Buckmore Park
Encyclopedia
Buckmore Park Kart Circuit is a 1,200 metres MSA
approved outdoor kart racing
circuit located just off the M2 in Chatham, Kent, England
.
The circuit currently hosts hundreds of events yearly, with over 100,000 annual visitors and over 1,000 corporate events. It caters for nearly everyone, with events available for racers as young as 4 years old and up. These events range from individual races, to team races, to corporate events with up to 280 competitors.
Buckmore Park is also the circuit where many current and past Formula One
drivers learned their trade, including Johnny Herbert
and Formula 1 champions Jenson Button
and Lewis Hamilton
, who was originally discovered by Ron Dennis
in the 1996 Champions of the Future Event held at Buckmore Park.
Although Buckmore Park is primarily a race circuit, it also has on-site conference facilities and a large fleet of hire karts, quad bikes, Argocats and Powerturn buggies.
In 2008 the circuit will undergo various changes, including increasing the track length as well as increasing the facilities available.
Sprint events at Buckmore include the Grand Prix League, Buckmore 600 and the two Junior Kart Club classes.
Some individual competitors prefer 'Endurance' races, where grid positions are decided by a short qualifying session, leading to the fastest driver starting on pole. Races are then usually an hour long and include the Man Of Steel (known in 2007 as the Thunder 60) and the Iron Man (known in 2007 as the Pro 60).
Team races are also popular, and work in the same way as Endurance races but include fuel stops and driver changes.
Popular team events include the Team Of Steel (2 hours using Thunder Karts for 2-3 drivers) the Buckmore 3 hour (3 hours using Pro Karts for 2-3 drivers) and the 6 hour, unique in running both Thunder and Pro Kart classes.
These events make use of 115cc club 100 karts which lap significantly faster than the standard fleet of karts.
In 2009, the Elite Endurance event was introduced. This event is a two and a half hour race with each team required to make four pit stops during alloted time windows. Team CFM won the championship in both 2009 and 2010.
The Elite Sprint event was subsequently introduced in 2010. In the Elite Sprint, each driver participates in three heat races with the accumalated points from these deciding the grid positions for the A and B finals. The best 5 of 6 rounds count towards the final points score allowing each driver to drop their score from one round. Carl Tebbutt was the winner of the first Elite Sprint championship.
New for the 2011 season is the Elite Solo, a short endurance race of roughly 45 minutes without the need for a pit stop.
Two guest judges will decide the winner based not only on track performance but also on their punctuality to race briefings, courtesy and general behaviour off of the track.
Carl Tebbutt won the event in 2006 with Simon Rudd winning the following year. Jack Harding won in 2008, Terry Waller in 2009 and most recenty in the 2010 star pupil, Matt Jones was judged the winner.
A new owner bought the site in 1985 and after extensive restoration and resurfacing events started to take place there again, with the first RACMSA event taking place in 1989. The circuit was extended in 1994 and again in 1999 and a £1.23m clubhouse was built in 2003. The circuit has plans to continue development this year with upgraded facilities.
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Motor Sports Association
The Motor Sports Association , is the official governing body of motorsport in the United Kingdom.-Responsibilities:...
approved outdoor kart racing
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
circuit located just off the M2 in Chatham, Kent, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The circuit currently hosts hundreds of events yearly, with over 100,000 annual visitors and over 1,000 corporate events. It caters for nearly everyone, with events available for racers as young as 4 years old and up. These events range from individual races, to team races, to corporate events with up to 280 competitors.
Buckmore Park is also the circuit where many current and past Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
drivers learned their trade, including Johnny Herbert
Johnny Herbert
John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...
and Formula 1 champions Jenson Button
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...
and Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
, who was originally discovered by Ron Dennis
Ron Dennis
Ronald "Ron" Dennis CBE is the executive chairman of McLaren Automotive and McLaren Group, and is also a significant shareholder in both companies...
in the 1996 Champions of the Future Event held at Buckmore Park.
Although Buckmore Park is primarily a race circuit, it also has on-site conference facilities and a large fleet of hire karts, quad bikes, Argocats and Powerturn buggies.
In 2008 the circuit will undergo various changes, including increasing the track length as well as increasing the facilities available.
Sisley Kart Racing School
Buckmore Park is also home of the Sisley Kart Racing School which trains 6-16 year olds during the school holidays. A UK motorsport academy is planned.Types of Hire Event
Buckmore Park is well known for its Hire Kart Club which regularly hosts events for its members. One type of event is 'Sprint' style racing, where competitors compete in a series of heats and finals. Starting positions for heats place each driver at the front, middle and rear of the grid for one race, whereas finals are decided by points acquired from finishing positions in heats.Sprint events at Buckmore include the Grand Prix League, Buckmore 600 and the two Junior Kart Club classes.
Some individual competitors prefer 'Endurance' races, where grid positions are decided by a short qualifying session, leading to the fastest driver starting on pole. Races are then usually an hour long and include the Man Of Steel (known in 2007 as the Thunder 60) and the Iron Man (known in 2007 as the Pro 60).
Team races are also popular, and work in the same way as Endurance races but include fuel stops and driver changes.
Popular team events include the Team Of Steel (2 hours using Thunder Karts for 2-3 drivers) the Buckmore 3 hour (3 hours using Pro Karts for 2-3 drivers) and the 6 hour, unique in running both Thunder and Pro Kart classes.
Buckmore Elite
To accommodate the drivers at the top of the hire karting ladder, the Elite series' were added to the roster of events. Drivers must be a holder of an elite permit before being granted a race entry.These events make use of 115cc club 100 karts which lap significantly faster than the standard fleet of karts.
In 2009, the Elite Endurance event was introduced. This event is a two and a half hour race with each team required to make four pit stops during alloted time windows. Team CFM won the championship in both 2009 and 2010.
The Elite Sprint event was subsequently introduced in 2010. In the Elite Sprint, each driver participates in three heat races with the accumalated points from these deciding the grid positions for the A and B finals. The best 5 of 6 rounds count towards the final points score allowing each driver to drop their score from one round. Carl Tebbutt was the winner of the first Elite Sprint championship.
New for the 2011 season is the Elite Solo, a short endurance race of roughly 45 minutes without the need for a pit stop.
Star Pupil
At the end of each hire season, Buckmore hosts an annual 'Star Pupil' day, for the top drivers in all of its hire kart categories. The drivers participate in a mix of endurance and sprint events.Two guest judges will decide the winner based not only on track performance but also on their punctuality to race briefings, courtesy and general behaviour off of the track.
Carl Tebbutt won the event in 2006 with Simon Rudd winning the following year. Jack Harding won in 2008, Terry Waller in 2009 and most recenty in the 2010 star pupil, Matt Jones was judged the winner.
History
There has been a kart circuit at Buckmore park since 1963 when it existed as an army engineering exercise. The track was used by a wider range of people in the 70s including visitors from the Buckmore Park Scout Centre and the Rochester Motor Club but fell into disrepair in the 80s.A new owner bought the site in 1985 and after extensive restoration and resurfacing events started to take place there again, with the first RACMSA event taking place in 1989. The circuit was extended in 1994 and again in 1999 and a £1.23m clubhouse was built in 2003. The circuit has plans to continue development this year with upgraded facilities.
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