Gavin Bayliff is set to compete at the FIA Karting World Championship in KZ2 category (Photo: EKN)

EKN has received news that 2025 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour WinterNationals Pro Shifter winner Gavin Bayliff is slated to compete at the FIA Karting World Championships in Franciacorta, Italy over October 9-12. The TKG Birelart USA driver is fifth in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Stilo USA as of August 4.

The Franciacorta Karting Track is in northern Italy, west of Milan and east of Brescia, measures out to 1.3 km (8/10-mile) at 13 turns. The facility is welcoming the FIA Karting World Championships for KZ for the first time in its history.

Bayliff is coming off his strongest season in Pro Shifter, earning his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory at the WinterNationals (Photo: EKN)

Bayliff finished seventh in the SKUSA Pro Tour championship for 2025, suffering a DNF at the SpringNationals and rebounding to a sixth-place finish at the SummerNationals, recording the fast lap of the race.

“This race has always been a goal of mine since I was around 11 or 12 when I got interested in shifter kart racing, and as I got older I started watching more European KZ races and never missed watching the World Champs, which inspired this goal to eventually race in the KZ World Championships,” Bayliff told EKN. “The goal really started to come to reality at the end of 2024 and headed into the new year when our team made the switch to Birelart. I decided coming into 2025 that I would set the goal to try to race in the World Championship at the end of the year if we felt prepared. Now we’re about two months out from the race and making the final decisions and starting the preparations to make sure we are ready for what’s to come when we hit the track in Italy. I know this won’t be any bit of an easy feat but I have full trust in the Birelart factory, Ronni Sala and everyone within their team being able to get me up to speed during my time there. Working with this organization throughout the course of the year and seeing the successes we’ve had gives me great confidence going into the race.”

This will not be the first international event for Bayliff. Gavin traveled to ‘down under’ in 2024 to compete in the Australian Kart Championships finale at Oakleigh Go Kart Racing Club.

“I was fortunate enough to get a taste of international karting, going over to Australia to race with Flatout Karts in the Australian Karting Championship,” added Gavin. “This experience opened me up to the ability to adapt to the different scenes and organizations while also keeping my expectations in place. I am beyond grateful and excited for this opportunity to race in such an event and represent the USA. I can’t thank my family, Ronni and everyone that is making this happen enough for trusting me and helping me to get overseas!”

The TKG Birelart USA driver is set to compete in the KZ2 category for the FIA Karting World Cup title. The trip will have him joining Birel ART Racing factory team for two weeks, also competing in the Champions of the Future event at Franciacorta on October 1-4.

Gavin was a guest on the Hot Seat podcast this May, discussing his path through karting and his win at the WinterNationals.

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