the Drive to Drive
News
What We’ve Been Up To
BTK Drivers Excel
February 2, 2025
Tara Herm came P4 in the first round of the new Jamie Chadwick Junior Series at Daytona Sandown Park. Having recently passed her Sodi assessment, this was Tara’s first real race. She qualified P3, led the field from the start, and finished P4 after some great battles. Given that this was Tara's first race, there's no doubt she has the potential to get podiums in this series.
​
And congratulations to Kate Broadbent who finished P1 with the Club 73 Endurance Team, driving in Buckmore Park’s season opening 3-hour endurance race. Kate drove the middle-hour shift, driving fast and confidently on an icy track to leave the team in P1. Kate will be driving for Club 73 for the rest of the season, and is looking forward to the first race of the championship on the 15th March.
Heartache in Club 100
November 2, 2024
Kate Broadbent was truly on form for Round 8 of Club 100’s Experience championship. After competing in the morning in Club 100’s Extreme 60, Kate was definitely warmed up, and perhaps a little tired!
Nevertheless, some consistently fast driving put her in pole position after qualifying. So Kate knew she had the speed and potential to get podium. In the first heat she held her position to the first hairpin where some aggressive driving from behind forced Kym Ely’s kart into her, making her spin off. It was heartache as the rest of the field raced past Kate, and Kate rejoined the race in 29th position. From this point on, Kate’s driving was outstanding. With nothing to lose, she pushed on with the most confident driving I’ve ever seen. Within one lap she regained 4 places, another 2 on the next lap, and another 3 on the next lap. She was pushing her way through. A track limits warning popped up, but that didn’t stop her, and she continued pushing her way through. By the time the race finished, Kate had moved from P29 to P9. That’s 20 places (not to mention all of the back markers who got in her way). Disappointment for Kate, but her driving was truly outstanding.
A fast time in the first heat put Kate in P3 on the grid for the second heat. A good start, and Kate maintained her P3, pushing into P2 after 4 laps. She kept P2 for the next 6 laps when Jack Woodward (the current championship leader, and winner of the first heat) crept up behind her and barged past with Toby Wykes following, and Kate dropped to P4. Kate was tiring, and the morning Extreme 60 race was taking its toll. Blaise Turnstill was closing the gap, and 10 laps later he snuck by to finish in 4th, with Kate 5th.
Great driving. A P9 and a P5 gave Kate a P7 overall. A good result, and likely to move her up the overall championship leaderboard. What it has shown, is that Kate has the speed, confidence and maturity to get her on that Club 100 podium. Heartache yes, but driving to be proud of!
Kate races for Team ARD in Buckmore 12-hour
October 5, 2024
Kate Broadbent was fortunate to get a last-minute seat for Team ARD in the Buckmore 12- hour endurance race. Team captain Gary Coombes popped along to see Kate practising at Buckmore on the Friday before the race, and he was impressed. He kept photographing the timing board to show the other team members Kate’s consistently fast lap times.
The four-strong team dropped to a three-strong team the day before the race when another driver pulled out. This meant two 2-hour stints for Kate. Gary’s tactics meant long driver shifts and the minim number of pit stops.
On the day, Kate pulled out the fastest lap time of the team in practice, and she was asked to do the qualifier (which was definitely not what Kate was expecting). A good run in qualifying, and Kate left Kev to start the race in P9 (out of 28) which meant being on the inside for the first corner, and Kev used the position to his advantage, moving to P7 after the first two turns.
Kev managed to get the team to P5 before other teams started fuel stops. When Kate went on her first shift, she was behind Team Rango in 5th place. But over time, Kate steadily caught up with Team Rango and pulled ahead of them by 17 seconds, only to be overtaken by Maple Motorsport, which meant Kate maintained the P5 by the time she fuelled.
Kris took over and got the team to P3 by the time he had to come in for a mandatory service stop. After an 8-minute service check and new front tyres (which all teams had to do), Kris was back on track (although it was impossible to figure where teams stood until all teams had done their service stops).
And then Kev took over again, leaving the team in P4 after his usual strong and consistent driving. Then Kate was on again, chasing TRX Motorsport Elite. 6 seconds behind. 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1, and then Kate was ahead after 45 minutes of her shift, only be overtaken by Nameless Motorsport (the eventual winners).
