British Superkart Association

Supported by

Welcome to the Official site for The 

British Superkart Association

Latest News Letter

Newsletter 2009 - 9

Compiled by Ian Rushforth - December 09

KARTMANIA

The British Superkart Association took part in the annual Kartmainia Show at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry recently. Thanks to the hard work of Division 1 racer John Dickinson we had a superb stand for the occasion. The stand featured the karts of Champions Carl Hulme, James O’Reilly, Danny Edwards and GP Champion Jake Green.

Many thanks to them for loaning us their karts and helping out on the stand during the weekend. Many thanks also to Tony Long and Terry Bateman who also helped throughout the weekend promoting the Darley Kart School.

And finally a huge vote of thanks to John Dickinson who built and supplied the stand for us.    

2010 UK CALENDAR

Putting together the UK calendar is not straight forward and this year has been no exception. There is always a host of things that we try to avoid if we can such as the European Championship events in the case of the 250 twins, the S/C National Champs in the case of the ICC and F250N classes. Couple this with a desire to achieve a decent spacing between events and a fair distribution around the UK so that most of the drivers get something relatively close to them once in the year.  This year we have had the added complication of the circuits and the clubs holding off to see if and when the British F1 GP was going to take place plus the shambles surrounding Donington.  The clubs we deal with have all cut back on the number of meetings they intend to hold so the number of spare places at their events is less than last year and as a result means we have not been offered one single event at Oulton Park for instance. Track time cost is a factor also with some of the clubs that offered us dates wanting £120 per minute of track time. Bear in mind we require something like 75 minutes of track time for our little bit. Needless to say we avoided these prices

Anglesey was an option for us until the New Era MCC club had an argument with the circuit owners so that was pulled from under us late on. As a result some of the circuits we have not visited in the last couple of years are back in the calendar.

We always approach the planning by first putting in the events where the member clubs are hiring the circuits themselves and are making a sizable financial commitment which this year sees the annual joint venture with the British Sprint Car Championships going to the newly re-vamped Silverstone Stowe circuit in April. The circuit is being re-shaped into a 1.2 mile circuit.

Next up comes our bi-annual visit to N Ireland for the UK Cup in June and of course the British GP at Cadwell in July.  We then fit in whatever we can throughout the rest of the year.  

As I said in a previous newsletter we have to be a bit creative with the F125 Open, ICC and 210 Championships as these are the smaller classes and on their own would not stack up to be economically viable without a bit of thought.  Events where all of the classes are racing on the same weekend helps with this problem.

We have tried where possible to incorporate a free practice, timed qualifier and two races at the events.  It has not been possible at all of them however.

We have one more event yet to add to the Division 1 Superkarts calendar which will be our exchange visit with the Interantional Superracekart Series. Assen in October was at first a possibility but that has disappeared as it clashed with the final event in the FIA-CIK European Championships at Le Man on October 23/24^th so we await the ISS management team adjusting their calendar before we decide. Confirmation of that will come in the new year.

For All the dates go to the Calendar page (More)

FINAL TWEEKS TO REGULATIONS

At a meeting of the BSA Management committee recently the final touches were made to the regulations for 2010.

F125 Open   -   Will no longer have a mandated control fuel. The class will run instead to the MSA Blue Book rule.

Pump fuel will therefore be permitted although the Carless Hyperflo Kart fuel which was the control fuel will be optional as it complies with the MSA limit of 100 octane. This brings the class into line with all the other classes that they will race with this year.

MSA British F250 National Tyre Allocation   -  In an effort to reduce costs and taking into consideration the number of new sets that were used in the 2009 series.

The number of sets permitted across the six events of the series will be five in 2010. 

The 2009 split was as follows :- 

In 2009 there were seven events in the series

Division 1 Superkarts   -  This class will run to 2010 CIK regulations except for the gear ratios which will be free.

It should be noted however that three of the six events in the series will be International events involving overseas drivers so the full CIK rules will apply at those events.  Once again we will return the favour and race at one of the ISS events on Mainland Europe with them joining us at Cadwell for the BGP

F250 Clubman Challenge   -   The non eligible driver rule as been slightly modified to read :-

Past and Current World, European, British and National L/C Gearbox Champions will not be permitted to register and score points in the series.

