Drive-Tech News

The Mayor of Westbury, David Windess, organised his second charity kart race with a share of the money raised  in aid of The Wiltshire Air Ambulance.   This time he managed to get mayors from 3 other towns to take part including Bradford-on-Avon mayor Peter Leach, Frome Mayor Nick White and Glenis Ansell the Mayor of Calne.    There were also teams from local businesses and pubs all trying to be the winning team in a very exciting, albeit  little damp endurance karting event.

Cllr Windess said in the Wiltshire Times "It was a very enjoyable event, althoughit was very wet and cold.  We managed to raise about £320 in total, which will be split between the charities evenly".

"The team from Rygor Commercials, Salisbury Branch were the winners and the team from the Crown Inn did very well"  "It was one of my last events as mayor and we managed to raise £2,300 for my two charities over the year, which has been good".

If you have a charity that you would like to raise money for and would like to organise a go karting event, please email the Drive-Tech Marketing Manager, Lyn Eden at to discuss in more detail.    If you would just like to come along and try karting yourself call the office on 01249 783010 and the team will give you more information.

2012 Castle Combe Karting Championship Round 1 Report

The first round of the 2012 Castle Combe Karting Championship attracted a strong grid of 30 drivers. After downpours of rain throughout the day, Tom Haddock (Basildon) lined up on pole for the final having won all four of his heats and his semi-final. Martin Palmer lined up alongside him on the front row, with Kristian Jennings (Clevedon) starting 3^rd, Antony Weeks (Bristol) lining up 4^th, Alec Jordan (Bedfordshire) 5^th and Callum Brown (Chepstow) 6^th.

All 6 karts headed into the first corner bumper to bumper, with nothing to separate them. Tom Haddock fell down the order, allowing Kristian Jennings, Martin Palmer and Antony Weeks to battle for the lead. Martin Palmer spun, dropping him back down the order behind Tom Haddock, promoting Alec Jordan up to 3^rd. Kristian Jennings and Antony Weeks managed to pull away from the rest of the pack with Jennings just out of reach of Weeks.

At the flag Kristian Jennings took the win ahead of Antony Weeks with Alec Jordan finishing a strong 3^rd. Tom Haddock hung onto 4^th place, with Palmer finishing 5^th after his spin and Callum Brown taking 6^th.

After a thrilling first round Kristian Jennings and Tom Haddock head the points with 52 points each, both 1 point ahead of equal 3^rd placed drivers Antony Weeks and Martin Palmer. Mark Barber had a great run in the heats to line up on pole for his semi-final, but was unable to make it through to final but still remains 8^th in championship standings, behind Alec Jordan, Emerson Combstock and Callum Brown. Bristol based John Hartin was battling for the lead of his semi-final, before a mistake ended in the barriers dropping him down the order, eventually finishing 4^th in his semi, failing to make the final. Despite his disappointing semi-final result John’s heat results were good enough to place him 12^th in the standings.

For more information about the all new Castle Combe Karting Championship please contact Drive-tech ltd on 01249 783 010 or vistit our website www.drivetechltd.co.uk

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS SHOW

Drive-Tech attended the very busy and popular Swindon Business Show last week.    We were helped by Anita Jaynes and the very friendly people at Swindon Business News who put all our lovely winter driving leaflets in their goody bags and let us display our fancy banner in the reception area. http://www.businessshowswindon.co.uk/

We were also the prize on their busy little stand and Debbie Smith, Director of Helix Public Relations was the lucky winner – Congratulations Debbie, we really hope you enjoy your skid session with us.

The show was extremely well attended and we also got to have a quick look at the Steam Museum at the same time!   It was a great networking event and we met lots of lovely people from all the local hotels in the area including the Campanile Hotel Group based on the Delta Business Park, Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel in Tortworth and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.    It was also nice to catch up with Planet Pursuits the event organisers.

Hopefully we can catch up with everyone again, but this time in Bristol at the Brunel’s Old Station on the 20^th March at the next Show. http://www.rabbitevents.co/ 

CONGRATULATIONS TO DAN HEALEY

For regular readers of our blog you might remember an article wishing Dan Healey, one of our Junior Kart racers good luck at the Team Sport National Championships.   For those that didn't you can find the article at the following link http://www.drivetechltd.co.uk/blog/item/23-junior-karter-dan-healey.html 

Well he won!   Well done Dan what a fabulous achievement.   He was competing against under 16's and came out on top.    Dan only took up go karting with us at Castle Combe about a year ago and is doing spectacularly well.