Kate fuelled in P4, with TRX Motorsport Elite 10 seconds behind. And then Kris took over and did a phenomenal drive, finishing 64 seconds ahead of TRX Motorsport Elite. P4 overall. Narrowly missing podium, with just over a lap behind the winner. That’s just over a lap behind the winner after 12 hours of driving and 841 laps!
P1 for Kate and Thomas at Super 90
August 30, 2024
What a qualifier and what a race!
There was drama at Rye for the 5th round of the Super 90 Championship. In the darkness of the race (and boy, those dark nights are closing in), a front wheel fell off one kart and a track rod broke on another. Despite valiantly grabbing the broken track rod, Blaise Turnstill couldn’t control the kart after passing the checkered flag, and hit the wall. He’s okay, but the way Blaise held that ice pack to his hand showed that he was definitely in pain. Rye House really has to do a better job of maintaining their karts.
Thomas Wong pulled out a P3 qualifying time in the last lap of qualifying, which gave Kate Broadbent an excellent inside spot on the grid.
Rye House don’t dally on the starting lights, and the karts were off before I’d even realised. A good start from Kate, and consistent fast lap times. Some tussles between P1 and P2, a spin here and a spin there, and Kate was suddenly in P1. It wasn’t long before P1 and P2 were back in the game, and despite some brilliantly defensive driving from Kate (with Team Principal Clive Broadbent and driver Thomas Wong telling her when attacks were about to happen through the amazing Cardo Packtalk Edge comms) P1 and P2 pulled ahead and Kate was back in P3. Maintaining her lead over P4, Kate pitted in P3, giving Thomas a great opportunity to get podium.
A slow pit stop, and Thomas was in P5. It didn’t take him long to get back into P3, and despite the back-marker traffic, he battled on with consistently fast lap times maintaining his P3.
Constant updates from Clive and Kate helped Thomas chip away at the opposition, and with only a few laps to go, Thomas was suddenly right up there with P1 and P2. BTK were hoping for a P3 finish, but a P2 or even a P1 was suddenly an option. P1 and P2 were battling with each other again, seemingly oblivious of Thomas coming up behind them. And then suddenly Thomas was bumper to bumper with them. Final lap, and Thomas snuck ahead amidst all the commotion, and he was in P1. Shouts and screams from Clive and Kate down the comms, and all Thomas had to do was hold on. Down the final straight there was nothing in it. Thomas hunkered down to get as much DRS as possible and suddenly he was across the line, checkered flag, and he’d won. P1 for BTK. What an amazing race. Well done to Kate and Thomas for some brilliant driving and brilliant teamwork.
Podium for Dawn to Dusk
August 25, 2024
Congratulations to Kate Broadbent for coming third in the ladies 6-hour endurance race.
It was particularly tough this year. According to the organisers, the weather was the worst it had been in 22 years, and puddles had turned into lakes and lakes had turned into rivers.
Covered from head to toe in mud, Kate was unrecognisable when she passed the pits after the first lap.
The first lap was particularly hard for Kate. The wind had blown away the warning sign for an extreme enduro section, and Kate found herself battling up a very steep muddy and rocky incline. She didn’t make it, and lost valuable time getting the bike back down to the main course.
Subsequent laps were quicker, although wetter, and pit flybys involved glove and goggle swaps.
Two riders pulled out because of the conditions, and Kate found herself in third place. She battled on to finish 62nd overall, and 3rd in class.
Club 100 race at Buckmore Park
August 23, 2024
Congratulations to Kate Broadbent for completing her Driver Development Programme at Buckmore Park. And more congratulations for winning her final race of the programme, a Club 100 race. And what a race it was. Racing against other drivers on the programme, Kate had her work cut out. Despite loads of lead weight on the karts, the other drivers were much lighter than Kate, and so they quickly caught her up on the straights and up the hills. After an aggressive start and a track-limits warning, Kate managed to get to P3. And then, after applying constant pressure and consistent lap times, first one driver, and then another made mistakes and span off. This left Kate in P1 with another driver close behind. And on the last lap, despite some confident moves from the driver in P2, Kate managed to hang on, taking the checkered flag and finishing in P1.