Grid Formation  -   When all of the 250 classes are racing together the grid will be formed by merit regardless of class . The timed qualifier will therefore decide the grid order. When a Championship class is racing with a non championship guest class(s) the grid formation will be declared in the event SR`s and final instructions after due consideration of who and how varied the grid is likely to be.

DARLEY L/C KART SCHOOL

The Darley L/C Kart School is now in full swing and congratulations to them on achieving ARKS status recently so they will now be able to carry out the ARKS test and has in fact already got bookings for five tests in the new year. The school has now run several sessions with good support on each of its days at Darley Moor. One of the features on offer is a Superkart experience which gives drivers chance to try a 125 gearbox kart on long circuit, a sort of appetiser so to speak.

TESTING AT OULTON PARK IN 2010

Testing will be available on the International circuit at Oulton Park on Tuesday Feb. 16th as part of a car test day. There will be four sessions (two am/two pm) for £50.  Booking can be made with Gemma  Stevenson at Oulton on 01829 760301 or online at  www.motorsportvision.co.uk - Oulton Park - Testing -Car Testing - Date

We really need to get behind this so we stay on the radar with circuits like Oulton so come on guys we need to support this and as I have said before it is a case “of use it or lose it”. All you need is a minimum of a National B licence and you can enjoy one of the UK’s finest circuits.

Please make a commitment and don’t leave it to the day to decide, it might not be there as they need at least a dozen drivers to get it off the ground. Other dates might then follow if well supported.

INTERNATIONAL LICENCE RENEWALS FOR UNDER 45’S

A reminder from the MSA Licencing Department that if you are applying for an International licence for 2010 and are under 45, you must have a 12 Lead Resting ECG in accordance with FIA – Appendix L, Chapter 11.1.2.

THE 2010 FIA-CIK EUROPEAN SUPERKART CHAMPIONSHIPS

The last time we had a European Championship round in the UK was back in 2004 so it is excellent news that we have been chosen by the CIK to run the opening event in the 2010 series.  We will be part of a big international meeting that will feature in addition to ourselves the Superleague Formula, the Dutch Supercar Challenge and the GP Masters. The event which tales place over Easter will be on the GP circuit (now known as the Bridge Circuit) and will be over three days with the very provisional first schedule showing us out for the free practice on the Friday, the two qualifiers on the Saturday and the races on Sunday. There is plenty of time yet for this to change of course as the organisers wrestle with a full programme of events.

Watch out too for a test day at the circuit some time before the event takes place.

Now that’s the easy bit done all we have to do now is pay for the considerable track hire charges and make it something to be proud of and a superb event. We need to fill every one of the sixty places on the grid so if you race either a 250 twin or a 250 single please think about taking part. It is also intended that this event will be the opening event in the British series for Div. 1 Superkart.

BIG MEETINGS PLANNED AROUND EUROPE IN 2010

Our superkart friends in Sweden are planning a really big event at Andersdorp next year. The Superkart races will be part of The Race Legends event on August 13 – 15^th and will be part of the European Supperracekart Series.

There will be a well thought out tented village for all of the class with lots of action going on and live online streaming on the internet throughout the weekend plus all the usual attractions of a big event.  Sounds excellent.

If you are interested in taking part then please contact Lizette Berntsson on lizetteberntsson@bredband.net

Our colleagues from the French series are to join with our friends from the International Superracekart Series to hold the French Cup at Magny Cour on May  29/30^th. More information to follow as we get it.

And we must not forget our big event the MSA British Superkart GP which will again be at Cadwell Park on July 16/17/18^th.

ENGINE TRIAL

The MSA has approved the use of the 250 RS Honda GP engine on an experimental basis so we can evaluate it. The engine can run alongside the current crop of 250 twins on a NO POINTS, NO PRIZES basis. It is not permitted to compete in a Championship. A review will be held at the end of 2010 to see where we go from here.        

AND FINALLY

Many thanks for your support during 2009, it has been much appreciated. Have great Xmas and a very happy healthy and successful new year.

Send mail to with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1997 British Superkart Association  The word Superkart®  is registered to Cadwell Car & Kart Club and we would like to acknowledge they have copyright on the word "Superkart"©
Last modified: July 26, 2010