Thrilling, mentally & physically demanding, and highly competitive, go-karting teaches kids skills that no other sport can.
Every other Sunday between September and May, at the furthest end of our island, there is a passionate community of racers checking their tires, donning their helmets, contemplating manoeuvres and revving up their engines for an exciting day of go-kart racing. The prize? Reputation, bragging rights and the opportunity to become season champions.
The most exciting part of speeding around the track at Southside Raceway in St. David’s, however, is the fact that you don’t have to be an adult to drive. Children as young as seven years old can compete, and recent developments within the Bermuda Karting Association (BKA) have made it more accessible for youngsters to give it a go.
For anyone not familiar with the world of go-karting, having your child ask to race around a track in what looks like a toy version of a Formula 1 car, at speeds that far exceed the national speed limit, might be a daunting prospect. Not only is go-kart racing safer now than ever before, but research has also shown that karting is mentally stimulating and physically demanding. It incorporates physics, engineering and mathematics while developing the skills of teamwork, sportsmanship, strategy and decision-making.
Young Stars
One of the rising stars on Bermuda’s junior racing scene is Tanner Correia, 10, who began karting at the age of seven. He was undefeated last season, making him Junior Cadet Champion for the third year in a row. “He’s humble, he’s fierce, he loves it; he’s competitive, but he doesn’t stress about it,” says his mother, Nicole. “He gets out and he’s chill. He gives everyone a fist pump. He loves his success, of course, but he’s never boastful about it.” She also praises the go-karting community for the lengths they go to to support young drivers: “All the advice from all the big boys around here, he listens to them and tries to preserve tires, making sure he hits certain corners at certain angles.”
Correia’s strategy, he says, is to “focus on the first corner to get away from the others and then I am confident that when I get in front, I can hold it.” This first corner, he adds, is the hardest part of the race because everyone is bunched together. He has learned to be smooth with the wheel and “consistent when hitting the apex (the middle) on each corner in order to maximise exit speed.” The fastest speed he has ever reached is 63 miles per hour.
Correia was introduced to go-karting by his uncle, Ryan Rabello. His father, Philip Correia, along with his other uncles, formed a team around him – Horsepower Racing. His father is the mechanic, and Tanner has to clean his own kart as well as learn all about it. “He takes off his own tires and puts them back on himself,” says Nicole.
While go-karting in Bermuda is dominated by boys and men, it is not exclusively a male sport, as proven by the success of Jorja Thomas, 20, and Sadie Hocking, 14. Hocking, who finished third in the Junior Cadet class for the 2023–2024 season, behind Correia and Syah Pedro, was encouraged to try go-karting by her friend’s father, Chris Bonnard, after watching her brother and father kart in the UK, and thought “it looked fun.” While she loves going fast, Hocking admits there have been some scary moments: “One of my friends had a crash and it got me scared. It was the last lap, and she was behind me and then she went over a barrier, and it scared me because it was my first year.” Her friend, luckily, was fine.
Hocking has also spun out a couple of times herself, but it didn’t stop her from racing, and she has learned how to stay calm under pressure. She also understands the basics of engines and vehicle manoeuvres.
Hocking races with the Nine Lives team, which was started by acclaimed Bermudian go-kart racer Scott Barnes, and includes two other advanced drivers, Brian Bulhoes and Brian Hall who, says Hocking’s father, Jacob, “have both been essential mechanics for Sadie and helped coach her on the track.” He adds that they have been “kind and patient” with her as she has developed and “helped tremendously every race day to ensure the kart is safe and running at top speed.” Blazing the trail for female racers has been Thomas, who has returned to the island for the 2025–2026 season after completing her studies at Cambrian College, Ontario. She races with Hold Tight Racing and came up through the junior programme, starting at age eight. She won two back-to-back titles while competing in the Tag Junior class, for ages 12–15, and was the first female to complete a full season in the Shifter class, the fastest and most powerful racing class.
