Is FAT International the shake-up karting needs?

Karting is constantly caught in a hinterland. At one end, you have stag dos and birthday parties screeching around indoor kart centres in sweaty balaclavas and boiler suits. On the other, there’s the eye-wateringly exclusive realm of miniature Prosts, junior Schumachers, baby Hamiltons, and infant Verstappens. These pee-wees are flinging two-stroke go-karts around at unimaginable costs to their parents' wallets, hoping to parlay it all into a Formula 1 championship winning career.

Yet the sport has never gone mainstream. It’s not cool or accessible enough, so, for most people, it’s a once-a-year flirtation rather than a passion. All that could be about to change.

Ferdi Porsche, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche (he of VW Beetle and 911 fame), is taking the stylish and social-media-friendly world of FAT International (which includes the Instagrammable FAT Ice Race, the über-cool high-altitude FAT Mankai hangout, and global motorsport sponsorship) and merging it with Rob Smedley’s innovative and inclusive Global Karting League. The result is the FKL: FAT Karting League – a grassroots karting competition designed to open up motorsport to those who weren’t born into hedge-fund parentage.

“We really want to mix things up,” Ferdi told TopGear.com. “Motorsport has always been seen as an elite, old-white-man sport. FKL changes that. It’s affordable, diverse, and full of energy – it’s what the sport needs."

The magic lies in teaming up with Rob Smedley – the former Ferrari race engineer famed for iconic no-nonsense radio quips like “Felipe, baby, stay cool!” Smedley launched his grassroots karting campaign four years ago with the sole aim of slashing the cost of getting into motorsport by astronomical amounts. We’re talking by as much as 96 per cent. Joining forces with Ferdi and the FAT team looks set to supercharge this effort.

Smedley previously told TG the eye-watering costs parents currently face. At present, getting your kid into outdoor karting costs a minimum of £20,000 a year. That’s for the basics: chassis, engine, tyres, and a van to lug it all about. Fancy doing it properly? Make that £60,000. Going national? Six figures. European level? Quarter of a million with a staggering £3 million required by the time a young driver reaches the brink of F1.

FKL aims to change this. A season of fixed-cost racing at top UK tracks starts at just £3,800 for drivers as young as six. The FKL Junior Pro Series is priced at £5,300 – a crazy 96 per cent cheaper than the current cost of progression to Formula 4, which averages £125,000.

And there’s more. At the end of the season, the best driver from each FKL hub will compete in the FAT World Finals. The prize? A fully-funded seat in the FIA British F4 Championship, giving young racers a golden ticket to the professional motorsport world. “The first female F1 champion will come from the FAT Karting League, I guarantee it,” Ferdi said, “it’s just a numbers game.”

FKL’s research shows that it could open up motorsport to more 6-to-17-year-olds by a factor of 1,000. Apparently, four million kids will go corporate karting, but only 2,000 are registered outdoor karters in the UK.

What will competitors drive? Forget the zingy, rattly, stinky karts of old. Instead, next-gen 48V electric karts developed by Smedley and his ex-F1 colleagues will be used to keep the playing field level and competitive. These zippy karts can hit 60 mph, and each championship will consist of nine rounds. Two categories – Regional and Pro Championships – will be hosted from early 2025 at proper outdoor tracks, including Whilton Mill and Buckmore Park.

Reckon karting can finally shake off its image as the awkward stepchild of motorsport? With Porsche’s network, Smedley’s know-how, and a big dollop of social media savviness, it might just have a shot. So, will you sign yourself or your offspring up? Let us know in the comments below.