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Ever wondered how it all started at Shenington? We’re just coming up to our 61st anniversary, and of course due to the coronavirus we missed out on the big 60th diamond celebrations we’d planned.
A local man called John Cooper bought a dozen go karts and started hiring them out at Shenington airfield. The first proper race was held in February 1960 and reported in Karting Magazine.
By the way, John Cooper visited us and was interviewed at our first SuperPrix celebrating our fortieth anniversary in 2000. Soon many people bought their own karts. The facilities in the village did a roaring trade on that first weekend and indeed on many others.
During 1960 and 1961 the club held rounds of the first World Championship which had its final round in Nassau, Bahamas, the other rounds were in Italy and USA. Stirling Moss raced at Nassau but not we believe at Shenington, but many famous drivers such as Graham Hill did race karts in that time period.
Five thousand spectators came to view that first kart race, over a hundred companies started manufacturing karts and so the sport grew. Later our club joined forces with Solihull to become the Solihull and Shenington Kart Club in the mid-sixties, and then just Shenington Kart Racing Club as we know it today. Do you know anyone who raced in the sixties or indeed at that first event?
