Former Ferrari F1 engineer, Rob Smedley has unveiled detail surrounding his new electric, arrive and drive karting series, established with Porsche descendent, Ferdi Porsche.
Known as the FAT Karting League, it has been established as a fixed cost competition which will initially launch in the UK with two series to launch in the US in 2025, a further four international hubs in 2026 and a global FAT Final.
Breaking cover some months ago on social media, detail regarding the competition remained scant until Smedley – who became famous for his ‘Felipe baby’ radio calls when calling the shots for Felipe Massa in his Ferrari Formula 1 tenure – released an oped in the UK to outline key details.
FAT International – owned by Porsche (great grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, Porsche founder) started life as a transport and logistics company that sponsored Le Mans winning cars. It has since moved into race promotion, starting with ice racing and now moving into the eKarting space, with technology developed by an experienced team led by Smedley.
Karting has been slow to the electric movement at its higher end, with only the Austrian BRP-Rotax organisation going public with an international, commercially available eKart package. Ironically, FAT International holds its headquarters also in Austria.
The Series in the UK has been backed by the Motorsport UK and Smedley counts Prodrive founder and former FPR Supercars (now Tickford) boss David Richards as a supporter and consultant. Richards is also the chair of MUK. Smedley also claims that he has been working closely with the FIA and F1 alumni on the project.
The arrive and drive format – which has been stated by FIA Karting as a focus point over coming years – will see an initial fixed price of $7700 AUD (£3800 GBP) for Bambino and Cadet competitors and $8888 AUD (£4400 GBP) for older competitors – including crash damage. FAT claims this is a 96% cost reduction from the current, established international series’.
The Junior World Final winner will receive funding into a Formula 4 test with FAT stating the aim is to see drivers graduate through the league right through the junior formulae to Formula 1. Diversity is a strong point for the FKL with 30% of current UK-based competitors female.
A nine event Pro Championship calendar from March to November has been identified for the UK market in 2025.
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