with Karting for the Disabled at enABLE 08
Karting for the Disabled will be joining the very first enABLE show at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, on 28&29 November, to help people with disabilities realise their racing dreams to participate in motorsport in a brand new scheme. The presentation to enABLE 08 visitors is part of the Health and Fitness seminar at the UK’s only national consumer show for people with disabilities who seek an active and independent life.
Karting for the Disabled is a project between Karting Endeavour, a group of drivers who do not wish their disability to interfere with their love of motorsport, and BRDC Stars of Tomorrow – the karting championship from which Britain’s recently crowed FIA Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton learnt his craft.
The premier karting series has purchased 12 corporate kart chassis which will be fitted with Honda engines. The specially adapted karts will be transported to indoor kart circuits across the UK as part of BRDC Stars of Tomorrow’s promotional tour of schools, colleges and Sainsbury’s car parks in 2009, offering people with disabilities across the UK the chance to get in the racing seat.
Former Formula One star and motorsport legend Alex Zanardi suffered a massive accident during a Champ Car race in Germany in 2001 in which he lost both of his legs. Miraculously, Zanardi recovered and returned to racing in 2004 with BMW to the European Touring Car Championship in a hand-controlled car and currently competes in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The highest level of expertise has been dedicated to developing the Karting for the Disabled karts which will feature hand-controlled steering wheels designed by Zanardi.
Carolynn Hoy, the Championship Director of BRDC Stars of Tomorrow, will introduce Karting for the Disabled to enABLE visitors at 3.45pm on Friday 28 November and commented: “Karting for the Disabled is delighted to be invited to the first ever enABLE show. We hope that our seminar will help visitors by introducing a sport that many would just not have considered open to them. In reality, Karting for the Disabled offers them the opportunity to race on specially adapted karts against able bodied friends and colleagues. This project has really captured the imagination of the championship’s drivers, many of whom are under 16, who have dedicated their support and encouragement to the scheme.”
The project will run initially for drivers with a disability who currently hold a DVLA driving licence, however, it is hoped that BRDC Stars of Tomorrow will eventually be able to introduce the project to the under 17s.
BRDC Stars of Tomorrow is primarily a junior karting championship that also incorporates the British Cadet Championship. Backed by the British Racing Drivers' Club, the MSA (Great Britain’s sole governing body of motorsport) and the Motorsport Industry Association, the Championship is recognised as the kindergarten of formula racing. Drivers can progress through the classes and on to the higher echelons of the sport, following in the tyre tracks of Lewis Hamilton who continues to be a patron of the championship.
With around 10 million people in Britain now classified as having a disability, the engaging free seminar programme in conjunction with the UK’s leading disability charity, Leonard Cheshire Disability, will cover a wealth of topical issues at enABLE 08. The show’s content will be underpinned by one of the UK’s largest pieces of research into the needs and aspirations of the disabled community, conducted by YouGov. The event is completely free to attend.
To register for free tickets and for the latest show news and seminar programme, log onto enableshow.co.uk or call 0870 4866 813.
