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100cc 2 stroke racing karts

Damon Sargent

We raced similar karts to these in the late ’80s, at this very circuit, Rye House in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, in what was then known as 100cc Junior and Senior Britain. We raced Zip, Superdart and Dino karts, with Parilla TT22/TT27 and TKM L90 motors, originally prepared by Bruno Ferrari in Pinner, Middlesex, and latterly John Gravett of JAG Engineering (then based in Scaynes Hill, West Sussex) whom has gone on to major international success within the sport. Mike Spencer, seen here, was one of the UK’s top international racers of the day, competing in Europe against the likes of Alessandro Zanardi and Michael Schumacher. These direct drive rotary valve 2 stroke racing karts rev to 17000/18000 rpm (the later reed valve motors in excess of 20000rpm) and offer arguably the purest driving experience there is, with a feel and tactile sensation pretty much unmatched. Driver’s right hand is ‘dabbing’ or ‘choking’ the carb, with telltale puff of smoke at the end of the straight (highest revs) to prevent engine seizing. David Coulthard was a regular here as a works driver for the Hoddesdon based, Martin Hines (250 Formula E World Champion) owned Zip kart team in the mid to late 80s, and virtually any F1 driver you’d care to name started in karts, certainly both Lewis and Jenson would be very familiar with this circuit !

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Mark Higgins flying lap at IOM TT 2016

Damon Sargent

Mark Higgins in his Subaru WRC rally car doing a flying lap at an average speed of 128mph at the 2016 TT. Just incredible. Subaru had returned to the island with a full on assault of the overall lap record following their 2014 effort which resulted in a 116mph average speed. However, the superbikes cover the same lap quite a bit quicker, with Peter Hickman achieving an average speed of 135mph during TT fortnight 2018, and are in a different league to this. Believe it or not, this 600bhp £500000 + supercar laps in a similar time to the 130bhp Supersport bikes, and slower than the 1000 Superstock machines available ‘off the shelf’ for around £20000. With those comments bourne in mind, and with due respect to Mark’s heroic, and supremely skilful efforts, this video, above all others, gives a very clear indication of  the speed of the TT bikes and the superhuman abilities of their riders. That is why the IOM TT is the greatest motorsport spectacle of it’s kind, and every year, people flock from each corner of the world to be a part of this astonishing, and unique event.