Rye House Kart Circuit is a

kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance ...

circuit, in

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and is adjacent to the

Rye House Stadium Rye House Stadium was a speedway and greyhound racing venue in Rye Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated adjacent to the River Lea Navigation. Origins The name Rye House originates from a collection of medieval building ...

. The circuit is one of the oldest in the country, and has been used by drivers including

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. Button competed in Formula One from to , and won the World Drivers' Championship in with Brawn; ...

Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One between and . In endurance racing, Davidson won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2014 with Toyota. Born in Hem ...

and

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

Hoddesdon Kart Club

The Hoddesdon Kart Club was an MSA approved club, which usually held its events on the third Sunday of every month from February to December. The club would run an annual event called the London Cup which has been televised on Motors TV in previous years. The event attracts competitors from the

Super 1 National Kart Championships The Super One National Kart Championships (S1) is a karting championship based in the United Kingdom. It has been in operation since 1983 and is regarded as the premier karting championship in the UK, producing professional drivers including Le ...

as well as other drivers from National kart clubs and associations.

Rye House Kart Club

In 2017, Rye House took over the running of all competitive race meetings, as 'IKR' (independent kart racing) events, independently of the MSA. This continued until 2024 when Rye House Kart Club resumed running MSUK (formerly MSA) affiliated race meetings. The annual London Cup event continues to be run as the final event of the year, after the club championship has concluded.

Circuit improvements

Since 2003, the circuit has undergone some major refurbishments. Early that year, the track was resurfaced, and since then a new cafe and hospitality area have been added. In between the March and April MSA meeting, a new covered grandstand was built at Stadium Bend, the fastest corner on the circuit. The grass on the exit of both hairpins one and two has been replaced with brickwork, in an effort to reduce the water-logging which plagues the circuit due to the close proximity of the wetlands and surrounding lakes and rivers. A new race control building was completed in late 2009. The track was again resurfaced in early 2022. New drainage was added along with extended asphalt run off areas at the exits of turn 6 and 7.

In popular culture

The track featured prominently in the 1964 movie 'Go Kart Go' starring

Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', ''Minder (TV series), Minder'' and ''New Tricks'', singing the ...

and Wilfrid Brambell.

References

Kart circuits Motorsport venues in England Sports venues in Hertfordshire Hoddesdon {{England-sports-venue-stub