International

Ninth World Championship title in nine seasons for the KR chassis

P S

lis 10, 2026

Launched in 2018 and crowned World Champion in its very first year, Kart Republic has cemented its position at the very top of the global rankings.

At the La Conca circuit in southern Italy, Antoine Sylva Venant was crowned FIA Karting World Champion in the OK-Junior class at the wheel of a KR-IAME kart for the VDK Racing team. This superb victory was complemented by a remarkable overall result across the OK-Junior and OK classes.

Another strong overall performance

An incredible number of drivers using KR-IAME karts distinguished themselves. The figures speak for themselves:

4 out of eight fastest times in the Qualifying sessions, including pole position in OK for Niklas Schaufler.
12 wins in heats and Super Heats
10 fastest laps in races
4 KR-IAME karts in the top five on the starting grid for the OK-Junior Final
8 KR-IAME karts in the top 13 of the OK-Junior Final
1st place after the Qualifying Heats in OK
4 KR-IAME karts in the top 10 of the OK Final
The OK-Junior World Championship title alongside the FIA Karting team title

During the event, the KR Motorsport, VDK Racing, Fusion Motorsport, VictoryLane, DPK Racing and Koski Motorsport teams all had the opportunity to demonstrate the competitiveness of Kart Republic’s factory-built karts at La Conca.

OK-Junior: Antoine Sylva Venant’s triumph

Starting from pole position on the grid for the Final, Niccolo Perico (KR Motorsport) led the race in the early stages. It was then Antoine Sylva Venant’s turn to set a brisk pace in the Final. The Belgian driver from the VDK Racing team took the lead of the Junior field just before the halfway point and sped towards victory, later climbing onto the top step of the World Championship podium. A collision with another driver saw the Italian driver Perico drop back to 5th place. Three other drivers made it into the highly coveted top 10:

Antonio Pizzonia (Fusion Motorsport) in 7th, Mason Robertson (KR Motorsport) in 8th and Orlando Rovelli (KR Motorsport) in 10th, just ahead of European Champion Will Green (KR Motorsport), Oleksandr Legenkyi (VictoryLane) and Zack Zhu (VictoryLane), who set the fastest lap of the race.

OK: Four KR-IAME karts in the top 10

Having secured pole position (the fastest time of the event) and won a Qualifying Heat, Niklas Schaufler (DPK Racing) was considered a potential winner at Muro Leccese, as were two drivers from the KR Motorsport team, Noah Baglin and Bruno Blanco. The Italian was, in fact, leading the provisional standings on Saturday evening. The Final came down to the smallest of margins and some fiercely contested duels. Matthias Vandekerckhove (VDK Racing) came within a whisker of the top three, before finishing 6th ahead of Zac Drummond (Fusion Motorsport), Joe Turney (KR Motorsport) and Schaufler.

A comment from Dino Chiesa, head of KR Global Motorsport Company

“With this ninth World Championship title secured between 2018 and 2026, I believe that everyone working to make KR chassis, IAME engines and our drivers so competitive can be proud of this achievement. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them. I note that our equipment has just won the World Championship title in OK-Junior for the third consecutive year. Of course, many of our drivers had the pace to finish on the podium in both OK-Junior and OK. I’m thinking of Noah Baglin, who had just won a race before the very severe penalty imposed by the officials.”

“Furthermore, it rained during Saturday night, making the track slippery at the start of Sunday, whilst temperatures had dropped. There wasn’t as much grip on the track, whereas we’re even stronger when grip is on our side. We knew that holding a World Championship in Europe in November could lead to changeable weather conditions. Kart Republic’s record in FIA Karting in 2026 remains excellent, however, with two European Championship titles, as well as the World Championship and Team Championship titles.”