The fact that there is a real growth in Pembrokeshire interest centred on competitive Karting owes much to Royston Badham because since 2009 he has almost single-handedly organised what is known as ‘Rental Kart Racing’ in the County, which allows almost anyone to take part in a motor sport that at one time was thought to be only for those who had the sort of finance that enabled them to buy an expensive Go-Kart.
 
But all that changed when Royston negotiated with Carew Karting to establish a competition that allowed raw novices to test their potential on an equal footing with everyone else who joined, were allowed to practice in karts that were equal in terms of performance and speed, and then race against everyone else involved.
 

Interest grew in university

 
Ask Royston about that start and he would admit that he already had a real interest before he had studied Motor Sport Management at Swansea University and came away with a 2.1 Honours degree.
 
“At that stage I thought I might find an important place with one of the top Formula One racing teams or even be a Bernie Ecclestone of the future but instead I found a job at Folly Farm and in the intervening 15 years I have been promoted in stages to Operation Manager, which I really enjoy.




 

New championship devised to encourage participation without your own Kart

 
“Whenever I spoke to people about trying their hand at Karting they told me they couldn’t afford it so I met up with Carew Karting and we devised a league which became known as the 'Pembrokeshire Karting Championship' where anyone who wanted to compete paid a set fee for each event consisting of practice, heats, semi-finals and a final, which included the hire of a helmet, the fire-proof overalls and safety cover.
 
“It soon caught on with the help of coverage from the local press and ‘PembrokeshireSport.co.uk’ and in our first year we had over 30 participants who competed over three rounds, with points allocated towards deciding the eventual placings in the competition.
 
“All the karts were set up exactly the same so it was a very fair competition and I was lucky that I had gathered a few contacts in Formula One and was able to take some of our racers to the Force India team (currently Aston Martin) at Silverstone and Williams at Grove (near Oxford) as prizes.”




 

Changes made to enhance competitions

 
By 2015, Royston and his very small band of helpers had built up their karting club membership to over 60 drivers. Each season now consisted of seven rounds, with the highest point scoring driver at the end of the year being crowned Champion. Such was the popularity, different weight classes were introduced to keep the racing as equal and fair as possible.
 
Royston also realised that certain factors needed to be considered to promote the sport to untapped demographics and added categories for rookies (newcomers), masters (a nice name for over 40s and includes a 76 year old) and a new ladies’ cup which run alongside the main championship - all of which has enhanced the competition in the intervening time.
 
“What pleases me is the fact that we have a growing number of youngsters coming through and in recent years some of the winners have been young karters in Alfie Bushell (Fishguard) and Daniel Davis (Milford Haven), who were the brilliant winners of their weight class in 2022 and 2023 respectively."
 
“There have also been father and son winners at different times as Andrew Beckett and his son Liam also picked up the silverware in 2020 and 2021.”



 

Made welcome at West Wales Karting

 
The major recent change for Royston has been a move to West Wales Karting in Haverfordwest and whilst he says he had wonderful support in Carew he has been pleased with the way Dan Francis and Ian Davies, plus their hardy band of track marshals, have accommodated them at their Withybush track in the county town.
 
Another way that Royston has brought innovation is by supporting an annual charity tournament in aid of a terrific charity The Paul Sartori Foundation, which encourages local businesses spanning tourism, automotive, agricultural and others to slog it out over a grueling 90 minute endurance race. Pure West Radio, Folly Farm and Bluestone are just some of the names to take part - and in recent times experienced companies like KP Thomas, Fuel Distributors, and AB Electrical have been the victors.
 

More innovation planned

 
Royston himself takes an occasional part via his day job at Folly Farm and did win a heat on one occasion - but readily admits that he doesn’t quite have the dare-devil spirit these days that would take him to the top of the podium!
 
“Another target for the near future would be to form a link with the British Rental Kart Championship (the BRKC), which is run by Bradley Philpott in Milton Keynes. The hope is to hold a Welsh version of that championship which would serve as a qualifer for the British tournament. Entry would be open to all and the top drivers from the Pembrokeshire Karting Championship would automatically earn a place on the grid. It will show our members how much they can improve and some might even surprise regulars there - but we’ll wait and see about that!”
 
At the moment Royston is taking a well-earned rest but is already hatching plans to enhance the next competition where everyone starts with the same chance in their rented karts.
 
He does an immense amount of work for his chosen sport and we are aiming to trot along to the finals of next year’s competition to watch and enjoy that feeling of speed on such a small car on a tricky track - and enjoy another chat with Royston Badham about his genuine enthusiasm for Karting, with the rental component means it provides motor sport at an affordable price!