T4 competition is available at local club programs and regional series throughout the United States (Photo: T4 Series USA)

The following is a column by Jake Mottaz, the Director of T4 Series USA. Tillotson Racing is providing a spec program geared towards the grassroots level as well as the regional scene. Over the last three decades, other programs and manufacturers have attempted or are still providing a spec karting class or championship that puts the emphasis on the driver, both here in the USA and other portions of the world. The T4 program is currently enjoying a considerable growth trajectory throughout Europe, expanding in the USA and reaching all different corners of the world. This commentary helps to support Jake’s motivation in pledging his support and focus on this growing program.

Jake Mottaz of T4 Series USA (Photo: BusinessObserver.com – Lori Sax)

I grew up racing at the track in Sonoma and as a kid, I was drawn to kart racing and immediately made it my world. I held the same dream that every kid has, to become a professional driver like my heroes. Luckily for me, I was given a reality-check early on, and did not drain my parents economically to pursue my dream. I was made aware very early that the main component to fuel my journey would be economic. I was not poor by any means, squarely middle class, but I was made aware that paying to drive as much as was required to get to Formula 1 was not on the cards practically.

This same scenario is also a reality for 99.9% of karting’s potential future drivers and fast forward to today, and I find myself as an advocate of the Tillotson T4 Series USA. I have a great life, and broadly I have karting to thank for it.

What drives me today, however, is how we can do better, so that more people can enjoy the sport that I love.

Has Karting Grown Over the Past 20 years

As someone who does not come from a business background, I have found it interesting to discover that our sport is also run mostly by people without a business background. The direction of our industry has classically been steered by the top level racing promoters and material manufacturers (as it should, they have real skin in the game). However, these individuals have failed to decisively act on a few key questions:

Where do our customers come from? And how do we all get more of them?

The simple answer to the first question is… tracks (indoor and outdoor). The answer to the second question is slightly more complex.

These questions are only vaguely relevant to the top of the competitive sport, because without investing massive energy into these questions, they each continue to have the same 200 to 300 drivers around which their models are based, and they are content. The manufacturers and series constantly compete for market share among the same sized consumer base. And when they lose market share in one category or class, they simply pursue and focus in another – from mini to KZ etc.

How do we create more racing drivers ?

Current long lasting karting customers are at minimum upper middle-class. Affecting society to the point of increasing the membership of an entire socio-economic class seems like a task for a different lifetime, so the answer becomes to make karting cheaper and more accessible to less-wealthy demographic.

Tillotson T4 is not the first concept to tackle this mission. EasyKart most notably in the past attempted this over a decade ago. But it is, I believe, the most comprehensive effort which has leveraged all sides of the industry to put something truly revolutionary together.

What is Tillotson T4

Tillotson T4 Series packages include Senior, Junior, Mini and Bambino (Photo: Tillotson Racing)

Tillotson T4 is not some new, nuclear fission, cutting edge, extra-terrestrial technology. T4 is the result of a handful of passionate people asking core structural questions about the future of karting and attempting to answer those key questions by solving for growth and accessibility.

The T4 Series is a fully spec class, both kart, engine and tires. You cannot change anything on the kart or engine. You must run it as it comes out of the box. This is true both at the club level, as well as at the world championship level finalé called the T4 Nations Cup.

Everyone drives the same blue kart, powered by the same 4-stroke 225cc engine. You can only make standard chassis adjustments – width, tire pressure, ride height etc. Everything else is fixed, down to in some cases what gearing you can use.

This simplicity fixes costs and bridges the knowledge gap between new day-one drivers and the complicated and complex world of motorsport. It makes racing about driver skill, and not set-up knowledge, so it gives families an entry point that suits the less mechanically inclined 21st century customer. The T4 is simple yet still fast enough to get your heart going, but as an FIA approved kart is by no means a backyard kart.

The T4 Series is the answer to the core structural growth inhibitors in our sport and was designed around one main feature… an average person, on an average person budget, can 100% compete and win a world championship level race.

The T4 is the best first kart you will ever purchase.

What T4 Does for the Industry – Karting Manufacturers

The T4 Senior category was added to the 2026 Texas Sprint Racing Series championship program (Photo: Tillotson Racing)

Naturally, in order for T4 to be fully spec and as fair as possible, the karts must be manufactured as identically as humanly possible by a single manufacturer. Understandably, this leaves the other chassis or engine manufacturers to feel a desire to suppress T4 as they cannot actively participate economically in the class. Though understandable, this exemplifies exactly the kind of short-term non growth-oriented thinking that has caused the industry to be stagnant.

