The 2017 eKartingNews.com Constructors Championship has ended in the same fashion as that of the previous six. Tony Kart, the storied brand produced by OTK, led the way throughout the season to accumulate the most points through the 41 events used in our calculations to claim their seventh straight EKN CC title. In total, 45 different brands scored points throughout the season, as we continue to see new ideas and names enter the sport of karting.

It is not just Tony Kart, but the entire OTK brand family, that enjoyed success in 2017. Tony Kart was top-three in the six categories of our table below, including #1 in winter programs and SKUSA regional programs. OTK was #1 overall in 18 of the 41 events in the EKN Constructors Championship program for 2017. FA Kart and Kosmic finished third and fourth on the year. A number of top drivers made the move to the FA Kart brand for the 2017 season, including SKUSA SuperNationals 21 winner and Challenge of the Americas champion Jak Crawford. FA Kart also gained nearly 1/3 of its points at WKA Manufacturers Cup Series, where it was bolstered by series champion Garrett Adams of Comet Kart Sales in the Yamaha Sportsman division and Zero Error Racing’s Braden Eves, who racked up wins in IAME Senior and Yamaha Senior. Kosmic has always had a strong showing in the EKN CC, placing fourth last year. The brand was #1 in six events in 2017, mostly due to the success of the Rolison Performance Group race team.

Breaking up the OTK grouping at the top was a brand on the move in the US – Sodikart. The French manufacturer has a strong gearbox chassis program, and the Dallas Karting Complex race team showed its potential this season. DKC / Sodikart earned two SKUSA Pro Tour championships – Jake French (S1) and Riley Dickinson (S2) – and they earned a vice-champion position in S4 Super Master thanks to DKC co-owner Mike Jones. Sodikart was #1 at three of the SKUSA events in 2017, including the highest score of the year at the SummerNationals and top honors at the SKUSA SuperNationals 21.

American-based CompKart continues to move up the rankings. The crew at J3 Competition have worked hard to establish CompKart as a worldwide brand, and the results have continued to improve year by year since its debut. The brand was the #1 point scorer in three events this year, however, it was consistent in earning points across the board. Nearly half the points they earned came from the SKUSA regional programs, while two wins at the SuperNationals 21 definitely aided in moving CompKart to fifth from ninth in just one year.

Adding the Cadet divisions to the EKN CC program in 2016 helped to bring Benik on board, with a remarkable seventh-place finish in that debut season. This year, they are up one spot to sixth. Winning the overall point score at one of the races this year – Round 4 of the Texas ProKart Challenge – is remarkable considering the fact that the brand only competes in the Cadet divisions. Over half their score came from Superkarts! USA Pro Tour and regional programs. Swapping spots with Benik for 2017 is Birel ART, which dropped to seventh in the final standings. Two #1 weekends are all that the brand managed to muster on the EKN CC standings, however, two SKUSA Pro Tour championships with Ryan Norberg (X30 Senior) and 3G Kart Racing’s Jordon Musser (S4) show that the brand remains among the elite.

Top Kart was among the top three in previous editions in the EKN CC program, but for 2017, the brand fell to eighth. The WKA program is where the Top Kart scored the majority of their points, placing first in five weekends and earning another Manufacturers Trophy at the WKA Manufacturers Cup Series. CRG ended ninth in the final tally, earning a large percentage of their points in SKUSA competition. One of the best events for CRG was the SKUSA SuperNationals, as CRG Nordam is looking to carry that momentum into the 2018 season by signing a number of young drivers to its roster. Rounding out the top-10 is Merlin. Half the points earned in 2017 came from the USPKS program, where Franklin Motorsports helped drivers earn numerous victories, including the KA100 and IAME Junior championships.

Inside the Numbers:

0
Number of brands scoring points in all 41 events

3
Number of times Tony Kart scored 0 points (Texas ProKart Challenge #4, Rock Island Grand Prix, United States Pro Kart Series #4)

12
Number of brands to score top honors at one or more of the 2017 EKN CC events (Tony Kart, Kosmic, CRG, Birel ART, FA Kart, Top Kart, Sodikart, Aluminos, Merlin, CompKart, Benik, Margay)

14
Number of brands over 100-point mark

20
Highest number of brands scoring at one event (SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals)

45
Total number of brands scoring points

100
Highest event point total of the season – Sodi Kart (SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals)

488
Margin from first to second

EKN Constructors Championship Guidelines
The EKN Constructors Championship calculation process includes the top-five finishers in each recognized class (Senior-Master-Junior-Cadet classes). The SKUSA SuperNationals and US Rotax Grand Nationals will earn points with the following structure; 1st=20 points, 2nd=16 points, 3rd=12 points, 4th=8 points, 5th=4 points. The SKUSA Pro Tour and US Open will earn points with the following structure; 1st=10 points, 2nd=8 points, 3rd=6 points, 4th=4 points, 5th=2 points. The remaining events will continue to be awarded with the previous ranking system; with first place earning five (5) points down to fifth place earning one (1) point for each category. There is a minimum of 10 starting entries for the class points to be counted toward the season total in the EKN CC standings.

EKN Constructors Championship – 2017 Final Standings

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