OK-Junior: Top five places in the Final for KR and IAME

OK and KZ World Champion in 2023, KR is now OK-Junior World Champion for the first time in its history. The coronation of Briton Kenzo Craigie comes on the back of a long list of positive results for KR: pole position for Noah Baglin (Prema Racing), 14 wins in the Qualifying Heats, the two Super Heats for Niklas Schaufler (DPK Racing) and Kit Belofsky (Fusion Motorsport) and finally the top five places in the Final, not forgetting Arjen Kraeling in 8th place.

Leading the Final from the second lap, Baglin was eventually caught by Craigie who came out on top in extremis after a very intense duel throughout the last lap. Baglin unfortunately finished off the track and Australian James Anagnostiadis took 2nd place on the podium. Rocco Coronel, who started 11th, worked his way up to 3rd place in the Final standings ahead of Belofsky, the race's driving force, and Zac Green (Jamie Green Racing). In both dry and wet conditions, the KR-IAMEs dominated proceedings. As for the teams, KR Motorsport finished 3rd in the FIA Karting Championship.

OK: Joe Turney has almost won it all

After a splendid pole position, winning all five heats and then the Super Heat by more than four seconds, Joe Turney was clearly the driver to beat in the dry. In the rain of the Final, Joe was on top for a long time, before a small mistake pushed him back to 2nd position. European Champion, winner of the Champions of the Future Euro Series and runner-up in the World Championship, Joe Turney will remain the driver of the year in 2024.

10 of the 15 heats were won by KR-IAMEs. After Turney in the first Super Heat, Fionn McLaughlin won the second and seven of the Italian brand's chassis made the top 10, with 20 KRs among the 36 finalists. For VictoryLane, Jimmy Helias was P4, Joseph Smith P9 and Guillaume Bouzar P10, just ahead of Miguel Costa. Dmitry Matveev (KR Motorsport) had a fine World Championship in 5th place ahead of McLaughlin from the VDK Racing team, who also contributed to Thibaut Ramaekers' 13th place. David Cosma Cristofor, who started 8th in the Final, had no success in the Final, as did Noah Monteiro, despite being placed 2nd three times out of five in the heats.

In OK-N, Harrison Whitticome (Argenti Motorsport) took pole position and Hugo Herrouin (KBK Compétition) qualified on the front row for the Final, but changing conditions prevented them from achieving the results they had hoped for.

Comments from Dino Chiesa, Head of KR Global Motorsport Company

"In our previous press release, we predicted that the OK World Championship might not be a reflection of the season. This is what happened at PFI, as it has been the case several times since 2017. This observation confirms that some thought could be given to the way in which these World Championship titles are awarded. For Kart Republic, this will remain an excellent year if you look at all the results, in addition to Kenzo Craigie's OK-Junior crown and our OK team title. I'm pleased with the performances of our satellite teams. "We are Republic, we are one": our slogan is more valid than ever. We all work together, that's what makes us stronger. We are able to supply a lot of high-performance chassis and engines, which remains our objective, in order to make other drivers want to join us. One in three drivers used a KR chassis at this event. Of course, my first thought is for Joe Turney, who had an incredible World Championship, and my second is for Noah Baglin, who at the very least deserved to be on the podium. He's very young, took pole position and led the Final for a long time. No doubt we'll be talking about him again soon...".

About KR Global Motorsport Company

At the end of the 2017 season Dino Chiesa officially presented the new Kart Republic entity and its characteristic logo. The yellow, orange and red colours reflect the colours of the Serenissima Republic which, from 697 to 1797, marked the history of the Padua region, home of the KR brand. The wing refers to those of the lion of St. Mark, the symbol of Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic.

On 1st January, the KR chassis received CIK-FIA homologation. The success was immediate! In the very first season, the German Hannes Janker became European OK Champion in 2018. A few weeks later, the Italian Lorenzo Travisanutto (KR-IAME) became FIA Karting World Champion. The KR chassis quickly became a reference in the most important international events, as well as in many countries around the world. The successes in FIA Karting followed one another. At the 2022 World Championship in Campillos, less than four years after its launch, KR was the most represented brand in the paddock.

Over the years, the Kart Republic factory has continued to develop, launching the Alonso Kart brand in 2020 and relaunching the famous DAP name in early 2023. The various activities of the Italian company are now grouped under the "KR Global Motorsport Company". The head of the company, Dino Chiesa, is one of the most influential figures in the world of karting. The Italian engineer is also one of the best talent scouts in the world of karting. He has helped the rise of drivers such as Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Nyck De Vries. Many Formula 1 team academies trust him, including those of Mercedes, Red Bull, Alpine and Sauber. The famous Prema Racing team has just announced its entry to the world of karting, in partnership with Kart Republic.