2015 CIK-FIA Best-Of: Luca De Donno, Chairman of WSK Promotion

What is your assessment of the 2015 season?

– As a promoter of CIK-FIA international Competitions, I’m pretty satisfied with the past year. Regarding Championship entries, the start of the season was in line with the unfavourable global situation, but later showed encouraging signs. With the wild cards, the entries were up, and we could celebrate in Sweden. The World Championships, organised as a single event, experienced deserved success. At Le Mans and La Conca, the number of participants reached significant levels. We must not forget that we are dealing with the top of the pyramid of karting. A comparison with single-brand Competitions that bring together Drivers of all levels is not valid. CIK-FIA Competitions represent a kind of Formula 1 of karting. In this sense, the year’s figures are very good, even though we can always try to do better.

What were the main improvements of the year?

– The introduction of new front fairing has proven its effectiveness in improving the conduct of races. In KF and even more in KF-Junior, the change was radical. It was essential to advance the sportingness of the races. It’s effectiveness should improve further over the long term by changing the behaviour of the young drivers. As they often plan to continue in cars, good habits should be instilled from the start. Moreover, the 2016 calendar has been released earlier this year, on good terms with the CIK-FIA, thanks to the attention paid to the wishes of drivers and teams.

What do you expect from the introduction of new OK engines?

– This is an important change that should attract more drivers to high-level Competitions. I am totally in favour of the simplification promised by these new engines. Certainly, a transition year may involve some risks, but we must do everything we can to make sure that this development is a success for everyone. I hope that the manufacturers can offer fully operational OK and OK-Junior engines at the beginning of the next season, providing very close performance from one brand to another. Anyway, we are moving forward and believe in the future!

(Extract from CIK-FIA 2015 Best-of)

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