Photo: KSP Reportages
Tatuus’s recent landmark move to become the majority owner of kart brands Birel ART and Kart Republic has led to the three companies becoming divisions of a new motorsport group.
This year it has alco acquired Next Solution Technologies and kart engine manufacturer IAME, and with the previous purchase of composites firm Ycom and long-standing associations with racing car engine supplier Autotecnica and Breda Racing Equipment the ‘Korus Group’ has now been created bringing the eight Italian companies together under one banner.
The Dino Chiesa-led Kart Republic and Birel ART are not only two of the largest chassis manufacturers in kart racing, but their respective factory teams have had spells as being one of the top teams in the world over the course of the last decade.
At this year’s CIK-FIA World Championship for OK karts, 19 of the 36 drivers in the final were on Kart Republic chassis and five drove Birel ART karts. Factory Kart Republic driver Joe Turney was runner-up with IAME power on a kart he helped develop, while all Birel ART chassis used TM Kart-supplied engines.
The two brands compete against each other not only for trophies, but for market space. Each is seeking to have as many customer teams and privateer drivers on their karts internationally as possible, since that is the core part of their businesses. On-track success of course helps to sell karts.
Chiesa and his counterparts at the other firms in Korus are all now minority shareholders within the group, and there will be “a cross-functional management structure, coordinating key strategic areas — from engineering to finance, business development, and communications” according to the statement announcing Korus’s creation.
Tatuus’s chief executive officer and Autotecnica founder Giovanni Delfino will be CEO of Korus. He called it “a historic moment for our companies and for Italian motorsport” to bring major karting and single-seater racing manufacturers together.
“What began in 2017 with Tatuus and ATM reaches today a new stage of growth and recognition thanks to the arrival of companies that not only embody the spirit with which this holding was created, but are also established leaders in both racing and karting,” he said.
“Thanks to major investments in the karting sector, we are now creating the only organisation in the world capable of building a bridge between karting and open and closed-wheel racing — a strong and revolutionary connection, grounded in the solid foundations of our group’s shared projects, engineering excellence, and the talents that drive them every day.”
Tatuus president Gianfranco De Bellis, who has been a board member at Autotecnica and Breda for eight and seven years respectively after his company became more closely connected to them, will assume the presidency of Korus too.
“Motorsport has always been synonymous with projects born through collective effort,” he reflected. “Korus embodies the true essence of motorsport — the ability to deliver complete projects through deep engineering and innovation expertise, combined with the unique capacity to support drivers through every stage of their growth.”