Over three decades of karting excellence

In 1998, Bob and Tracy Pope made the journey up north to take over Teesside Karting. This was after running a very successful international business that took endurance karting all over the world - as far afield as Brazil and Finland!

Over the last 35 years, Bob has played a major role in the development of arrive and drive style karting as we know it today, opening the first indoor kart circuit in London in 1985. With his company, Playscape, he quickly expanded into a number of locations across central London.

Moving forward, the next step was to develop a true endurance kart. A 4-stroke kart, easy to maintain and easy to race, the twin-engined Pro Kart was born in collaboration with Zip Karts. With two Honda 160 engines strapped to a new, wider and stronger chassis, the development of this style of kart quickly translated into longer endurance events than ever before. The first of these took its lead from one of the most iconic races in the world: Le Mans. In 1990, the first 24-hour kart race took place and was the start of something big. At its peak, running up to ten 24-hour races every summer, meant taking to the road for many months at a time.

This was what eventually led Bob and Tracy to find the circuit at Teesside in 1997, then called Langburgh. Consequently, it soon became the home of the British 24-hour kart race and has since been developed into a multipurpose venue for karts, bikes and even cars. From mini-bikes to drift-cars from across the country, Teesside Karting has got it all.

In 2016 after the sad passing of Tracy, Bob took a step away from the circuit and the Business was taken over by his Daughter Kat and her husband Paul - they continue to re invest in the circuit, continually improving the site.

Our Achievements

We've come a long way in our efforts to provide some of the best karting experiences around, and are proud to be associated with various organisations and successes on and off the track.

• We opened the UK's first indoor kart track, in Camberwell, London.
• We designed and built the first twin-engine Pro Kart, with Zip Karts.
• We organised the British Endurance Championship 1990-2004, and 2007 to 2016.
• We have run the Le Mans 24hr Circuit Le Quest, at Le Mans in France for 30 years.
• We have run the British 24hr for 27 years at circuits including Rye House, Buckmore Park, Birmingham Wheels, Knuts Corner and Teesside.
• We have organised over 100 24hr races throughout Europe and South America.
• We organised the largest ever amount of drivers (over 600) in an MSA event at Silverstone in 1993.
• Ashley Hall, Martyn Compton, Steve Shine and Mark Allen set a world record for the longest distance covered outside by modified karts in 24 hours. They covered a distance of 1,886.6km (1,172.3 miles), which is 2,660 laps of the track. The men drove in one-hour stints in strict rotation, in accordance with the Guinness World Record rules. To read all about it click here and here.