It’s been a stellar year for British karting, with even more up and coming talent going head-to-head in the first rung of the ladder to senior series.

FIA World Championships 

Ethan Jeff-Hall, winner of the Ginetta Junior Championship and 2024 Ginetta Junior Rookie Championship, is certainly making a name for himself. The 16-year old driver, currently in the Motorsport UK Academy Enhanced DiSE programme, had recently signed with CRG Factory Racing Team in the OK Senior Category for the last 2 races of 2024 and won the FIA World Kart Championship Final at PFI, Lincolnshire in just his 2nd race with the team. He is the winner of multiple titles in the Rotax classes and will race British F4 in 2025 with Argenti Motorsport.

Fourteen-year-old Kenzo Craigie’s career continues to go from strength to strength, after he joined the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s Junior Programme for 2023.  Starting off making the podium during his first Bambino race, at only six years of age. Kenzo soon moved up to Cadet, which saw him complete a full season of the British Karting Championship in 2021, where he finished 9th.

In 2022, Kenzo won the Ultimate Karting Championship Series, British Kartmasters (GP Plate), British Karting Championship (O Plate), and was the British Karting Championship Vice-Champion, before stepping up to Junior class in 2023. Last year he competed in UK and International Rotax and IAME categories.  This year, he adds to his titles not only only winning the FIA World Championship but also adding the IAME IWF title in November.

FIA Motorsport Games 

At the FIA Motorsport Games, Fourteen-year-old Jorge Edgar took gold in the Karting Sprint Junior category, for Team UK. The Karter started in P7 on a packed grid at the Aspar Circuit, which saw 36- drivers from all over the world get to grips with the FIA-supplied CIK homologated Kart Republic chassis, powered by IAME OKN engines with MOJO tyres.

Edgar commented on his win, “It’s really good to win the first Team UK gold medal, especially as how good the drivers are here for Team UK, so it really means a lot to me to win the first gold medal.”

FIA European OK Championship 

Joe Turney bounced back from injury to secure his first career FIA karting title – the FIA European OK Championshipbut narrowly missed out on the world title at PFI. The 24-year-old claimed two Supernats titles alongside his driving in 2024 he also  stood in as temporary team manager at the British Kart Championship for team Argenti for the new IAME distributor Argenti Motorsport where the team continued to battle it out at the front of one of the most competitive grids in the world.

IAME Water Swift Championship

It’s been a busy year for Will Green, a recent addition to the Williams Racing Driver Academy. The BKC driver is the 2024 IAME Water Swift Champion and also took the 2024 Kartmasters crown.

Rotax Max Grand Finals  

The 25^th anniversary of the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals saw a strong field of karting talent head to the Circuito Internazionale di Napoli in Sarno, Italy from October 19-26, 2024, with a record entry of British drivers leading the charge in the Micro MAX, Junior MAX and Senior MAX classes.

Team Great Britain’s Joshua Cooke took gold in the Micro MAX category, having started fifth on the grid. Cooke went from first to fourth during lap seven, taking gold as the last lap board was displayed.

Team UK’s Albert Friend led the field to the green in Mini MAX. Friend led the opening lap of the 11-lap Final, defending for his life on lap three as more than 15 karts ran nose to tail after lap four. Following a five-kart battle for the win, Friend took silver.

Team UK started the Senior MAX main event one, two, three, four, and five as Kai Hunter led Matthew Higgins, Callum Bradshaw, Harry Bartle, and Lewis Gilbert. It was 18 laps for the Senior MAX drivers as 36 of them were off and racing. Bishop finished second on the road before a potential penalty while Bartle crossed the line third, Sidler in fourth, minus a nose cone, and Bradshaw in fifth. Oliver Hodgson was elevated to P4 in the results, as Max Walton rounded out the top five.

British Indoor Karting Championship 

Freya Lally, part of the F1 Discover your Drive programme, who qualified 1st during the Regional Finals, at her local track in Stockton in the Cadet class (8-11 years old), placed ninth overall on the day. The F1 Academy Discover your Drive programme has seen 400% increase in girls taking part at the championships, with 19 drivers taking part in the (BIKC) Regional Finals this year.

Freya was awarded fully funded season in Club100 next year as the highest place driver from the programme.

During the weekend, Amanze Nwosu took podium in the Cadet class, with Jake Anders taking first place in Junior.

Charlie Ratford took the crown in Midweight with Hassan Zafar taking home the win in Heavyweight.

Dan Parker, Head of Karting, Motorsport UK, commented on the 2024 season, “I am absolutely delighted and incredibly proud of the phenomenal performance of all our British drivers in 2024. Securing two new World Champions, a European Champion, and multiple victories on the global stage in IAME and Rotax is a testament to their dedication, and unwavering commitment to the sport. This success would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our world-class teams, who create the perfect environment and provide the essential preparation for our drivers to compete at such a high level.

We are also extremely proud that many of our officials are being selected to officiate at prestigious events all over the globe, demonstrating that the talent within British karting extends far beyond the drivers and teams. The UK continues to be a hotbed of talent for karting, and we are truly excited about the bright future of our sport.

These results highlight the benefits of a strong pathway with different price points from indoor karting, through to FIA Karting ensuring accessibility and progression for all levels of talent. We are also actively working on further projects to reinforce and expand this pathway, ensuring continued success and growth for British karting in the years to come.”