Kart Sport Magazine - June 2004 Issue - Reine Persson

Power Brokers - THE MEN WHO SHAPE YOUR WORLD
Kart Sport Magazine - June 2004 Issue 16 - Page 36

Shifter kart racing is a relatively small segment of karting, but for the past five years, it's been the most visible in terms of mainstream exposure, and it's been the driving force behind the growth of the sport. And no single individual has had a bigger impact on shifter racing than Reine Persson.

Even if you don't race shifters, you know who he is. His company, SwedeTech Racing Engines, often strikes fear into the hearts of fellow engine builders, and those racers who are not equipped with one of his power plants. If you race shifters and don't have a SwedeTech engine, you've no doubt smelled its exhaust at some point in your career.

Normally, one wouldn't consider an engine builder to be a one of the most powerful people in any motor sport. But Persson's influence extends far beyond the domination of national shifter racing that SwedeTech has enjoyed since the late 1990s. His success has been so pervasive that rules have been changed, trends set, and formulas destroyed as a result of his tireless and seemingly always successful, pursuit of horsepower. And in that regard, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with more technical power than Persson.

Need an example? The rise of ICC and the national decline of the moto engine leaves a trail of bread-crumbs that leads directly to the front doors of SwedeTech. The overwhelming domination of Persson's moto powerplant, coupled with the inept handling of moto engine rules by SKUSA, ushered in the ICC era by a shifter kart populace that yearned for a format change to ease the pain of getting SwedeTeched race after race after race. When your success leads to changes of this magnitude, you are a power player.

Kart Sport Magazine Article - June 2004 Issue 16

Kart Sport Magazine Article - June 2004 Issue 16