We now know England have reached the World Cup Finals in South Africa and we now know who we will playing against in the Group stage of the competition as well as when.

Now the draw has been announced we at gokarting.co.uk will try to set up the best combined gokarting and football combination, so please keep an eye on our World Cup Specials page http://www.gokarting.co.uk/special-events/world-cup-specials.html which is dedicated to let fellow gokarting enthusiasts know where you can both race and follow every single one of Englands precious goals.  Hopefully we will be able to schedule a race and coverage for each of the matches at one, hopefully more, tracks. Pay close attention the wait is only a couple of months away!!!  Book to ensure your places. Gokarting AND football - we could not think of a better combination.

Call on 020 7476 1234 to find out more about our GoKarting specials.

Big congratulations go to Luke Caudle who put in a stunning series of performances throughout the 2009 season to grab the MINI CHALLENGE Novice Class, Club Class and overall MINI CHALLENGE Championship.

Luke has impressed all observers with his driving technique and his ability.  Even when unexpectedly down in the field he has shown the right mentatility and competitive drive to work his way all the way through the competition.  His smooth driving style nurtured in a gokart has resulted in yet another British driving Champion.

Luke has long been a Race Director at the Raceway and continues to run events for our clients.  If he is Race Director for one of your events just ask him for some driving tips, he will always help.

His motorsport career, like many F1 stars, started with gokarting and he has competed at all levels.  It sometimes helps to work at a gokart track!  His first taste of success was in 2001 when he raced to become the Hoddesdon Kart Club Champion.

His next step will be to defend his Champion status in 2010 and grab the MINI CHALLENGE S Class to boot.

All of us here at www.gokarting.co.uk wish Luke all the very best of British luck.

To find out when the 2010 series starts and look at Luke Caudles past results take a look at the Mini Challenge website on www.minichallenge.co.uk.

The third Lloyds Banking Group GoKarting Charity event was held at the Streatham Indoor Gokarting track on the 10th March. This event saw 55 drivers in 15 proud teams competing for the kudos of being the most professional drivers of Group IT.  We were delighted to see team representation from key suppliers Computacenter, IBM and Microsoft.

There was some great driving skills to behold and some even better crashes; the start was especially exciting with several racers attempting to overtake by going through rather than around the karts in front! Racing was held on the extended 600 metre International track which added to previous years events and made the track more challanging even for the more competent drivers in the group.

There was a clear winner on the night and we would like to congratulate The Three Amigoes (Tony Wetheridge, Steve Baggott and Drew Blackmore) for a fantastic display of gokarting. The other podium places were well contested and this ended up being a vendor affair with IBM pipping Microsoft to second place.

We won’t mention who came last but fair to say they at least enjoyed the evening!

The real success from the event was the generous sponsorship for charities and I’m very pleased to announce that the event raised £770 for the various supported charities, which is a fantastic and impressive amount. The chosen charities were -
British Heart Foundation – Lloyds Banking Groups chosen charity of the year who received £300
Rayleigh International (www.raleighinternational.org) – Water pump system in Borneo have been passed £170
Sport Relief – donated via Robin Mitchells site http://www.mysportrelief.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=71029 received £200
Orchard Cancer Relief to which we passed on £100 whom concentrates on a cure for testicular cancer

Also the are a few people that need thanking for making the event such a success
Jimmy our Race Director on the night who kept us nicely under control
Playscape and GoKarting.co.uk who helped us raise valuable funds
Alexina for adding a touch of glamour and for helping with the food

Lets look forward to next years event.  Everyone except the Three Amigoes will need to step up their game and practise their GoKarting skills.

 To hold you own private event or simply to test you and your friends driving skills just give us a call on 020 7476 1234 or drop us an email on events@gokarting.co.uk.

Have you been passed the dubious privilege of organising your best mates Stag or Hen Do?
If so, booking your GoKarting race is simpler at gokarting.co.uk.
All our Go Karting race tracks are either inside London or a little distance outside of London.
Here are a couple of tips that we will advise you to do.

Firstly, decide on your preferred GoKarting venue – consider an alternative just in case the venue you prefer is already booked.
Take a look at the tracks detailed on the gokarting.co.uk site.
If a track appeals request a Price list from the RECEIVE AN UP TO DATE PRICE LIST section available on each of the track pages.
Once you have filled in your email address we will email you instantly, whatever time you are surfing the site.
Take time to read the brochure – race formats and prices will be detailed.
Consider whether your group are prepared to travel or perhaps go for a centrally located track.

Secondly, Budget – once you have a preferred GOKARTING track ensure everyone is told how much the race is likely to be.
Keep a list of those that have agreed to the pricing.

Thirdly, the more GoKarters participating, the merrier your competition will be so choose a date that suits everyone best.
Get an idea of the Minimum number of drivers – its amazing how many bookings start with 30 and ends with 10.
At the initial booking stage commit to the minimum race requirements and then ask that you commit your Maximum number of drivers a couple of weeks prior to your event.

Fourthly, book well in advance – please bear in mind you are not the only Stag or Hen group looking for some GoKarting fun.
We recommend booking your GoKarting race at least 6 weeks in advance.  Slots go quickly so be prepared to make a prompt decision.

