F1 ACADEMY Discover Your Drive Karting UK

F1 ACADEMY Discover your Drive Karting UK is a national programme to find and nurture the next generation of young female karters.

Recent statistics show that around 45,000 young girls visit TeamSport UK venues every year, but only a small percentage ever progress to competition. The programme will address this, acting as a gateway to motorsport for young girls, making them more aware of the opportunities available to them and removing the barriers that often inhibit girls to compete.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

F1 ACADEMY Discover your Drive Karting UK is operated by Motorsport UK, the governing body for four wheeled motorsport in the UK, and TeamSport UK, who operate 35 karting venues across the country.

The programme leverages TeamSport UK’s expert karting instructors to identify girls aged 8-12 who show promise and offer them a series of development sessions to nurture their talent, arming them with the skills and techniques needed to compete in junior levels of indoor karting.

In 2023, this pilot programme was rolled out at six venues across the UK and saw participants supported through the qualifying stages of the British Indoor Karting Championships – an entry level for many British drivers – after completing the series of development sessions.

This saw a 265% increase in females participating in the British Indoor Karting Championships and the programme will scale up to 35 venues across the UK this year.

Visit the TeamSport website for more information on the latest programme.