EXGEL Motorsport, a Japanese company producing high performance protectors for drivers’ safety and comfort, has been quite active in supporting young racing drivers.
Nirei Fukuzumi and Ukyo Sasahara, who are participating in the Super Formula and F3 now, are one of the drivers supported by EXGEL Motorsport through one-make kart racing and sponsorship for their challenges to Europe.
In recent years, less and less youths are going into motor racing, and only a few aims for overseas categories. As a result, it is quite difficult to produce world-class racing drivers from Japan.
In order to overcome the situation, EXGEL Motorsport decided to support talented drivers to motivate them to take on a challenge outside Japan.
Ren Sato, the brilliant champion driver of the Japanese Karting Championship 2017, was nominated to EXGEL Motorsport’s first participation in the CIK-FIA World Championship 2018. Despite it was Sato's first race in an overseas country, he showed impressive performance.
The challenge goes on, and three drivers will be competing in the World Karting Championship.
Date of Birth：Nov. 12, 2005
Place of Birth：Aichi, Japan
Records：
| 2011 | Started kids karting (at the age of 5) |
|---|---|
| 2013 | BRIDGESTONE All-Japan Super Kids Champion, SL Kart Meeting Rainbow Series Kids Expert Class Series Champion |
| 2014 | SL Kart Meeting Rainbow Series Cadet Open Class Series Champion |
| 2015 | Biwako SL Series Cadet Open Class Series Champion |
| 2016 | Biwako SL Series Cadet Open Class Series Champion, JAF Junior Karting Championship FP-Jr. Cadet Class Series Champion |
| 2017 | JAF Junior Karting Championship FP-Jr. Class Series Champion, Suzuka Karting Championship YAMAHA SS Class Series Champion, All-Japan SL Kart Meeting YAMAHA SS Class Champion |
| 2018 | DUNLOP NEXT CUP EXGEL SERIES Series Champion |
| 2019 | Debuts in the Japanese Karting Championship FS-125 |
Date of Birth：Aug. 16, 2000
Place of Birth：Kanagawa, Japan
Records：
| 2005 | Started karting |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Koudai Cup Champion, Kids Kart Festa Series 2nd |
| 2011 | Open Masters Kart YAMAHA MZ Class Series 2nd |
| 2012 | JAF Junior Karting Championship FP-Jr. Cadet Class Series 3rd, Koudai Cup Kadet Class Series Champion |
| 2013 | JAF Junior Karting Championship FP-Jr. Class |
| 2015 | Japanese Karting Championship FS-125, Motegi Kart Race X30 Class Series 2nd, IAME International Final Junior Class |
| 2016 | Japanese Karting Championship FS-125 Series 11th, Motegi Kart Race X30 Class Series 3rd, X30 Challenge ASIA-Master Cup Senior Class Champion |
| 2017 | DDUNLOP NEXT CUP EXGEL SERIES Series Champion, Motegi Kart Race X30 Class Series Champion |
| 2018 | Japanese Karting Championship OK Series 16th |
| 2019 | Japanese Karting Championship OK |
Date of Birth：Feb. 25, 1994
Place of Birth：Aichi, Japan
Records：
| 2000 | Started karting |
|---|---|
| 2005 | SL Biwako TIA-J Class Series 2nd, SL Mizunami TIA-J Series 4th, SL Tsumagoi YAMAHA Expert Class Series 2nd, TOYOTA SL All-Japan TIA-J Class Win |
| 2007 | SL Tsumagoi YAMAHA SS Class Series 3rd, TOYOTA SL All-Japan YAMAHA SS Class 6th |
| 2008 | Junior Kart Championship FP-Jr. Class Series 7th, Regional Karting Championship Mizunami Series FP-3 Class Series 4th |
| 2009 | Eastern Regional Karting Championship FS-125 Series 4th, Western Regional Karting Championship FS-125 Series 5th |
| 2010 | Eastern Regional Karting Championship FS-125 Series 2nd, CIK-FIA Asia Pacific Championship KF2 5th |
| 2011 | Japanese Karting Championship KF2 Series 2nd |
| 2012 | Japanese Karting Championship KF1 Series 6th |
| 2013 | Japanese Karting Championship KF1 Series 3th |
| 2014 | Japanese Karting Championship KF Series 2nd, Western Formula 4 Championship Series 3rd, F4 Western Japan Championship C-Class Series 2nd |
| 2015 | Japanese Karting Championship KF Series 4th, FIA-F4 Japanese Championship |
| 2016 | Japanese Karting Championship KF Series 2nd, FIA-F4 Japanese Championship |
| 2017 | Japanese Karting Championship OK Series 4th, FIA-F4 Japanese Championship |
| 2018 | Japanese Karting Championship OK Series 7th, Super Taikyu ST-2 Class Series 2nd |
| 2019 | Japanese Karting Championship OK |
The Karting World Championship is one of the competitions organized by the CIK-FIA, and it is regarded as the flagship event in kart racing. It used to be held as a series event, then after 2014, it became a one-match competition. This means that the winner of the only one event gets the honor of the World Champion. Literally the world’s top competition in kart racing.
Jarno Trulli (FK in 1994 and FC 1994), Vitantonio Liuzzi (FSA in 2001) and Max Verstappen (KZ in 2013) are the ones who have been honored as a World Champion. Some other big names are Ayrton Senna who took 2nd position in 1979 and 1980 (both with 100cc), Michael Schumacher 2nd in 1985 (Junior), Jenson Button 2nd in 1995 (FA), Ronnie Quintarelli 2nd in 2002 (FSA) and Charles Leclerc also got 2nd in 2012 (U18) and 2013 (KZ).
The best results by Japanese drivers are Koji Yamanishi’s 2nd place in 1994 (FA), Takao Matsuya 2nd in 1996 (FSA) and Kosuke Matsuura’s 2nd position in 1997 (FA).
There are 3 world titles in 2019 – OK and OK Junior with direct-drive, plus KZ with shifter. The official names are the CIK-FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, the CIK-FIA WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP and the CIK-FIA WORLD KZ CHAMPIONSHIP.
Nomura, Minagi and Asahi will participate in the CIK-FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP in OK category to be held in Power Park Circuit, Finland from Sep. 6 to 8. OK Junior will be also held in the same event.