Thomas discovered go-karting through neighbours Mark and David Selley, who always had boats, bikes or go-karts at their house. Now a qualified mechanic herself, she went there every day after school to be “behind the wheel of something.” When they put her in their own first go-kart to see if she liked it, she got out “grinning from ear to ear.” A useful benefit of go-karting is learning to drive at an early age. When Thomas did her actual driving test, it was, she says, “a breeze. I only did two lessons, then did my test, then had my licence.”
How to Get Started
Many go-kart racers got their start because they were related to or knew someone involved. If you don’t know anyone involved, don’t have the necessary funds, or don’t want to risk spending thousands for a child who might change their mind in six months’ time, equipment is available to rent through the BKA at the Junior Cadet level for children aged 7–12.
Lori Dunstan is secretary of the BKA, formally known as the Bermuda Karting Club. Karting in Bermuda is completely reliant on volunteers and like most within this community, she became involved because someone she loves is an avid racer. In this case, it’s her partner, Robert Wheatley: “We got together ten years ago, and I’ve been at the track every other Sunday, and a lot of Saturdays,” she smiles. Dunstan along with the rest of the BKA committee, which includes the president, Chris Smith, vice president, Philip Correia, and treasurer, Jason Correia, is passionate about getting more juniors into the sport and doesn’t want finances to prevent this. Thanks to generous sponsors and donors, a newcomer of Junior Cadet age can rent a kart, suit, helmet and other safety equipment. In total they have seven karts available to rent.
They are also actively seeking other financial support. This is why the club has become an association, and in 2024 gained NSGB (National Sport Governing Body) status. This means they can apply for grants which, if successful, will go towards the youth programmes. “We’re trying to have opportunities for kids coming in to have access to a sport which is cost prohibitive for families, and we want to be able to give them the opportunity to race,” explains Dunstan. “What we’d like to see is a broadening of all our junior programmes. We need more juniors for the sport to continue, but part of what we’d like to expand upon is the ability for our local racers to get overseas opportunities, whether that’s training or racing.”
A brand-new, race-ready junior kart costs over $6,000, but there is a lot of cheaper second-hand equipment available. One of Bermuda’s most successful go-kart racers, Jason “Skuzzie” North, who has overseas as well as local championships and trophies to his name, didn’t start with a new kart: “I didn’t have money growing up as a kid, but we made do and my parents made sure I had a go-kart,” he says. “I had a hand-me-down that was very old.”
The nature of everyone involved in the go-karting community also means people are happy to lend spare equipment if it means someone can race while saving up for their own.
Mentoring & Development
Having all the equipment is one thing but knowing what to do with it is quite another, and no child is allowed to race until they are confident in the kart and understand the rules. Children in the Junior Cadet class are assigned a mechanic and a mentor. North, for example, who, at aged 50, has been racing for 40 years straight, is one of many drivers who are only too happy to share their experience and insight with the next generation. “We’ll ask you to come down on a Saturday, do some practising, and once we’re happy with how you’re driving the track, then we’ll introduce other karts on the track with you. We’re not going to put you out there with a bunch of other go-karts and go racing straight away,” he explains. “Most times that might take several weekends before you’re allowed to come down and show up on a race day and race.”
Once a child and their family has committed, North believes it’s important to teach them about their kart’s mechanics and the impact of every adjustment. “I will explain to them: ‘Hey, I just changed your rear tire pressure. I went up to give you more grip or went down to give you less grip.’ I make sure they understand that, so that when they get out there, they feel the difference.” Junior Cadet karts have a 60cc motor and once they age out of that class, kids move up to the Tag Junior class. This is a 125cc engine with a restrictor and no gears. The restrictor, says North, is “an exhaust restrictor, so that pulls your horsepower down. That way they’re not going to go quite as fast as the seniors are.” This is for two reasons. Firstly, safety, and secondly, once the driver moves up into the Tag Senior class, they can remove the restrictor and keep the same kart.
