MEMBERS of the 1st Amesbury (St Mary and St Melor) Cub Pack hit top speed when they became the first Wiltshire group to take part in the Supreme Box Cart Championships at Goodwood.

A team of six cubs hit the Kennel Hill Raceway circuit for the 2024 championships on September 15, after a last-minute place on the grid opened up.

They lined up alongside other cub packs from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The team travelled down to the West Sussex raceway with three of their leaders, taking part in a training session and practice day on the Saturday, before staying overnight at a local Scout Hut, having a chippy dinner and watching Cool Runnings to fully prepare for the real action the following day.

“During the racing, the kart was driven by one cub, using a rope attached to the centre-pivoting axle to steer, and propelled by two other cubs, who acted as “engine” and “brake” – although with the speed that they were going around, I’m not sure that there was much braking happening,” a spokesperson said.

Despite it being their first foray into kart racing, the 1st Amesbury team finished as top qualifier, the only team to win all 12 of their heats.

However, they then got knocked out by top team 12th Chichester in the top-16 shootout.

“That didn’t dampen the cubs’ spirits and they all had a fabulous time, along with their leaders and the parents and supporters who had come along to cheer them all on,” the spokesperson added.

“A big thank you goes to West Sussex SASU team for giving up their time and running this brilliant event for the Cub Scouts.”

The 1st Amesbury Cubs karting team at Goodwood

The 1st Amesbury Cubs were able to borrow the Wooly Bully box kart, made by Stephen Bell at Round the Bend Racing, and they are now trying to raise the funds to buy Wooly Bully for their pack.

“Having caught the karting bug, they are also hoping to find people with the skills and expertise to help them to design and build their own kart, so they can practice throughout the year, and perhaps even enter two teams next year,” the spokesperson said.