Birel S.p.A. of Lissone (Milan - Italy) started building karts in the late 1950s after many years as a bicycle manufacturer.
They have had numerous world champions over the years including Mike Wilson and Gianluca Beggio.
A book, 'Birel: 40 Years of Karting', was published in 2003.
Birel are the manufacturers of the "Easykart" 60cc Cadet (8-12 years), 100cc Junior (12-16 years) and 125cc Light and Heavy class (16+ years). Championships in these classes are held in 26 countries worldwide, including Italy, United Kingdom, USA, Japan, Russia and many other European and South American countries. Birel stage Easykart "World Finals" each October, which in 2011 is the tenth year of the competition, and in 2011 they introduced a two-round European Series with a round in Italy followed by a round in Poland, to replace the European Finals which had been a one-off event held in Poland for the previous three years.