First Shifter Tests: A New Chapter for KartFreedom × CKR
First Shifter Tests: A New Chapter for KartFreedom × CKR
Our first KartFreedom × CKR Shifter Academy tests are now behind us, and they gave us much more than lap times.
Stories about progress, consistency, barriers, ambition, and why Shifter karting continues to have such a special place in racing.
Graeme Eslick — from newcomer to Shifter in a year and a half
Graeme Eslick drove a Shifter kart for the first time in his life.
What makes this especially impressive is where his journey started.
Graeme only began karting in the spring of 2025. In roughly a year and a half, he has reached a level that shows just how much can happen when training is approached with real consistency.
There is no magic formula behind it.
There is a dream. There is hard work from the driver and coach. There is strong family support. And, above all, there is regular practice.
Over the last year and a half, Graeme has trained more than almost anyone around him and has taken part in a huge number of races.
Week after week. Race after race. Session after session.
That consistency has built something very important: adaptability.
First, we saw how quickly he adapted from KA100 to the faster TAG Senior category.
And once again, he exceeded expectations.
In his first-ever Shifter test at AMP, Graeme ran a 49.4.
But the lap time is only part of the story.
What impressed me even more was how quickly he began understanding the kart.
In the video, you can actually hear and see the learning process happening.
In just four sessions, Graeme started to understand when to shift, how to listen to the engine, how to combine braking with downshifts, how to organize his hands and feet, and how to keep driving the kart at speed while his brain was processing a completely new set of tasks.
Of course, there is still a huge amount to learn.
That is part of what makes Shifter so exciting.
But for a first day, it was an outstanding debut.
Manny — from behind the scenes to behind the wheel
I also want to highlight another story from the test.
For a long time, most people at the track knew him as the mechanic working behind the scenes.
Preparing karts. Fixing problems. Helping drivers. Doing the work that often goes unnoticed but makes everyone else’s racing possible.
At the beginning of this year, he was still relatively new to karting.
Today, he has become a very good mechanic.
But mechanics were not what originally brought him into this world.
Manny already had a kart, but for a long time he did not have the opportunity to practice consistently.
Eventually, he found a way around that barrier as well — he became a track member and started training.
This weekend was only the third Shifter practice of his life.
With the ROK Shifter engine, Manny ran an impressive 50.6 at AMP.
But the story matters even more.
Your starting point does not define your destination
Graeme and Manny came into karting from very different starting points.
One is building his career quickly through constant training and racing.
The other spent months helping everyone else, working as a mechanic, while still carrying the desire to drive himself.
Both stories remind us of one important idea:
Your starting point does not define your destination.
There will always be barriers.
Money.
Time.
Experience.
Age.
Equipment.
Knowledge.
But there is an enormous world of possibilities on the other side of those barriers.
And how far we go depends largely on how consistently we are willing to work.
Why Shifter is personal to me
And maybe that is exactly why this project feels so personal to me.
I still remember my first day in a Shifter kart.
Before that, I had already spent years racing single-speed karts, learning, competing and becoming faster.
But the first time I drove a Shifter, something felt completely different.
I realized: this is it. This is what I’ve been looking for.
Maybe this was the feeling I had been waiting for since I first fell in love with racing back in 1994.
The challenge of doing so many things at the same time — and gradually turning that initial chaos into one continuous rhythm.
Thirteen years have passed since then.
Engines have evolved. Chassis have changed. Technology has moved forward.
Shifter karting continues to develop.
But one thing has never changed for me:
That feeling when you finally begin to understand the kart.
That moment when the machine stops feeling complicated and starts feeling natural.
When shifting, braking, steering, throttle, grip and engine sound stop being separate tasks and become one process.
That feeling changed the way I looked at karting.
And that is why watching Graeme’s first day, Manny’s progress, and every new driver getting into a Shifter means something special to me.
Because I know exactly what that first experience can mean.
Why we created KartFreedom × CKR Shifter Academy
This is one of the main reasons we created the KartFreedom × CKR Shifter Academy.
The goal is not simply to rent out Shifter karts.
The goal is to create a structured development path.
A place where drivers can experience Shifter karting safely, understand the technique, develop the required physical and mental skills, study video and data, learn how the kart works, and eventually prepare for racing.
We continue enrollment into the program and are already working toward adding another Shifter training kart in the near future.
Because Shifter is not simply another kart.
It has its own philosophy. Its own culture. Its own universe.
It demands acceleration, brutal braking, physical strength, precision and coordination.
You have to listen to the engine, work the gearbox, brake, downshift, steer, manage the throttle and understand the grip — all while everything is happening incredibly fast.
There is almost no time to stop and think.
Eventually, the driver has to become part of the machine.
Body, mind, engine, gearbox, tires and asphalt working together at the limit — fighting for hundredths and thousandths of a second against competitors…
Shifter can make young drivers stronger.
And somehow, every time you drive one, it can make adults feel younger again.