Sometimes David beats Goliath, even in the sprint and sprint. Although in karting you fight against some real industrial giants of the tyre world, the (relatively) small LeCont was, in fact, the first company in the world to apply RFID (Radio Frequency Signal Identification) technology to tyres in the sector of motor racing!

It is a system that provides for the presence of a microchip embedded inside the tyre carcass which, passing under a detection portal, allows the immediate identification of the tyre and the driver to whom it is assigned.

In some ways in miniature, karting has always been the training "training ground" of the F1 axes of tomorrow for what concerns the drivers, but it often also plays the role of a true center of technological innovation. LeCont confirmed this once again, introducing RFID technology for the first time in the race (it is an electronic identification label integrated into its tyres) on the occasion of the final of the 2012 FIA Karting World Championship U18, held in Bahrain. It was an absolute first in the world of motor racing, which now, more than two years later, other car formulas that run under the aegis of the FIA Karting and beyond are about to enter.

"Thanks to LeCont, karting has once again shown that it is not only the school of tomorrow's champions, but also a real laboratory for technological development", the Dutch Kees van de commented on the official website of the FIA Karting. Grint, vice President of the Karting Commission of the International Federation. "Just over 50 years ago, karting introduced the first slick tyres on the circuit. Today, it is a precursor with the RFID system introduced by LeCont, which offers enormous advantages in terms of saving time and personnel, with greatly simplified and accelerated controls. This is the future and it is clear that this technology will soon be used far beyond karting".

In fact, Formula 1 has been looking at this technology for some time and with keen interest. LeCont is ready.

Today, with the complete "RFID Inside - SmarTyre" system developed in collaboration with the Dutch company FERM and introduced in the competition by LeCont, it is possible to identify in a single step under the special electronic portal LeCont (ironically named "Check Point Charlie") all four the tyres mounted on the kart and possibly also the two spare ones housed in the kart transport trolley, at the time of its entry into the pre-grid and also at its exit towards the paddock after the finish. That is, before and after the kart runs on the track. However, last year LeCont went beyond this stage, on the occasion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Karting 2013, when the special reading portal was mounted in the pit lane and LeCont technicians were able to carry out the identification check. tyres mounted on the karts that passed through the pit lane, before and after each stop to refuel during the race. Thanks to the system developed by LeCont which allows over 200 readings per second of each individual RFID, it is in fact possible to verify the identity of each tyre while the kart is in action. In the future, this system will represent a radical evolution in the tyre control system. There are many other innovations being studied on the subject. So much so that, in the future, the system can have further developments and allow, for example, to immediately communicate the number of kilometers traveled by each tyre.