Rather than see T4 as a competitor, they should view it as a growth multiplier, that will increase the future customer base, and therefore the pool from which they can identify and earn customers. If, due to its cheap operation and low cost, the T4 creates 100 new drivers per year and 10 of them move to 2-stroke at the end of the year, the manufacturers will have gotten 10 new customers at $0 customer acquisition cost.

The executives at Tillotson are acutely aware that, for many, T4 may just be a stop on the karting journey. Most drivers want to go faster if they can afford it, and Tillotson actively encourage that. But the magic, is that it does not have to be. This is why it is the fastest growing series in the world.

T4 is not taking drivers from the existing pool, it is creating new drivers due the combination of its structure and low cost. It is this combination that makes the magic. Low-cost racing (racing bar-stools), for its own sake, is not helpful.

What T4 Does for the Industry – For Karting Teams

T4 Nations Cup is becoming one of the largest global events in karting, welcoming 250 drivers from 37 countries in 2025 (Photo: Tillotson Racing)

For teams, T4 is the best arrive and drive package you can offer. No driver is going to leave your team because they think driving a different colored kart will make them win. This gives teams the chance to keep drivers long enough to educate them, rather than losing them the first time they bring them along to a big race because the other team has a bigger truck, a flashier sticker kit or is using ‘the right kart’.

Mechanically, it is so simple that you do not need the most experienced mechanic to keep it competitive for your customer. You can even share mechanics across multiple karts. This reduces costs for the customer, and complexity in operating your team, which means more profit potential.

It is a strong driver development vehicle. When a driver gets off the track, he cannot complain that he was slow because the other team made a better choice of what wheels to run, or what axle to run. They cannot hide from the fact that their driving is not up to a winning standard.

All you are left with is driver coaching and problem solving when things break mechanically.

As a monobrand class, it does not take away from your flagship 2-Cycle program. It allows you to offer a lower priced entry level ‘arrive and drive’ option, which will attract more drivers to your team. The lower cost enables you to bring more of your local customers on the road to give them the experience of racing at a higher level. It can even be the loss-leader to attract more drivers to your team. After you build a relationship with the customer, you can have them run 2 classes or sell them on your chosen karting brand when the time is appropriate for you and the customer.

It is win-win all around.

What T4 Does for the Industry – For Series Promoters

When every team in the paddock has more drivers, so do you. Simple as that. And when people have more money, they can do more races. You also gain the chance to offer tickets to T4’s crown jewel event – the T4 Nations Cup.

What T4 Does for Tracks to Create New Customers

USA driver Derek Wargo finished second at the T4 Nations Cup 2025 (Photo: Tillotson Racing)

For tracks, the magic happens overnight.

The tense, team saturated paddock atmosphere at club races (which are meant to be for fun) swiftly starts to abate. More mini-vans and campers start to appear. More families and kids running around. The paddock starts to look again like it did in the 90’s. As a track operator, I have seen this first-hand and it has been a great accomplishment.

Customers stay in the sport longer.

A typical scenario for a track is that you sell a new customer a kart and begin by telling them to just focus on driving for 6 months before they spend any money on equipment. Then you come to find out that five days later, out in the paddock, ‘John Doe’ got to them for $8,000 and sold them 5 axles of every stiffness, 2 sets of $800 wheels, 2 spare blue-printed engines, a softer seat, trick spindles, a more aerodynamic nose and fairing, all while they are 3 seconds off and still need a GPS to find an apex.

This is all before they become convinced that you sold them the ‘wrong’ brand of kart and now they don’t trust you.

In the T4 scenario, 6 months later this customer is still driving the same blue kart with the same wheels and axle because….they can’t change it even if they want to.

The T4 series protects the customer and keeps them in the game longer. Which is good for everyone. By the time they are ready to go racing seriously, they are more educated and prepared, and therefore able to protect themselves from the short term predations of ‘John Doe’.

This is why I believe in the Tillotson T4 program. The T4 Series was built by racers for racers – and make no mistake, everyone at Tillotson Racing is a boots on the ground karting lifer.

Let’s face it, the average customer is not as savvy as our grandparents were. The average 35 year old Tesla-driving dad, is not grabbing a toolbox from his garage to throw a top-end in his Yamaha KT-100. People of all ages are less mechanical in our society as a starting point, and no quantity of watching F1 ‘Drive to Survive’ is going to change that.

But we can adapt and we can meet them where they are.

And that is how we can grow the sport – a truly cost effective, spec, well managed entry level racing series with a full path towards a world championship.

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