A VERY WORTHWHILE British charity called KartForce is reaching out to expat Brits to help raise funds to bring wounded British veterans to the USA to take part in the 24 hours of America Go Kart Race in March, 2016.
KartForce is a team of serving and ex-serving injured troops that race in karting events around the country and abroad. The drivers were all wounded during their service but that hasn’t stopped them jumping back into the saddle and the adrenaline-filled world of motorsport – hence their slogan is “Your don’t need all your limbs to race… just British Bulldog Balls!”
The charity was set-up by Dave Player, an Ex-Royal Engineer and wheelchair user from a spinal injury. Because the lads have so many different injuries, including missing fingers and thumbs, KartForce had to design a new set of hand control that give the lads full performance from the karts and allows them to race on a totally level playing in mainstream races.
Since their inception two years ago they have now built a team of almost 30 drivers who consistently challenge in series such as the Inter Services Karting Championships against 44 teams from the Army, RAF and Navy.
They have also competed in the European Prokart Endurance Championships, which include 3 x 24hr race – the Isle of Man 24hr, the Eindhoven 24hr and the British 24hr. They have also competed in the Le Mans 24hr and Majorca 12hr.
Dave Player told the British Weekly: “We’re supported by The Royal British Legion in the UK, as well as other organisations such as Team Army, but these funds are required to support our running costs in the UK.
“To race abroad we need to raise our own funds, so we’re asking the British ex-pat community in America if they can help with donations.
As we have a year’s notice, we’re really keen to see if we can raise the funds to make it to the race in New Orleans in 2016.
We’d like to enter 2 teams and bring the lads over for a week or more so we can show them a bit of America, especially New Orleans….We want to give these young lads an experience they’ll never forget – and then some good racing and show everyone what they can do on track.”
Readers wishing to make a donation can visit their JustGiving.com webpage at:
www.justgiving.com/KartForce-24hrsOfAmerica/
For more information visit: www.KartForce.org or www.facebook.com/kartforce
