In Europe the brand Praga has been manufacturing cars, motorbikes and tanks as well as engines, gearboxes and army machinery since 1907. The global Praga company now includes Praga Racing, Aviation, Karts and a developing Motorsports Academy.
More recently a shift into serious supercars saw the brand also move into the grassroots of motorsports buying the manufacturing factory of the Italian kart brand Intrepid. In an incredibly short amount of time the Praga brand has stormed the international kartsport scene and has major plans for their brands, Praga and orange sister brand, OK1.
In Australia and New Zealand the Praga and OK1 brands are managed by IPKarting, a group of people passionate about kartsport but who have also worked at the top of the action sports industry for more than 25 years.
Their background gives them experience in managing events, athletes and brands in the Skateboarding, Motocross Racing, Wakeboarding, BMX and Freestyle Motocross realms.
It is interesting how 25 years of working on big events and marketing for major brands, touring throughout Australia and overseas saw a change of pace by a detour into the world of karting over ten years ago for Ken and Louise Bensley.
Prior to their direct involvement in karting, Ken managed the entire operations and logistics for multi-million dollar events including the Xtreme Games held in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. Head-hunted by Pepsi, Ken and partners created the Pepsi Max Team, an innovative high-impact show featuring 4 top action sports athletes choreographed together on a mobile 22-tonne set and seen by 4+ million people over four summers. Other major projects for Pepsi included logistics and operations for a Britney Spears concert and Pepsi music events and product launches.