Bambino 2022

The ever-evolving world sees karting manufacturers worldwide investing in improvements to safety and ease of use of their products.  The international governing body the CIK often mandates new rules and homologation specification of karts in line with this. Once a manufacturer homologates his chassis, engine or tyres based on a new set of regulations, from this point on all new equipment supplied to competitors will be this specification.

Where does this leave us?

The Bambino Top Kart chassis

After many years of supplying the existing Bambino a new model with improved safety features has been launched – known as the “Blue Boy”. Critical safety features have been added:

• CIK-style nose with vertical front face replaces the old wedge-shaped nose cone
• CIK-style pop-in nose cone mountings provide additional impact absorption
• Side pods have been moved out wider to be flush with the rear wheels – to protect the rear axle
• A new rear bumper provides more impact absorption and better protection for the rear wheels
• A clamp on engine mounting replaces the current welded unit – protecting the chassis and making chain adjustments or engine changes easy
• A harder rear axle will be evaluated

All of this results in a safer and modern looking kart!

We will investigate the possibility of fitting the new nose cone to all existing karts – improve the safety of both the driver and kid in front – no more lifting the rear wheels into the air. Moving the side pods outwards will also be implemented.

The Bambino Comer C52 engine

The Comer C50 has served karting for more than 20 years in its current configuration but no longer meets European emission standards. For this reason, it has been upgraded and is superseded by the Comer C52.

The C52 looks identical externally to the C50 but there are some important internal differences.

• A longer stroke increases the engine capacity by 2 cc
• A new cylinder with a squish type combustion chamber allows higher compression and improved efficiency
• The rubber inlet manifold will be mandatory to improve the life and working of the carburettor
• New tooling for accurately manufactured cylinders (diecast Nikasil plated) as well as new crankshafts will ensure parity
• The new C52 engine will not be allowed to score points in any championships in 2021

The Top Kart / Comer Kart has been the market leader in junior karting since the nineties and has delivered incredibly close racing at a very reasonable cost. This has successfully accommodated small children with appropriate dimensions and all-in weight to suit young kids. Bambino kart has a 77cm wheelbase – perfect for small kids (no need for special seat brackets to move the seat forward and pedal extensions etc used on bigger chassis) and the-all up weight of 74kg for kart and driver is designed around the safety of kids in this age group.

The cost of purchasing a Bambino kart complete or engine only, remains around 50% cheaper than any other product offered in this age segment. The running costs are also a fraction of the alternatives – the very small turnover of spare parts bears testimony to this fact that the engine is extremely durable and reliable.

Looking into 2022

Our goal is to continually grow and improve our entry level class. With this in mind we will be offering an upgrade service where a new C52 crankshaft and C52 cylinder will be fitted to your existing engine at an attractive price. Trade ins on new engines will all be possible so we will help facilitate the unavoidable but exciting change.

The specifics of such a deal would still need to be finalized but we assure you that we will offer the best possible solution.

The SARMC program attempts to offer a sensible progression of age, weight, performance and importantly cost. Try to resist the temptation to move rapidly from Bambino to the next class – naturally your youngster will want to go faster but keeping your youngsters in Bambino until they are physically too big and/or too heavy to compete is the smarter choice. Bambino racing is incredibly close and teaches kids how to race in relative safety and at a very economical cost.

In closing, we not only hope to have even safer and closer racing for 2022 but also take a step forward into the next generation of Bambino technology. Let’s get 30 plus karts on the grid!