FKS stand visited by thousands of fans.Carolynn Hoy ‘honoured’ to drive ex-Hines Superkart up the hill.
Formula Kart Stars joined many of the most famous names and cars in the world of motorsport last weekend at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The Formula One Management backed Championship had several karts on display for the 150,000 strong weekend crowd to admire thanks to the assistance of championship partner TAG Heuer and distributed thousands of information brochures about FKS how to get involved in karting in general.
Championship Director Carolynn Hoy also fulfilled the ambition of a lifetime by joining many of the legends of the sport by driving up the famous Goodwood Hill in one of the late Martin Hines’ famous 250cc Zip Karts that she and Hines drove in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
Over the course of the weekend Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel and his fellow F1 pilots Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen were among the interested visitors to the FKS stand with Vettel and event organiser Lord March also among the onlookers as Hoy guided Hines’ famous kart up the hill.
Countless FKS ‘old boys’ including Lewis Hamilton, Oliver Turvey, Frank Wrathall and Daniel Lloyd joined Hoy on the famous Goodwood ‘Hill’ with several even wearing their Formula Kart Stars visor strips on a rare weekend where the top stars in motorsport are allowed to let their hair down and simply be fans of the sport as well as professional drivers.
With current FKS drivers Oliver and Lando Norris also on hand to answer questions on karting, more than 300 people entered the free FKS prize draw in the hope of winning a free karting session at Whilton Mill, site of the final two rounds of the 2012 FKS season.
“It is a tremendous honour to be a part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, beamed Hoy, who made half a dozen emotionally charged runs up the hill over the course of the weekend to a fantastic response from the thousands of spectators that lined the route. “For Formula Kart Stars it is a chance to show the wider motorsport world why we are ‘The road to Formula One through Racing and Education’ and for me personally it was incredible to be able to play a part in a fitting tribute to Martin, who influenced so many people during his career.”
Hoy, a member of the all conquering Zip Hermetite Superkart team in the 1980’s drove Martin’s 1979/80 Zip Hermetite 250cc air-cooled Yamaha in which he won the British Championship and in the 1983 Zip Hermetite 250cc water-cooled Rotax that Martin went on to win the World Championship.
Decidedly nervous while waiting for the first time up the ‘Hill’ in the Zip Yamaha, Carolynn and the ‘Karting Legends’ team worried about starting the notoriously difficult Yamaha, but as it turned out the kart behaved beautifully for the occasion and the crowd was appreciative of the glorious sound of the high revving Yamaha engine.
Over the three days while waiting in the assembly area many of motorsport’s great and good came over to have their photographs taken with the karts and to sign the bodywork.
Carolynn commented; “It was so humbling to have all these superstars and my heroes come over and ask if they could autograph the karts. Martin touched so many lives and his influence will be here for a long time as the young drivers that he set on the path to motorsport greatness move up”.
Driving the ‘Hill’ proved much trickier for the Superkarts than most because it was difficult to read the road whist you are sitting just inches from the ground. There are two blind crests for the karts and on the approach to the famous ‘wall’ the karters could not physically see the track turn right in front of it until less than 50 yards away.
“It was real scary stuff,” said Carolynn, “especially as we were approaching at almost 100mph”.
