Last February the registration period for one of the most interesting competitions of the moment opened. The eKarting Spanish Open, a championship of electric karts, which wants to become not only a space for racing and an academy to get to Formula E, but a whole engine for the development of drivers and also to encourage the interest of the youngest in electric powertrains.
Guillaume Meura, co-founder of Play and Drive, the kart developer and organizer of the event, shared some details of the training that the first drivers are doing at the Motorland circuit in Aragon.
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Among the characteristics of the practices stands out the silence of the vehicles that barely emit sounds. An aspect coupled with the absence of emissions, and the linear power delivery, are an incentive for those who want to start in the world of competition in a sustainable and fun way.
The competition
The eKarting Open de España counts at this start with the Marlon Kart (Spanish subsidiary of the international Tony Kart team) and Kart Republic teams, as well as the Birel chassis that originally mount the power units designed by Play and Drive for the drivers who want to participate free.
In the months leading up to the first race, other combustion competition karting teams are still invited to participate with their chassis in the Open.
The karts have a peak power of 20kW (27CV) in Race mode and 30kW (41CV) in Qualifying mode, a maximum speed that ranges from 120 to 150 kilometers per hour depending on the gear ratio chosen, with a time 45-minute recharge. The races will take place on circuits with a CIK-FIA Approved layout and where the participants will be divided into two categories: Junior and Senior.
Among those who have been able to test a unit of the electric kart is Dani Macia, second classified in the 2020 Spanish Karting Championship, who commented to the Electric Cars forum that he was “pleasantly surprised” when testing the karts. “It is very similar in power to a KZ and the way of driving and cornering is the same”. It’s like a KZ “but without noise, you notice every piano, every curve, you feel much more like the Kart. It has a brutal leave. This is the future”.
The Royal Spanish Automobile Federation endorses the eKarting Open de España. Its president, Manuel Aviñó, thinks, “The launch of this competition is one more example of how alternative energy and sustainability are progressively being incorporated into our competitions”.
Regarding the values of efficiency and sustainability on which the championship is based, Aviñó also adds that “in a discipline such as karting, where the presence is mainly young people, there is an unquestionable didactic nuance, which will help to raise awareness and raise awareness among participants about caring for the environment”.
The championship will take place on the weekends of August 27-29 at the Lucas Guerrero Kartódromo in Chiva (Valencia) from September 24-26 at the Zuera International Circuit (Zaragoza) and from November 12-14 at the Motorland Aragon.
Source I Foro Coches Eléctricos
Written by I Jhonattan González