Once they turn 15, there are a variety of different senior classes to compete in, including Tag Senior and LO206 Senior. The Shifter class is from age 16, and if they’re still racing well into adulthood, the LO206 Master’s Class is for age 40. Different classes are defined by different engines.
Safety
Race day safety is taken very seriously. All drivers have to wear a fire-resistant suit, carbon fibre chest protector, neck support collar, full-face racing helmet, gloves and karting shoes.
Every race day starts with an 8 a.m. safety inspection called “Tech.” Each kart lines up and is inspected by tech officers. “They check everything,” says Dunstan. “Are your tires safe? Is everything tied down? Are the nuts and bolts in the right place? Do you have your fire extinguisher on you? Is your helmet safety rated?” If anyone’s kart is not deemed safe, or if a helmet is over ten years old, that person is not allowed to race until they remedy the situation. There is also a St. John’s ambulance at every race day and no racing takes place without it.
At the Track
Once the safety checks are complete, the helmets go on, the engines start roaring, the competitive spirit sets in, and the atmosphere becomes electric. Now into his second season, Harry Dunkley loves racing because it’s “thrilling” and there is “never a boring moment.” His mother actually forbade him from racing as a child but, he says, “once my brother and I were old enough we were like: ‘We’re doing this.’”
Retired construction boss Travis Lewis has been a regular fixture on the go-kart track over the years, racing himself for eight years and then supporting his son. “There’s rivalries while we’re on the track and people talk a lot of nonsense to each other, but once they get off the track, mostly everybody’s friends,” he smiles. “One of the things about go-karting, it’s an independent sport for children. The kids are out in the field by themselves. I was with my son until he was 20 years old. I had that extra time with my child because with go-karting it can become a family sport, a lot more than soccer and baseball.” Lewis is a self-taught mechanic, who relied on legendary mechanic Michael Corrado for “fine-tuning.” Corrado, alongside racer David Barbosa, was inducted into the Bermuda Motorsports Hall of Fame this year.
History and Future
The Hall of Fame, says North, “is a great way to preserve our history.” One day, he hopes it will become a museum to showcase the history of Bermuda motorsports, in particular the Karting Club’s founder, Maynard “Duke” Soares. The first recorded competitive go-kart race in Bermuda was held on May 24, 1976, at PHC Field. The Bermuda Karting Club was subsequently formed in September 1976, and races were then held at various locations across the island.
The association has received permission from the City of Hamilton to do a street race in 2026. This follows the successful Lindo’s Grand Prix, which lit up north-east Hamilton in 2023. Last season, there was also an Endurance Race – the Southside 250 – which was non-stop racing for two hours. Dunstan hopes they can do another one next year. “Karting is grassroots motorsports. This is where a lot of the F1 drivers, Nascar drivers, Indie car drivers all started, in kart racing,” continues North. So, could Bermuda ever produce an F1 racing driver? Not without being able to go abroad to train, he answers. As a child, that is what North dreamed of but, he adds, “I didn’t have the financing behind it; to move off the island, to race abroad, you’ve got to have the finances behind you.”
In the meantime, the 2025–2026 season is about to begin, and despite 40 years of racing, North is still excited to get on to the track again: “I was champion last year, I already strive for next year’s championship. That is important but, in the end, there’s people behind us who are coming up the ranks as well. It’s about the kids and making sure we have that following.
“Once we put on that helmet, we’re all fired up and we want to go out and race. Some guy might spin me out. I might tell him off. But then, you think, ‘oh man, the kids saw me doing that.’ But then, it’s about passion and that just shows passion.” This attitude very much sums up the experienced racers and mechanics attitudes towards the junior drivers. “The entire BKA community supports all the younger drivers,” says Jacob Hocking. “It is competitive, but everyone is willing to jump in and help any team at any time, which makes it a fun sport to be part of.”
To find out more about go-karting, e-mail bermudakartingclub@yahoo.com and follow them on Facebook and Instagram: @bermudakarting
