Pedal car racing is a circuit racing endurance sport where teams of up to six drivers race single-seater human powered sports cars in races of up to twenty-four hours in length. Four team members share the driving (increasing to six in 24 hour races), with each completing as many laps as he or she can before handing over to the next driver. Therefore, the races are very similar in style and tactics to endurance sports car races across the world.
Racing pedal cars
The cars are mainly sports prototypes built by or for the teams that race them. There are no commercial suppliers of racing pedal cars in the UK, although Karbyk in Italy make racing pedal cars commercially.
All cars must comply with the international pedal car specification, but the formula is flexible enough such that the cars are as varied as the teams who race them, with many different solutions to the same problem.
Classes
There are Eight classes in pedal car racing all sharing circuit space. They aim to ensure the safe lapping of back markers by making it a skill that faster drivers must acquire.
British Pedal Car Championship
First run in 1998, the British Pedal Car Championship is a series of endurance pedal car races which runs between late March/Early April and September/October every year in the UK. Typically, there are 7 or 8 races totaling just over 60 racing hours including the Shenington 24 hour race in June (at which double points are awarded).
The championship has evolved into 7 or 8 rounds from its early days (see History) and is now held at mostly Kart tracks around the country, usually starting at Wombwell and ending at Curborough, with the prestige 24Hr race held in June at Shenington.
The usual Championship format is as follows, but it can vary due to track availability
Round 1 - March/April - Sprints - Wombwell
Round 2 - April/May - 6Hr Race - Evesham
Round 3 - June/July 24 Hr Race - Shenington
Round 5 - Sept - Sprints - Blackbushe
Round 6 - Sept - 100 Mile - Blackbushe
Round 7 - Sept/Oct 7Hr Race - Curborough
The championship is organised and run by the British Federation of Pedal Car Racing
History
The history of pedalcar races can be traced back to the time that American Scouts were staging their first Soap Box Derby It occurred to Haydn Dimmock, then editor of 'The Scout' magazine, that a similar event might be arranged in Britain but whereas the American cars were Gravity Racers ours would be pedal powered.
The races grew from the National ScoutCar races which started in 1939 and resumed after the war in 1950 with several large scale races. There is also evidence of a 24Hr race in 1968 as captured on film by British Pathe.
At some point separate races were set up independent of the Scouts but using very similar cars, it is possible that it was just a group of friends deciding that they wanted more races and having outgrown Scouts set up a series of races in a championship around the UK.
During the 1980s the sport had evolved into as series of 4 24 hour races at various locations around the country. 1 each in the North, South, East and West.
The top half dozen cars from each of these races were then invited to a "final" 24 hour race which we believe took place in Milton Keynes.
By the early 1990s this had come to an end and the season comprised around 4 – 6 races including 24 hour events at Scunthorpe and Bolton, a sprint event at Wolverhampton and, also at Wolverhampton, a weekend event which comprised various "trials" followed by an endurance race.
The 1990s saw the events decline such that by 1996 the sport was down to 4 events – 2 of which took place on a car park in Rugby…
Matters came to a head in 1997 with the cancellation of the National Championships at very short notice and the unwillingness of the management of the sport to take any initiative to increase participation.
However, over the winter of 1997 – 1998 a new committee was formed, new events were organised and what could be described as the 1st race weekend of the "modern era" took place over 28 – 29 March at the Transport Research Laboratory test track, near Wokingham.
Since then with a major push in the 2000s new teams have entered, new rounds have been added and the championship stands as it is today.