After having started the relaunch of its business in racing karts with the production of its chassis by third-party manufacturers, TBKART has decided over the last few years to design and manufacture its own bodies entirely in-house. In this article we will focus our attention on the S197 chassis in the KZ version, which was developed with the aim of giving maximum performance while ensuring the highest possible grip, a condition often necessary in the shifter karts class, given the high power involved. Precisely for this reason, unlike the S55 chassis that we told you about in a dedicated article in the "Under Examination" section and which is sold more for use on particularly rubberised tracks, the S197 finds a greater field of application on asphalt tracks which tend not to be very rubberized and when using hard compound tyres.

The S197, more recent than the approved S55 since 2014, is certified with the 3-year 020/CH/32 approval, from 2018 to 2020, which has been extended by FIA Karting until the end of 2021 to allow all manufacturers to better manage production and commercial activities during this period of health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the design of the two bodies is very similar, the two chassis have some completely different design solutions. All the tubes of the S197 chassis, welded by hand in the company, are made of alloy steel and have a diameter of 32 mm (compared to the 30 mm of the S55), specifications that allow for a more rigid chassis capable of providing more grip.