BP Endurance Championship Round 5
August 11, 2024
Kate Broadbent did remarkably, qualifying P8 in class and P11 on the grid with a best lap time of 50.577. This might not seem like a great lap time, but it was remarkable because the kart had a puncture.Buckmore kindly swapped the kart, but it meant starting with a cold engine and cold tyres (the kart had just been jet washed!). So, Kate dropped from P11 on the grid, to P15 after the first lap.After some consistently fast driving, Kate had moved into P4 by lap 57.Guest drivers Lewis Leverington-Poole and Owen Stern had lap times consistently in the 50s and 51s despite never having driven at Buckmore before.Thomas Wong was suffering from the heat after a very long session on the pit board in the sun, and despite his very fast lap times he was brought in early to rest and recover.Down to three drivers, it meant longer sessions for all.Despite problems with the kart, and a track that seemed slower than usual (there were very few sub 50 second laps), the team performed brilliantly, finishing P8 in class and P9 overall in a grid of 28.BTK Racing are currently P13 in the championship (tying with Team Chuggabug on 60 points).
Almost a P2 at Daytona Sandown
August 4, 2024
Congratulations to Jakub Siedacz who almost picked up a P2 in the 3-hour endurance race at Daytona Sandown.After 3 hours of driving, Jakub’s team finished P2, only to be demoted to P3 after 25 minutes of deliberations from race control and a subsequent penalty for a dangerous exit from the pits!Well done though for the P3. Consistently fast lap times, despite dmax karts littering the track, led to a multi-lap gap between P3 and the rest of the field.
P1, P1, P1, P1 – success at Daytona for Kate Broadbent
August 3, 2024
Some brilliant driving from Kate Broadbent led to qualifying P1 and finishing P1 in two races.It was a full grid for the 20-minute first race. 33 karts on the track made it tight into all corners, and there was barely a lap without a yellow flag, making it tricky for Kate to get a good lap time. Despite the number of karts on the track, Kate lapped 31 drivers, and finished 39 seconds in front of the driver placed P2.The 40-minute second race, was a better length and a better practice for the following day’s endurance race. The grid was smaller, and the drivers were more experienced, making it much tougher for Kate. Despite the pressure, Kate qualified P1, made a good start off the grid, and led for the whole race, with driver Sam Attard only seconds behind. There were some exciting battles between Kate and Sam, with Sam sneaking into P1 only to be overtaken again by Kate. Kate held on despite the heat of the day, and crossed the line just a few seconds ahead of Sam.P1, P1, P1, P1 – two more trophies for Kate Broadbent!
Buckmore Park Driver Development Programme
July 11, 2024
Congratulations to Kate Broadbent for getting a place on Buckmore Park’s inaugural Driver Development Programme.The Buckmore Park Driver Development Programme is an intensive, week-long academy starting on August 19, designed for 15 individuals looking to pursue a career in motorsport.From on track coaching to detailed classroom training, the itinerary provides essential karting and motorsport skills for on and off track.The five days will cover kart telemetry and setup, commercial and media, simulators, fitness and vision training, and guidance on Club 100 racing.
P1 and P2 at Rye House
June 30, 2024
Not content with a day of Club 100 racing, driver Kate Broadbent joined teammate Thomas Wong for an evening race at Rye House in Rye's twin-engine pro-karts.Qualifying P1 and P2, and finishing P1 and P2, Kate and Thomas led for the entire race, crossing the finish line with only a hundredth of a second between them.
Club 100 at Rye house
June 30, 2024
After qualifying P12 will a best lap time of 43.07 and an average speed of 40.66 mph, Kate had a brilliant first race. Kate finished race 1 in P6, battling with Tom Long (who eventually finished P10 from a 4-place penalty for gaining a place through contact). And it was Tom Long who spun Kate off the track in race 2. Kate started in P4 because of a brilliant 42.94 best lap time in race 1, but was spun off through contact on lap 18, pushing her down to P13. With just 10 laps to go, Kate managed to pull a place back to P12, and finished P8 overall (a combination of the results from race 1 and race 2).
Grid Series Champion
June 20, 2024
Congratulations to Kate for winning the 2024 Lightweight Grid Series at Mitcham Teamsport. This was the first full Grid Series championship since Mitcham migrated from petrol to electric karts.