Students win dream McLaren F1 prize at karting championship

Over 600 teams with more than 1850 students entered the British Schools Karting Championship (BSKC) this year for a chance to not just win a trophy but to win a visit to the famous McLaren Technology Centre.

Thanks to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ sponsorship, the champions will get the chance to see where the F1 cars raced by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are designed and manufactured. In addition, they will receive one-to-one tuition in Arden International’s state-of-the-art simulator.

Will Tew, Championship Director at the BSKC, said: “The skills of the teams are improving with each year and that has been demonstrated in the tightest final yet. The BSKC was started to give young people a chance to experience the thrill and excitement of motorsports, and excitement is certainly what we got in the final.”

BSKC 2012 was the biggest year and most exciting final yet. The 617 teams that entered the competition raced around the country, from Aberdeen to Exeter, but only 34 of them from 34 schools made it to the national final, which was held at Daytona Milton Keynes on Sunday 1 April.

Tew described is as the ‘tightest final yet’ following the results of Caterham School, which beat second place to last year’s champions, Altrincham Grammar, by less than a tenth of a second to take the championship.

The team of three drivers from Surrey - Ben Dillon, 18, Alex Jobson, 17, and Ivan May Jones, 16 - won the closest final in the competition’s history.

The BSKC is an ‘arrive and drive’ karting championship that aims to bring competitive, cost effective karting into UK schools, for both boys and girls. Since it began in 2007 with just 22 teams competing, the popularity of the championship has grown and 2012 saw most exciting race yet. Now, students are back at their schools preparing themselves for BSKC 2013.