Barclay Kart Team keep kids in karts

BKT Past and Present

The club started in 1969 as an extra curricular activity lead by a science teacher, Jim Hardy. In 2023 the club is still an extra curricular activity but now has 8 team leaders all with specific roles to play. This shows a couple of interesting facts.

1 The activity is much more complex an

2 The club is considerably bigger.

Back in the earlier days of school karting the activity was divided into 2 distinct areas, building and racing. Karts were made in school workshops by pupils under the guidance of teachers and parents and in many cases were very experimental. In Hertfordshire and other counties in England schools were building karts as extra curricular clubs or in lesson time and this naturally led to National competition.

During these years of schools karting development , Barclay was led by Jim with help from Colin Fenwick, a Design and Technology teacher along with parents and past racers. The club grew in numbers becoming one of the largest teams in the country.

As the curriculum in schools changed from practical subjects to more paper based courses, karting became less of a make activity and more about the maintenance of professionally made karts and equipment. Barclay has moved with this change of emphasis but the activity is still very “hands on” at kart club evenings and race meetings.

The club has always been about “bums in seats” and Barclay pupils who join the club pay nothing, are supplied with all safety equipment and are taken through the stages of becoming a “racing driver”. The club is financed by fund raising activities, grants from various organisations and the Barclay Academy which is one of the Future Academies family.

During its 50 plus years Barclay Kart Club has supplied over 200 drivers into karting and other forms of motorsport along with about 50 people into the organisation and running of kart meetings both at school level and beyond.

All 23 BKT karts and drivers will be racing in the 2023 National Karting Championships at Rowrah in Cumbria in a couple of weeks. We wish them well.