Thank you to everyone from Lloyds TSB who supported the BARNADO’s chartity GoKarting race held at Streatham Kart raceway on the 26th July 2007.

After months of preparation Dean Palumbo successfully recruited 48 competitors to race for each of their departments pride.  Teams from various parts of the Lloyds TSB IT department competed against each other in aid of the Barnado’s charity.

The gokarters came from far and wide, Manchester, Andover and even as far as Chingford, Essex!  This was an ideal opportunity for everyone to put “names to faces” and improve team spirits.

After a few polite introductions, it all became very serious - crash helmets on, let the gokarting challenge begin!

Once everyone had had a chance to get familiar with the track it was time to race and demonstrate just how competitive IT people can be.

“The Four Stigs” took a very quick advantage and virtually led from the outset - John Burnett, the pro among the group, regularly posting sub 26 second laps, which helped their cause immensly.  After two hours of solid Team Endurance GoKarting at Streatham the Four Stigs finished one lap ahead of the chasing group.  There was a signifcant battle for 2nd place between three teams, who all finished in a heap on the same lap.  The Krazy Karters held on to Second place by 0.340 of a second ahead of Penelope and Her Pitstops who finished a proud third.  Just missing a podium finish in 4th, the toughest position to accept, by a mere 2.590 seconds, was SD London. Throughout the race everyone followed their teams progress each taking turn to take responsibility for driving.  Team tactics proved to be important, as too many driver changes meant a gradual loss of position.

No one will be taking Lewis Hamiltons seat at McClaren but the scouts tell me to keep an eye on the deceptively fast Tony Wetheridge - smooth and slick. 

Maria Clarkin also deserves a special mention too - sacrificing her chance of driving for a demonstration of her catering skills.

We suspect the North of Watford team got delayed at the Watford gap.

Irrespective of any gokarting traffic problems everyone was involved to the very end and it is appreciated that the momentum was sustained throughout the gokarting event.

It is clear that everyone, as you can see from the above photo, enjoyed their GoKarting experience at Streatham especially as their participation contributed towards such a deserving charity.  We are also pleased to say all profits from both GOKARTING.CO.UK and Playscape at Streatham were passed onto Barnado’s.  Combined with a few extra private contributions from Lloyds TSB, Dean Palumbo and his team managed to raise a massive £700.

Congratulations to all involved and we would love to see you all again in the near future.  For details on how to book your own event, or to arrange a Corporate Team event for yourselves or your colleagues please take a look at http://www.gokarting.co.uk/ where you will find all the GOKARTING information you need.  If you want to talk through you event please also feel free to call us on 020 7476 1234 - we are happy to help anyone who is plannig a karting event.

We are delighted to have supported LTSB in their efforts to raise money for Barnado’s, which is such a worthy cause.  Have fun and we hope you enjoyed your GoKarting experience - see you soon.

We thought it would be good to publish this great picture of Hadleigh and his friends enjoying their GOKARTING party last weekend.  Hadleigh (Second from left) had a great time with his fellow karters.  Everyone thought it was great!

From all reports Hamish (Top centre) managed to be the quickest, some say slickest.

Theo (Far right) looked to have taken to the sport quickly and showed the most enthusiasm at the wheel - plenty of potential there!

All the information you need about these parties can be found on our GO KARTING FOR KIDS page - please click to find out more.

Although British fans will be disappointed with both a French, and a British Grand Prix third there is no doubt we do have a potential Formula One champion on our hands.

The GOKARTING star of the future has already proven himself to be a world beater.  Now it is a question of whether Lewis Hamilton and his long time sponsor McLaren can keep their car technically ahead of the Ferrari challenge.

Hamilton was only 32 seconds behind the Ferrari in France and a little more than 39 seconds behind at Silverstone.  As anyone knows that is a long distance in GOKARTING but this is where we think Hamilton gains his strength.  He is already familiar with fractions of seconds meaning the difference between first and missing a podium finish.

What is nice to see is the worlds press simply smiling when they talk to Hamilton - from humble GOKARTING beginnings he has remained loyal to his background.  Most people around the Motorsport world recognise this which is fantastic.  He really is a F1 phenomenon and STILL twelve points ahead of his team mate Fernando Alonso, which I am sure will be bothering only one person in the team.

Before we look to the future it is worth mentionng that Lewis Hamilton has visited a number of the tracks we are promoting on this site - and we hope to see him again.

See my next blog entry to see the nearest an adult member of the public can get to fast adrenalin pumping Twin engine karting fun.

Good luck to the man the GOKARTING world has been watching for a long time.  Next win we hope is at Nurburgring, Germany.  Remember Lewis, another win is only a Hairpin bend away!