16-year-old Kyle Mercieca: Another emerging kart racing talent

6th at Adria Karting Raceway

In his very first international karting race at the Adria Karting Raceway last year, 16-year-old Kyle Mercieca finished in an excellent sixth place. He improved his time with every lap and impressed his team, the Competitive Kart Racing Team of Padova, Italy.

The innovative 1,302-metre-long Adria Karting Raceway is one of the leading kart racing circuits in the world and it is homologated with the International Karting Commission of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

The Adria track, which has wide escape routes, is located in the north of Italy very close to the Adriatic Sea and its sandy beaches, just 20 kilometres away from Rovigo. Kyle was racing a new CKR kart with a new IAME engine. Yet he learned very quickly and gave a good account of himself in the X30 race in the KRS Open Series by WSK.

Kyle has been racing since he was 10 years old and showed a lot of promise from the very beginning. In the circumstances, his family backs him up completely. He has participated in time trials and other practice sessions here in Malta at both Ta’ Qali and Hal Far, where he placed first on occasions.

At the beginning of this month, Kyle had his first experience racing in rainy conditions. He participated in the first round of the Sicilian Regional Championship at the Triscina International Circuit in Trapani. Kyle placed second in the qualifying session of the 125 Rotax Max class registering a best lap of 1 minute 4.954 seconds, just 0.15 seconds slower than pole sitter Michele Puglisi.

In the pre-final race, Kyle finished in third place, recording a best lap of 1 minute 5.292 seconds in the seventh lap. Unfortunately, Kyle failed to finish the final race completing only three laps out of 15, finishing in fourth place.

However, it was a very important experience for Kyle and he intends to compete in Sicily more often if he finds the necessary support. He hopes that he will find more support from a few sponsors so that he may continue to improve his performance.

Kyle is studying engineering to complement his racing skills and has also set up his own team – KM Racing Team. Other karting drivers are invited to join his team and he will assist all members of his team with setting the karts, stocking parts and preparation for local and foreign events. He is also representing CKR karts in Malta, which produces karts for fouryear-olds and above.

Kyle has a very bright future ahead of him and with more practice he will soon begin to get podium finishes not only in Malta but also abroad.