The cost of entry into the so-called ‘grassroots of motorsports’ has ballooned to such astronomical proportions that calling karting as a ‘stepping stone’ into the sport is a stretch. Add up the figures to buying your own chassis, engine, and tires will see your bill easily reach into the millions. And that’s what the global motorsports governing body, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), is trying to solve with their new ‘Arrive & Drive’ platform.
Instead of having to maintain your own equipment, the FIA is tapping into the leisure karting market to lower the costs of competition… or better known to us as ‘rental karts’. Their proposed format is for each country to run a series utilizing existing 4-stroke or electric rental karts at local indoor or outdoor tracks.
Sounds like a no-brainer, right?
The FIA’s Arrive & Drive program is poised to make karting affordable, accessible, and appeal to people from all backgrounds. It’s supposed to open up new opportunities for talent discovery, youth engagement, and for the track owners, revenue generation.
To make the competition more attractive and relevant on an international level, the FIA is introducing a new dedicated FIA Karting Ranking platform. The online system collates data from all global events and ranks drivers based on their performance, giving competitors a source of pride, recognition, and engagement. Winners from national championships can also qualify for the FIA Motorsport Games and FIA World Final at the end of each year.
But who’s going to run this? The FIA is tapping into their global network of National Sporting Associations (ASN) to collaborate with local tracks and rental facilities to organize such competitions. Or the ASN can nominate a local promoter to do it for them.
In our case, the local ASN for motorsports is none other than our friends at the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP).