As with alot of youngsters it is very hard to progess in the sport of karting so his mum, Jo Healey, is currently looking for anyone looking to sponsor an up and coming talent.   She can be contacted on 07742 212665 if you would like to speak to her.   Dan says that "his idol is Lewis Hamilton and his plan is to race professionally".

If you are interested in following in Dan's footsteps we have a junior karting session this Sunday, 20th November for anyone aged 10-15 years (min 4' 8" in height).   You do not need to have had any karting experience to take part, but you must pre-book on 01249 783010.   Call the office and get on the grid!

Jordan Chamberlain with Alexi Clegglittler

EUROPEAN & BRITISH KF1 KARTING CHAMPION VISITS DRIVE-TECH

We were delighted to have Jordan Chamberlain with us at our Junior Kart Racing Club, seen above with Alexi Clegglittler.    Alexi won Round 6 of our Autumn/Winter Junior Championship with a brilliant three 1st positions and a 2nd.   Alexi is chasing William Hertzell who is just 10 points ahead, there is everything to race for.   The next round will be on Sunday, 6th November starting at 1pm - if you want to come along and spectate it's absolutely free.

Jordan Chamberlain was promoting a really new and exciting board game which has been developed and designed by Appleton Games of Melksham www.appleton-games.co.uk.   If you want to experience the game for yourselves they are having a 'pop-up' shop in Melksham High Street during  November and December.    We also have the GB Racer Game to buy on the gift voucher page of our website .

If you want to come and try our Junior Kart School there will be an extra date this Friday, 28th October during half term for any youngsters aged between 10 and 15 years (min 4' 8" in height).  No previous experience necessary and we supply all the safety equipment.   Complete novices commence at 1pm and experts at 1.30pm.  Pre-booking essential so give us a call on 01249 783010 to enjoy 3 hours of karting and tuition from our expert instructors.   You never know where it might get you!  

GOOD LUCK DAN!

Dan Healey who is just 13 years of age has qualified to compete against other UK finalists at the Grand Final on Sunday, 30th October at the TeamSport Karting Centre in Crawley.    Last year's winner received VIP tickets for the Grand Prix next year as guests of Virgin Racing, so there is something equally great up for grabs this year.   Another of our youngsters, Oliver Bayani got the fastest lap of the day.

Dan has been karting with us since April 2010 and is currently competing in our Autumn Championship and is currently in the top 10 from only 3 rounds.   

Max and the team at Drive-Tech would like to wish Dan all the best for the UK Finals - Good luck Dan.

You can read more about his exploits in the Bristol Evening Post article below:

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Karter-Dan-s-fast-track-success/story-13425529-detail/story.html

KART MARSHALLS - FIRE TRAINING

We have just had our 2011 Marshal Training Day to make sure all of our Health and Safety boxes have been ticked.    It’s a serious business making sure all is fun for our customers, so it is crucial our marshals are experienced in all aspects of safe, effective running of the kart track.   We have a major incident plan that has to be adhered to and this covers all areas from Fire Training which can be seen in the pictures above and below.   Luckily we have never had to use these techniques for real, but we have to make sure all our marshals are up to speed.

The other areas covered include general track safety and kart maintenance to keep the karts running in prime condition.   The main thing is we need all marshals to work closely as a team under each of our experienced Race Directors.   

Max, a Race Director of many years, who ran the course, commented "We know that our customers have plenty of calls on their money these days, and fully understand that we have to be better than ever to deserve the business, so our discussions centred on how we can improve the real karting experience that only a quality outdoor track can give. There was some great feedback from experienced and new marshals alike, and we all enjoyed the fire practice - thankfully, none of us has any experience of using a fire extinguisher and whilst we all hope we never have to use one, it was great fun learning! I'm confident that we can keep up our high standards for the future". 

We were pleased to welcome four new marshals on the day for their initial training day, and have had so much interest in being a marshall that we are keeping a list for any future vacancies.

Find us on the latest newsletter for confused.com which has a great video of reporter Lois Avery's experience on our skid control course to learn the latest techniques for Winter driving.

http://www.confused.com/featured-articles/motoring/car-insurance/how-to-drive-in-snow-and-ice-3983451151

Even comedians need to learn new driving skills and last week in between his Brighton and Bristol gigs for his new 'Sunshine Tour' we had the Liverpool comic John Bishop along for a skid day.  Our instructor Adrian taught John and his team the benefits of skid control training and ABS/cadence braking techniques.   Not sure how much snow there is in Liverpool, but as he is travelling around the country with his tour I am sure all the instruction will come in very handy!