Motorsport UK British Kart Championship entries down 12.8% for opening rounds
Junior & Senior X30 and Senior Max witness main falls.
The British Kart Championships (BKC) by Motorsport UK have experienced a decline in entries for the opening of the 2025 season, with Round 1 participation dropping by 12.8% compared to the previous year.
In 2024, the combined entries for Rotax, IAME, and Honda classes for their season openers totaled 343 drivers. This year, that number has fallen to 299. A last minute push to ensure KZ2 remained stopped a more significant decline. Earlier reports had hinted at an decline in entries, with year-on-year registrations down.
The most significant declines are observed in the Senior X30 category, which saw entries drop from 41 to 27, and Junior X30, which decreased from 55 to 33 participants. Senior Rotax also experienced a reduction, from 50 to 41 drivers. Conversely, Micro Max and Junior Max classes have seen modest increases in participation.
This trend aligns with earlier reports highlighting a decline in adult participation in karting. Just 27% of drivers in the championship are seniors and this further entrenches karting's move from being primarily adult oriented to a child based sport.
My efforts to analyse the other issue of licences by obtaining detailed breakdowns of karting licenses have been unsuccessful, with the last comprehensive data available from Motorsport UK's 2018 Annual Report. Subsequent financial reports have not provided detailed licensing statistics.
Despite the downturn in entries, the BKC will remain a significant revenue stream for Motorsport UK. The 2023 financial report stated: “The British Karting Championships reported revenue of £1,664k for 2023, a 14% increase on £1,457k in 2022 with key income streams being Championship registration fee, race entry fees, tyre sales and commercial partners.” These are not insignificant numbers and would represent over 10% of all the Group’s yearly income revenue.”
While entries are down, we are yet to assess actual Championship Registration data. Some drivers will choose not to do the the full season and miss the opening round.
Data Sources:
https://www.motorsport-timing.co.uk/championships/bkc/
https://britishkartchampionships.org/events/iame-rounds-1-2-warden-law/
Meanwhile, retro TKM classes (100UK junior, 100UK senior, 115UK) and Honda GX engine classes (GXUK junior and senior) under Access Karting have risen significantly this year. The first meeting of the year is at Whilton Mill this weekend, with nearly 200 entrants.
That makes interesting reading , shame MSUK are not so forthcoming in sharing their data .