Racing for Buttons

Racing for Buttons runs during the summer months on Thursday evenings. During the winter months, certain Saturdays agreed with the Club are available for Buttons use.  Please check with the Buttons committee to see when the sessions are scheduled.

Please contact Malcolm Fell on 07802 667579 for further details of the Buttons scheme.

Remember that the Buttons scheme is always very grateful for any equipment that you have outgrown.

A potted History, by David Bewley.
It was billed as the search to find a new Jenson Button in West Cumbria. Six years after our inception, we haven't as yet uncovered the next F1 sensation but Rowrah's Racing For Buttons scheme can at least claim a British karting champion amongst its ranks. Jamie Little was just nine years old when we visited Frizington school in February, 2001. After watching our video and participating in the general discussion afterwards, he persuaded his father Dave to take him for a test session at Rowrah. Dave, himself a Hot Rod competitor of no mean ability, was sufficiently impressed to buy Jamie his own kart. He chose a second hand outfit that had once belonged to the British cadet champion Paul Di Resta. Four years later, Jamie was fighting to become a British champion in his own right, achieving this goal with a brilliant win during the final round at Lydd in Kent. Jamie is still the reigning Mini-max champion but now competes in the slightly quicker Junior Max category where he is rapidly establishing a formidable reputation.

Jamie was just one of almost 60 drivers who purchased their own equipment as a result of taking part in the Racing For Buttons test sessions. During the first three years of our operations, we visited 36 schools and tested over 500 prospective young racing drivers. 38 of these actually passed through the ARKS test and were then able to take out racing licences. Luke Grima, Simon Crossley, Shanade Gress, Matthew Page, Jamie Glover, Ellis Raine and Adam Taylor all won racing scholarships entitling them to 6 months use of a kart together with race entries and protective clothing all supplied free of charge. Nat Twiss, James Smith and Daniel Yetts took part in a hire scheme that provided them with 6 months free use of karts. In return they agreed to compete in five race meetings at Rowrah and all three became regular entrants.

The scheme was initiated in March 2000 following Jenson Button's arrival into the Williams F1 team. Aged just nine years, Jenson had raced at Rowrah and won the British championships on this circuit 12 months later. Earlier, such notable stars as David Coulthard, Allan McNish and Dario Franchitti had started out their motor racing careers here. Our original plan was to give young schoolchildren the same opportunity as these notable drivers had experienced using a kart and motor that was virtually identical to Jenson's first machine. Ken Linfoot kindly supplied the kart free of charge and J Edgar & Son loaned us a second outfit. Cumbria Kart Racing Club started us off with a grant of £150 and Copeland Borough Council also provided £100 for protective clothing. Further substantial grants were received from Cumbria County Council and British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. For the first two years the scheme was run entirely free of charge with all running costs met by Ken Linfoot and Dave Bewley. However, a small charge of £2 per session was levied in 2002 and this allowed operations to be expanded considerably. In November 2002, we were successful in our application for Lottery funding of £5,000 and this money was received in February 2003 allowing three brand new karts to be bought.

The scheme was given a major boost when John Surtees, a former world champion on two wheels and four, offered his support. John actually donated a 12 months old kart and motor raced by his own son Henry in the cadet class. He also provided a special trophy presented at the club's annual Dinner Dance. Previous winners include Kalvin Quinn, Andrew Tooley, Jack Burgess and Daniel Hickman. Jenson Button sent us a letter of support, as did ex Lotus and Ferrari F1 driver Cliff Allison whose grandson George would later join our scheme. The renowned television commentator Murray Walker also sent his best wishes together with a promise to visit Rowrah and see how the scheme was progressing. We also enjoyed support from some of Britain's top kart traders. JKH provided us with a free chassis, as also did Strawberry Racing and Shark Motorsport. During our first year of operations, Andrew Saggerson from Cockermouth's Motor Museum volunteered to bring his Royale F3 car on our school visits and we also had interesting demonstrations from members of the West Cumberland Motor Club.

No less than twenty Racing For Buttons members have gone on to compete in national championships. They are; Jamie Little (S1 & Stars of Tomorrow); Shanade Gress (Stars); Greg Harper (S1 & Stars); Stephanie Harper (Stars); Kalvin Quinn (S1 & Stars); Matthew Cockburn (S1 & Stars); Lee Cockburn (Stars); Mayson Wear (S1 & Stars); Thomas Wear (S1 & Stars); Ryan Kenmare (Stars); Abigail Gerry (S1, S2 & Stars) and Daniel Cotgrave (S2). Eight of our members have raced in the national Little Green Man Championships for WTP Cadets. They include Jack Burgess; Nat Twiss; Aaron Mansergh; Lewis Raine; Oliver Raine; Charlie Raine; Sam Clarence and Daniel Yetts.

Apart from Jamie Little's outstanding success last year, Greg Harper came very close to winning the British Junior Max title in 2005. After leading for much of the championship season, he experienced cruel luck during the final round at Lydd, him down to 3rd place. Greg will be celebrating his 16th birthday shortly and has already started racing regularly in Europe as an Inter Continental A competitor. In the Little Green Man Championships of, Nat Twiss performed exceptionally well eventually finishing 5th. Sam Clarence repeated Nat's success last year while Aaron Mansergh finished two spots behind in 7th place. Earlier this year (2006), Steve Johnston raced in a one off Stars of Tomorrow round at Rowrah and shocked his Junior TKM opponents by winning. Unfortunately, lack of funds has prevented him from participating further in this prestigious competition. The success of Buttons drivers has been rewarded by profiles about nine of them in Karting magazine. Those featured so far are Jamie Little, Shanade Gress, Nat Twiss, Daniel Yetts, James Smith, Greg Harper, Ellis Raine, Abigail Gerry and Jack Burgess.

Racing For Buttons has relied on lots of dedicated effort from various individuals who have all contributed many hours for no financial reward. Ken Linfoot and Dave Bewley initially started the ball rolling, followed by Chris Quinn, John Burgess, Andrew Gerry, George Heslop, and Steve Johnston. Latterly, Michael Armstrong and Paul Grierson have taken over running the organisation. Thanks to their contributions, the Buttons scheme has enjoyed six very successful years and will no doubt have an equally promising future.