The innovative 'Arrive and Drive' format, the centrepiece of the event, includes standardised Kosmic Mercury T Karts provided by OTK Group across the paddock. After warm-ups yesterday to grow accustomed to the kart, the 107 drivers from 50 countries started the morning ready to put on their finest display and protect their hopes of becoming one of the first FIA Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup winners.

Qualifying Practice

Saturday's action begun with qualifying practice around the 1.5km LYL International Circuit outside Kuala Lumpur. Each competitor took to the track for a 6-minute timed session to lay down their best lap time and push to the limits on Asia's largest karting track.

In the Junior category, Simba Motoda from Japan narrowly eclipsed Italian Andrea Galimberti by a tenth of a second to clinch pole position for the afternoon's qualifying heats whilst in the Senior category Zach Turner laid down a blistering time of 1:06:249 to secure his position at the front of the grid ahead of Zain Elhommossany who arrived in Malaysia fresh from his victory at the MENA Karting Championship Nations Cup.

Motoda and Galimberti received their Vega Tyres pole sitter awards from FIA Karting Commission President Akbar Ebrahim and FIA Vice President for Sport (Asia-Pacific) Lung-Nien Lee before their minds turned to converting their advantage into a top grid spot for Sunday's finals.

The afternoon running comprised of 12 qualifying heats across the junior and senior categories with points awarded according to their finishing position. A deluge of Malaysian rain briefly delayed proceedings at the circuit adding an additional challenge to the drivers, who were forced to respond to the first change of conditions during this event.

Senior

Zach Turner started the afternoon looking to protect his advantage, but the first qualifying heat gave an indication that his lead may be at risk with Knud Nielsen storming to the front of his group performing a crucial overtake on Elhommossany.

British hopeful Lizzy Metier finished the heat a close third to keep her ambitions of victory in Malaysia alive and took the fight to the UAE driver again in the second heat finishing second. Her fourth position in her final heat secured a strong starting position of seventh place on tomorrow's A-Final grid, the second best performance of the 15 girls competing in Kuala Lumpur this weekend after Eva Dorrestijn who will start in sixth place just ahead of Metier.

Matej Vikor who classified fourth after qualifying practice performed crucial overtakes on Turner and Chlopek in his first qualifying heat to rise up the leaderboard. His third place in the second heat was enough to keep his hopes alive of a top grid spot and after crossing the line second after Knud Nielsen in heat three, the Slovakian racer had done enough to secure P2 on tomorrow's grid where he'll take the outside line heading into Turn 1.

Turner, who finished third in his first heat fell back to eighth in his second heat, opening the door for Nielsen to cement his status as a rising star in the sport, excelling in the wet weather conditions and dominating his final heat. A first position from Zach Turner in heat 3 and a storming Elhommossany were not enough to catch the Danish driver in the standings who claimed a well-deserved pole position for tomorrow's A-Final.

Malaysian hopes Ethan Serto and Daniel Haris Jageei received the support of the home crowd to power them through to grid spots 11 and 17 in the A-Final tomorrow where they will be hoping to make up ground.

The starting grid for the Senior A-Final is available below with the top five on the grid as follows:

1. Knud Nielsen (DEN)
2. Matej Vikor (SVK)
3. Kain Elhommossany (UAE)
4. Oscar Goudchaux (FRA)
5. Zach Turner (NZL)

View the Senior Intermediate Classification

Junior

Home hopes were temporarily raised in the grandstands of the circuit when Mika Francois Slabbert led his third heat on his home track before unfortunately falling back behind Galimberti who produced some world class racing when it really mattered, qualifying in P2 for the A-Final tomorrow. The Italian driver narrowly escaped a disastrous weekend after initially failing to leave the pre-grid, but took the fight to Motoda who crossed the line to win his heat by just two tenths of a second.

Tommy Hart excelled throughout the afternoon gaining crucial positions and setting fastest laps that reflect his status as New Zealand Junior Rotax Challenge 2025 champion. Meanwhile Indian driver Kiaan Shah battled with all he had to climb ten positions in his second heat to propel him into the starting grid of the A-Final, starting in P20.

As the afternoon unfolded we were treated to a dramatic final heat, with Tommy Hart and Motoda going head-to-head in a straight fight for tomorrow's pole position. With the rain starting to fall Motoda placed his kart skilfully across the track whilst Tommy Hart initially failed to make his way through the pack to launch a challenge for the lead.

Final lap drama including contact between Motoda and Garrow allowed Hart to race past and secure his position at the front of the grid for tomorrow's A-Final which is shaping up to be an immense battle between the New Zealand and Japanese drivers as they hope to become the first FIA Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup winners.

The starting grid for the Junior A-Final is available below with the top five grid spots as follows:

1. Tommy Hart (NZL)
2. Andrea Galimberti (ITA)
3. Simba Motoda (JPN)
4. Tomasz Cichoracki (POL)
5. Micah Vino Satrio (INA)

After a day of thrilling racing, intense weather and dramatic overtakes, the stage is set for two unforgettable races to crown the first ever FIA Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup winners.

The finals of the FIA Karting Arrive and Drive World Cup take place tomorrow, Sunday 16 November. The B-Finals and Finals will be available to watch LIVE and FREE on the FIA Karting YouTube channel from 11:00 MYT.