Karting European Championship
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| Category | Kart racing |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe |
| Affiliations | CIK-FIA |
| Inaugural season | 1962 |
| Classes | OK, OK-J, KZ, KZ2, A&D-S, A&D-J |
| Drivers' champion | |
| Official website | fiakarting |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Kart racing |
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The FIA Karting European Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Alongside the Karting World Championship, it is one of two major karting competitions sanctioned by the FIA.
Six past European Champions have progressed to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship: Michael Schumacher (1987, ICA), Jenson Button (1997, FSA), Lewis Hamilton (2000, FA), Sebastian Vettel (2001, ICA-J), Max Verstappen (2013, KF and KZ), and Lando Norris (2013, KF-J). Other previous champions to win FIA World Championships in auto racing include Yvan Muller (1986, FK), SĂ©bastien Buemi (2002, ICA-J), KĂ©vin Estre (2004, ICA), James Calado (2005, ICA), Michael Christensen (2005, ICA-J), and Nyck de Vries (2009, KF3).
In recent years, European Championship has been contested across a season, where the World Championship is hosted as a single event. As of 2024, the European Championship is held across two direct-drive and three gearbox classes. The primary direct-drive class is OK, and the primary gearbox class is KZ.
History
[edit] | This section needs more citations. (December 2024) |
Debut as international contest (1962–1969)
[edit]The European Nations' Cup was the first competition held by the CIK-FIA upon its founding in 1962, won by Great Britain against Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany.[1]
Expansion to individual competition (1970–1981)
[edit]The individual European Championship was first held in 1970, running a 100cc class won by Belgian driver François Goldstein, who retained his title in 1971. In 1979, Cathy Muller became the first woman to win a European title, doing so in the 100cc class. The senior category was contested under 100cc Intercontinental A (ICA) regulations until the introduction of the 135cc Formula K (FK) class in 1982, superseding ICA.
The gearbox category has since been added, first contested in 1974 in the Formula C (FC) class and won by Dutch driver Aad van Daalen. Between 1979 and 1981, a secondary gearbox class (FC-2) was held but did not return until Intercontinental C (ICC) was displaced as the lead gearbox class by FC in 1996. Gianfranco Baroni won four FC European Championships from 1976 to 1981.
New Formula regulations (1982–1992)
[edit]FK ran from 1982 to 1990, and again in 1992, as the primary senior class, until it was replaced by Formula A (FA) and its Super sub-class (FSA). In 1988 and 1989, the Formula Super 100 (S100) class was also contested as a main senior competition.
Michael Schumacher won the 1987 ICA European Championship, going on to become the first European Champion to also win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1994.
In 1989, Jos Verstappen became the first driver to win two European Championships in the same season with his wins in FS100 and ICA, a feat only repeated in 2013 by his son Max.
ICC replaced FC as the primary gearbox class in 1983, having been the secondary class in 1982. Walter van Lent became the first non-Italian ICC European Champion in 1990, and the last in the primary gearbox class until Jonathan Thonon in 2008.
The Super era (1993–2006)
[edit]From 1993 to 2000, FSA became the pre-eminent class in the senior category, being run alongside its secondary FA class, as well as ICA. The 2000 season was notable for marking the start of the fierce rivalry between CRG teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who finished first and second in that year's FA European Championship, respectively. FA succeeded FSA as the lead class upon the latter's European demise at the end of the 2000 season.
In the gearbox category, ICC was again replaced by FC as the main class in 1996, becoming the secondary class once more. FC would later be renamed to Super-ICC from 2002 onwards.
The 250cc Superkart category was contested for the first time in 2002, going on to be contested at 18 successive European Championships.
Modern KF/OK and KZ era (2007–present)
[edit]In 2007, the primary senior class became KF1 and the primary gearbox class became KZ1, as the CIK-FIA attempted to re-brand global karting. The secondary divisions KF2 and KZ2 each replaced ICA and ICC; both classes had been contested since the early 1980s.
KF3 also succeeded Junior Intercontinental A (ICA-J) as the junior class, later renaming to KF-J in 2013. In 2009, the entire podium—Nyck de Vries, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat—went on to graduate to Formula One, the only time this has happened at the European Championship.
Between 2005 and 2008, Marco Ardigò won four consecutive senior titles with Tony Kart, remaining the only driver to complete a four-peat in the European Championship as of 2024. Ardigò is the only driver to have won five European Championships, adding a fifth title in KZ in 2016.
In 2013, Max Verstappen won both the KF and KZ European Championships with CRG, becoming the first—and to this date, only—driver to have won senior and gearbox titles in the same season.
KF2 became the primary senior category in 2010, replacing KF1—known as Super KF in 2009—and ending 28 seasons of secondary senior classes being held at the European Championship. After nine seasons of KF regulations in the senior category, the CIK-FIA shifted towards Original Kart (OK) regulations from 2016 onwards.
In 2017, Spanish-born Moroccan driver