DUBAI: The Bahrain International Kart Circuit will host the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship OK and OK-Junior categories in November next year, ten years after hosting its third world championship.
The news has been hailed as another boost for motorsport in the Middle East and North Africa region by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, the governing body for world motor sport and federation of the world’s leading motoring organizations.
The young hopefuls will battle it out from Nov. 4-7, 2026, while competitors in the FIA World Endurance Championship will fight for the honors in an eight-hour race on the motor racing circuit.
Ben Sulayem said: “Bahrain has played such an important part in the growth of MENA motorsport since it first welcomed Formula One 21 years ago, and this continues with the return of the Karting World Championship, which is so important for the future development of motorsport in the region.”
He also hailed the new FIA Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup as another significant milestone for the future of grassroots motorsport.
Lat week’s event saw crowds fill the grandstands at the LYL International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, where they saw world-class karting from drivers keen to prove themselves around its 21 corners.
Troy Ferguson from the US and Zach Tucker from New Zealand took home the junior and senior cups, respectively. They, along with the second and third place finishers, now progress the FIA Karting Shootout which takes place in Valencia, Spain from Dec. 2-7.
Opening the event in Malaysia, Ben Sulayem told the racers via video message: “Learn from every lap and give it your all. May this experience be the beginning of a long and successful journey in motorsport.”
Of the UAE drivers taking part, Zain Elhommossany, a winner in the recent MENA Karting Championship Nations Cup, was unable to catch the front-runners in the senior category, finishing fifth, while Aaryan Singh took sixth in the junior class.
The debut Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup forms a central part of the FIA’s new Global Karting Plan, supporting the expansion of grassroots motorsport to reduce financial and technological barriers associated with karting and increase global participation in motorsport.
Ben Sulayem said: “The success of the debut FIA Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup reflects the global growth of karting over the past year and the talented drivers that race in every corner of the world. Congratulations to the drivers on their victories.”
