Buckmore Park Kart Circuit is an MSA approved outdoor kart racing circuit located just off junction 3 of the M2 in Chatham, Kent, England. It is owned by John Surtees, the only person to have won world Grand Prix championships in both Formula One car racing and Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
Situated in a woodland setting between the M2 and M20 motorways directly above High Speed 1, its proximity to London makes it Britain's busiest circuit. With seven different fleets of kart the circuit offers karting experiences for all ages and experience levels. The circuit also hosts monthly MSA race meetings for owner/drivers and hosts National series annually.
Buckmore Park is a circuit where many current and past Formula One drivers learned their trade, including Johnny Herbert and Formula 1 champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, who was originally discovered by Ron Dennis in the 1996 Champions of the Future Event held at Buckmore Park.
Although Buckmore Park is primarily a race circuit, it also has on-site conference facilities and a large fleet of hire karts, quad bikes and Powerturn buggies as well as Laser Warfare activities in the surrounding woodland.
A kart circuit is a race track designed for kart racing. There are several types of kart circuit, depending on the type of use desired.
Circuit types
Short circuit
A short circuit is defined as being an outdoor circuit of less than 1,500 meters in length.
The average length for a serious racing track for karts is around 1,100 - 1,200 meters, 7 to 9 meters in width. Normally custom-built for karting, they resemble road courses, with left and right turns. They generally allow sprint racing for both gearbox and non-gearbox karts.
Temporary circuits can be set in city streets or large parking lots for special events. This is the case for the Junior Monaco Kart Cup, a prestigious event for young drivers taking place each year in the city of Monaco, and the SKUSA SuperNationals, taking place in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino.
Long circuit
A long circuit is defined as being an outdoor circuit of more than 1,500 m in length. Typically they are shared for other motorsport and only have gearbox kart races.