Prior to calling us or emailing you should have a fair idea to all of the above factors.
Once you have been told availability we are happy to hold a slot for 3 days while you make that final decision to proceed.
To confirm your event you will need to pay the 50% deposit.  The remaining balance + any additional drivers you have confirmed can be paid the week prior to your event.

All events must be paid for in advance.

Your Gokarting Stag or Hen Checklist
1 – Pick your venue
2 – Price OK with everyone
3 – How many drivers
4 – Date
5 – Call us 020 7476 1234 or email us events@gokarting.co.uk

Due to popular demand we have introduced kids Gokarting parties at the Greenwich Docklands Raceway.

We now have avaialble GoKarting party packages for two age ranges.

Firstly, the  Cadet  Karting party accomodates the ages 6 to 10 year olds (so that is a Primary School group).
Secondly the  Junior  Karting party caters for 11 to 16 year olds (so that is a Senior school group).

The facilities are unsurpassed in the UK, so if you really want to impress your school mates, this is the place to race.

The karts have been especially tailored for each age range and the 400 metre track means every karter will experience everything you would expect from a karting track, turns, overtaking straights and tunnels.  The track is great and even longer than some Adult tracks we know of.

You will get an hours worth of track time and each child will get at least 30 minutes of time behind the wheel.  All laps times are recorded and presented to each driver once the party has finished.

As the track is Indoor you get all the benefits of having an Indoor karting party - most importantly, a dry experience.

With plenty of parking on site and a refreshments cafe available trackside, you will not have a worry once you have booked your exclusive Kids GoKarting party.

The fun is fast, it is safe and the venue is unique.  Give it a go, please call us on 020 8859 4545 to book your gokarting kids event.

To take a look at more of the details feel free to check out the new page on our website - Greenwich Gokarting for KIDS.

www.gokartingkids.co.uk is a new direct way to find and book your exclusive GO-Karting party in the UK.  Each GO Karting Kids party is designed to give every child a fun filled exciting motorsport experience.

The website is simple and your closest GOKARTING Kids venue is easy to find.

Let your Kids Formula 1 driving enthusiasm begin the way Lewis Hamilton did - behind the wheel of a GOKART.
Each GOKARTING Kids party is age relevant so everyone will be racing with similar abilities.
GOKARTING is a non contact sport, so it is also generally safe.
All your safety equipment is provided, so it is also a good way to find out if your child is interested in Gokarting, at little cost.
The GO KARTS themselves are simple to drive.
Every Kids GOKART has a single engine, a steering wheel, an accelerator to move forward and a brake to slow down - it is as simple as that.
So if you want to look further simply follow the link to the new GOKARTING FOR KIDS website www.gokartingkids.co.uk.

It is also worth knowing that all our Karting parties are professionally marshaled and client safety is paramount.  So do not hesitate, book you next karting party using www.gokartingkids.co.uk.

What a highly entertaining evening was had by all.

The Heats proved to be fast and furious.  All racers were in high spirits.  Some of the overtaking manoeuvres even surprised our Race Directors, Peter and Luke.

27 races and 6 black flags later the overall winning teams were announced.

1st : BGC Partners Team 3 - Some fine gokarting displayed and all 3 team members made it to the finals, which ultimately proved to be the deciding factor.  This was a great demonstration of team skills by - Ian, Andrew and Alex.

2nd : SAXO Bank - Helped by the fact Ulrik raced well in all his heats and made it all the way to the Final.

3rd : BGC Partners Team 6 - who just edged a tight finish above Kartastrophy.

That was not all, the Individual GoKarting prize went to Andrew Wooley who won the Grand Final showing you don’t have to be Pole or Provisional Pole position to win a race.

Finally, the fastest lap of the night went to Darren Ilsley from the Kartastrophy team - see him here with his WWW.GOKARTING.CO.UK Kart Trophy.  His team name almost predicted it!

It was a closely competed event but the team who managed to get all three of their team members through to the final races won the overall Team event - a tip for next time maybe.

For those of you at Tradition.com your teams finished 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th and 12th.

New Edge Group stayed just above FSA.

This is a friendly blog but lets say FSA were the strongest team in the pack - holding the others up.

A big thank you goes to Jim and Anna from Accomplish Management for organising the competition.  Equal thanks goes to St. James’s Place Wealth Management and Haibun Partners for their generous sponsorship.

Well it would be great to see you all again in the near future.

For more details simply click on the link to view.

If you simply want to check availability and pricing feel free to call us on 020 7476 1234.

For those of you that want to experience the gokarting thrill at the fantastic new facilities at the Greenwich Docklands Raceway, why not enter the Banks and Brokers Karting Challenge?  The track is superb and the circuit surroundings are the best you will find.  The fast 9 BHP karts will test your driving skills to the max.  Its Indoor London karting so the weather will not be  a problem and what else is there to do on a cold March evening?

All of the go kart racing will be based on a Heat format, so you will be pitched against a mixture of others in each of your races, from a variety of grid positions.

Trophies will be awarded to the top 3 groups.

All you need is a team of 3 definite drivers who are all available on the 19th March 2008.  This event will prove popular so entry is available on a first come - first served basis.  Arrival time is 6pm.

The go-karting competition will be fierce but someone has to win, so why not you?  All clients from the Financial arena are welcome.  This is also a chance to Network among your peers and competitors.  Good fun for all.

The quickest way of booking your team is to call Jim on 07950 633242 and mention this Blog entry.

We look forward to seeing you race.