New Head of Karting

A new person heads up the administration of karting at FIA Headquarters in Geneva. Denmark’s Jacob Nortoft took up the position last week and reports to the Head of the Mass Participation Disciplines and Activities division, Vincent Caro, who was formerly the CIK’s Executive Secretary.

interview by FIA Karting

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR BACKGROUND

I am a former racer myself, having raced around 10 years beginning in mini karts at 8 years old, progressing through firstly the Danish karting system, and later the FIA karting latter before making the switch to car racing. After concluding my active career, I ran a national based karting team for 6 years. However, I closed down my own team as i began working for the Danish federation DASU. I have been with DASU for the last 5 years, working since last year as sporting director.

HOW MUCH WAS KARTING PART OF YOUR FUNCTIONS AT DASU?

The role as sporting director required me to oversee our talent development program for our young drivers and providing career guidance as they progressed towards their goals of success in the motorsport world. A significant part of this work has been related to the karting world as the place where future champions hone their skills and develop the foundation for the rest of their career.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CURRENT STATE OF KARTING?

As of a whole I consider the state of todays karting world as healthy, but with potential for improvements. Over the last number of years, we have seen the top level of karting being resilient of numerous global crises and keep being an attractive battling ground for the best drivers in the world.

Likewise, many national ASN experience a very healthy grassroot level of karting, with strong license numbers and high participation numbers. However I think to ensure the long-term health of the karting sport, it is essential to consider ways of making the sport more inclusive and accessible for a broader audience.

Under the leadership of CIK President, Mr. Akbar Ebrahim the FIA has already presented the ASN toolkit for inclusive and accessible karting. In addition, we encourage the development of regional series and events such as the MENA Karting Cup or the recent African Cup. We can offer clubs around the world our experience within the FIA, or that of other ASNs, and advise in implementing similar local, national and regional initiatives based on economic formulas or arrive and drive models.

I think these are important areas to pursue further to grow the participation base of our sport, while ensuring a clear pathway throughout the sport.

WHAT WAS ALREADY ON YOUR DESK WHEN YOU ARRIVED TO TAKE UP YOUR POST?

Following my recruitment and onboarding process, I am now looking forward to getting to work on some of the different topics that are present on my desk. The topics mentioned previously regarding ensuring a clear pathway will be central in the coming work with the Global karting plan which FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has requested and which will be launched later this year. Furthermore, there will be ongoing work related to improve safety measures of our sport as well as preparing the 2025 sporting calendar.