A HORSELL boy has won the National Schools Karting Championship a year after he starting racing competitively.
Bertie Hodgson, 11, a pupil at Woking High School, won virtually all 12 races in the Cadet Class and now hopes to move on to the Juniors.
Last year Bertie competed in the finals of the British Indoor Karting Championships and regularly broke lap record in his first year of racing.
His mechanic is his dad, John, a freelance chef who owned The Horsell Kitchen until he sold it earlier this year.
John said when Bertie started racing at Camberley Kart Club, some of the other dads showed him the ropes and he has since developed his skills through YouTube tutorials, online research and advice from the karting community.
Despite being at the grassroots of motor sport, the technical demands are high and the kart has to be set up for the specific conditions of each track, as well as adjustments for weather and other conditions.
Bertie has taken to racing like a professional, showing great control over his kart and enjoying the high speed.
Most races are about two hours away, but others, at tracks as far as Wales and Cumbria, are often a family affair, with mum Jo, an administrator at Woking High School and brother Charlie, 10, coming along.
While mum and dad are very much a key part of team Bertie, with Jo running his Instagram account, Charlie’s interest are more sedate.
“He begrudgingly comes with us,” John said.
“He’s into churches, bells and arts and crafts, but at home he and Bertie are as thick as thieves and get on really well.”
Bertie’s interest in motor sport was sparked by watching the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021, in which Lewis Hamilton, who was also a karting Cadet Class champion, came second, and Lando Norris, in a McLaren, came seventh.
He hopes to follow in both drivers’ footsteps and race for Woking-based McLaren.
“That is his dream; his goal,” John said.
In the shorter term, Bertie is joining four other karting friends to form a team, run by two of the dads, to support and push each other forward.
Mum Jo said that as well as running the Instagram account, she takes Bertie to races in the Club 100 championship, where the karts are provided and John is not needed.
“Watching him race, excited, terrified and proud at the same time,” she said.
Jo said Bertie has made good friends in karting and they all support and help each other.
“It’s a real community.”
Jo said Bertie knows his dream of racing in Formula One is incredibly unlikely but he is very interested in the mechanical side and very much wants to work at the highest level of motor racing.
She said that Bertie could participate at the highest level of karting in the country, but the family is limited by funds.
Anyone interested in sponsoring Bertie in his racing career should contact Instagram @bertiehodgsonracing or via the email joannakmhodg [email protected].