Euro Rotax Genk

The fourth and final round of the 2007 Rotax Euro Challenge took place at Genk at the end of September with all four champions still to be decided. Brits did well in all four classes with Ben Cooper and Colin Davis crowned champions in Seniors and Masters respectively, while Stephen Tyldesley and Stephen Cobb took the race wins. There were also podiums in Juniors for Luke Varley and DD2 for Tiffany Chittenden. Well done everyone.

Monaco Cup

More British success here too. Max Goff was the unexpected, but deserving, winner of KF3, Tom Barrow was only denied victory in the 4-Stroke Contest by clutch failure, a British driver and sponsor enjoyed success in the Endurance event and Allan McNish starred in the VIP Electric Trophee races.

Is British Best?

The results at Genk and Monaco were just the latest in a superb year for British drivers abroad, but why are we doing so well? We sought the o