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| Image Supplied: WORR Motorsport |
The last African to compete in Formula 1 was Jody Scheckter, the 1979 World Champion, who retired from the sport at the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. In the decades since, champions have emerged from across Europe and South America, but none from Africa - a continent of 1.4 billion people with a well-documented culture of competitive sport.
According to WORR Motorsport founder Wesleigh Orr, the absence has never been due to a lack of talent. Instead, he says the sport has lacked credible development structures to identify promising drivers, develop their skills, and progress them toward the Formula 1 grid.
In response, the organisation has implemented a continent-wide programme designed to address the financial and infrastructural barriers that have historically kept African drivers out of the sport's highest levels. A key part of its strategy is a new manufacturing partnership with TB Kart, one of the world's leading karting manufacturers, to produce karts on the African continent and reduce the cost of entry into the sport.
Competitive karting equipment is typically imported into African markets, significantly increasing the financial burden on families hoping to support young drivers. Through the partnership with TB Kart, kart costs are already 20-30% lower than standard import pricing, with a five-year target of reducing prices by up to 55% while maintaining the same competitive equipment standards used internationally.
Lowering equipment costs is essential if the sport is to become accessible to a wider pool of young racers, Orr notes.
“Africa has never lacked talented drivers. What we have lacked is a system that allows those drivers to progress,” Wesleigh Orr said. “If the cost of entry is too high, many never even get the opportunity to start. Reducing that barrier is the first step in building a genuine pipeline.”
WORR Motorsport has also been appointed the official Pan-African distributor for TB Kart’s rental range, a move expected to expand access to circuits and venues across the continent. The objective is to reduce costs at every level, from first exposure in rental karting through to competitive racing.
While its long-term ambition is to develop African drivers capable of reaching the Formula 1 grid, the programme is already producing results at junior levels of international motorsport.
WORR Motorsport’s academy currently has 15 drivers preparing to compete in the coming weeks, as well as alumni racing for professional teams across Europe and Asia. Drivers developed through the programme have further recorded victories in competitions such as the ROK Cup, the Rotax Max Challenge, and in the FIA-sanctioned karting categories.
The 2026 season will also mark a milestone for the programme when Gianna Pascoal becomes Africa's first female driver to compete in Formula 4 competition through the WORR development pipeline, taking an important first step on the single-seater ladder that leads to Formula 1.
“These milestones are important because they demonstrate that African drivers can compete against the best in the world when the right structures are in place,” Orr says.
“Gianna has worked incredibly hard to reach this point. Seeing her finally step onto the Formula 4 grid is an exceptionally proud moment for our programme, as well as an encouraging signal to other young drivers across the continent that the pathway we are creating is real.”
The initiative is also expanding beyond South Africa, with a new fully operational karting hub in Rwanda confirmed for launch within the next 12 months. It will form part of a wider network of development centres designed to allow drivers to train and compete locally, rather than relocating abroad at an early stage.
Each hub is intended to provide not only driver coaching and competition opportunities, but also technical and operational training, supporting the wider ecosystem required in professional motorsport, including engineers, mechanics, and data specialists.
As part of its expansion, WORR Motorsport also owns Karting Africa, a platform focused on growing grassroots participation and competitive karting across the continent. Its upcoming Karting Africa Ghana Showrun 2026, scheduled for May, has received formal endorsement from Ghana’s National Sporting Authority (NSA), and is expected to attract as many as 40,000 attendees.
Applauding the organisation’s efforts, Rodrigo Rocha, FIA Vice-President for Sports (Africa), has aligned with WORR Motorsport's programme – a notable endorsement from the global body that governs Formula 1 and every major international motorsport series.
"For the good of our communities across South Africa and the wider continent, WORR Motorsport is ensuring that young people are no longer excluded from our sport. This is proof that Africa is not just waiting to be invited into the future of motorsport, but instead is building the future, right here, right now, on African soil," he states.
With drivers already progressing through its system, international partnerships in place, and expansion plans underway, Orr believes the groundwork for a return to Formula 1 representation is now firmly established.
“Africa has waited 46 years. Now the road back to the Formula 1 grid begins,” Orr concluded.
