The KZ2 category was not included in the initial programme of the WSK Open Series but WSK Promotion added it after the FIA Karting European Championship calendar was suddenly changed, filling a gap in the international gearbox kart season. Birel ART Racing did not miss the opportunity to work on improving the performance of its equipment and to achieve significant results.

At the first WSK Open Series race at Franciacorta, Cristian Bertuca put in a very convincing top three performance to take a superb 2nd place in the Final. Daniel Vasile, 10th in Qualifying, Matteo Vigano (CL Racing Team) and Pedro Hiltbrand, who set the fastest laps in the heats, confirmed the potential of the Birel ART.

At Muro Leccese for the second round on the La Conca World Circuit, Vasile started from pole position, then won a heat and remained leader in the intermediate standings ahead of Bertuca. The positions were reversed in the Prefinal, with Bertuca leading the Final from start to finish. With Vasile 4th, Vigano and Severiukhin 9th and 10th, Birel ART placed four of its chassis in the top 10. Bertuca won the WSK Open Series Championship while Vasile finished 4th.

While the OK and OK-Junior categories will travel to Slovakia in June for the third round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series and the European Championship, the KZ / KZ2 categories will start their European Championship in Spain on the Alcaniz track at the beginning of July.

About Birel ART

Birel ART is an Italian manufacturer of kart chassis that combines long experience and a keen sense of innovation with a boundless passion for motor sport.

Founded in 1959 by Umberto Sala, whose precise nickname was Birel, the company has played a pioneering role in the development of karting around the world since its very beginnings. The demand for quality has always been part of the DNA of the Lissone-based brand through its quest for success in competition. Over more than 60 years, Birel ART has won 26 world titles, countless European titles and numerous national championships.

Birel has accompanied the careers of many great racing drivers, including Riccardo Patrese, Keke Rosberg, Stefano Modena and Emanuele Pirro, as well as the more recent Formula 1 stars Mika Hakkinen and Juan Pablo Montoya, Robert Kubica, Jenson Button and George Russell. Robert Kubica, Daniel Ricciardo and more recently Charles Leclerc have called on Birel ART's expertise to launch their own chassis ranges.

Three generations have succeeded one another at the helm of Birel. Today, Ronni Sala, the founder's grandson, presides over Birel's destiny. In 2014, he ushered in a new era by joining forces with ART Grand Prix, a famous team on the single-seater scene, thanks to its association with Nicolas Todt and his partners. Birel ART was born.

Ronni has contributed to the creation of an ambitious new project that will be at the forefront of the karting industry, thanks to original sporting, marketing and communication initiatives that will benefit the brand, the dealer network and, of course, Birel ART's customers.

Birel ART has built on its prestigious heritage to enter the 21st century and make full use of technology in terms of R&D, production, logistics and communication. Its area of expertise, based on high-level competition, has been extended to include production quality control for a large number of competitors around the world, as well as the leisure sector with its Rental range with both internal combustion and electric engines. The factory at its original site in Lissone, near Monza and within easy reach of Milan, has undergone constant modernisation.

Birel ART's high level of expertise, with its well-balanced blend of tradition and innovation, is reflected in the results it has achieved in racing, offering fans around the world the opportunity to become real drivers or to have fun and experience the thrill of adrenaline on the track.