The ambition of a rising star
The story of her passion
I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to my daughter Florence Walkington. Florence is 10 years old and has found a ‘need for speed’. She discovered Go-Karting in February 2023 and has very quickly escalated her talent to Cadet Honda 200cc engines (in real terms a professional kart).
We started going to TeamSport Academy on a Sunday morning where she started her pace of 1.02secs around the 400m E-karting track. Florence then very quickly started pulling 33.8second lap times after a few weeks and she qualified to race the British Indoor Karting Championship (BIKC). The only concern for Florence was the speed ‘it’s just not fast enough mummy, my foot is flat to the floor and I don’t even break, I need to go faster’. At this point myself and my husband knew she had the confidence and determination to pursue this further so we enrolled her at Hull Kartings Cadet Academy on a Tuesday evening.
Being the only girl within Hull Karting she felt she had a point to prove, and she most definitely proved it! We watched her fly around the track come rain or shine and nothing or nobody could put her off! I remember driving to the track one evening, it was pouring down and I said ‘Florence shall we put it off for another night’ to which she responded ‘mum, where’s the fun in that? The wet track makes you slide and spin’. That evening there were 10 cadets booked on the track - she was the only one out there, to which one of the Marshalls requested to go out with her as in his word ‘she gave them a run for their money’.
Knowing this was becoming more than a bit of fun my husband started to look at the bigger picture and knew we had to go bigger to fulfil her passion. This was now turning into ‘I’m going to race F1 Dad, and I’ll be a girl driving and F1 car, I’ll overtake all the boys - watch me’. So we took a trip to Teeside, the worlds longest kart circuit. Previously called the Langburgh Circuit. It’s become the home to the British 24-hour kart race and they work closely with their partners Lucas Racing and HRS Race engines.
We booked Florence onto their Cadet Academy for one session to see how she got on - by the end of the session they took away her corporate kart and placed her in one of their own Professional Karts (Honda 200cc) the owners watched from the track side and we were quite clearly told ‘this girl has got some skills, would you be interested in her racing our winter series?’ I
dedicated every Wednesday throughout the school holidays to allow her to be mentored on a 1:1 basis - we started the lap time at 59 seconds, she now sits very closely behind the 10% leader time.
Since then Florence has taken to numerous other tracks. Tattershall, Wombwell, Whilton Mill, Fulbeck and Blyton (Race Kart Centre) where she has just completed her first championship.
Next year we have entered Florence into her first National Championship 'The 2025 SuperOne Kart Racing Championship'. Six weekends, twelve rounds and two drop rounds. Not only that but Florence will be racing a class that will be faster, Rotax here we come! For anyone that doesn't know Rotax was launched in 1997 setting the benchmark in performance parity, reliability, durability and ease of use. Rotax have won their drivers more kart racing titles than any other engines in the sport. In the 125 13hp engine it'll be substantially faster than the GX200 and she cannot wait!
We never quite envisaged she would get to this level but she has and she’s done it through her passion for driving! It’s here that we are asking for your sponsorship to enable Florence to pursue her career (because knowing her she will make that poll position in F1).
As the racing will take us all over the country it will be a huge advertising opportunity for yourselves as her kart will be designed around your logo along with her racing suit and helmet. The races are live on YouTube through Alpha Live (@AlphaLiveProductions) with over 48k Subscribers.
Whether it would be a full sponsorship (£6000.00) or a contribution every amount will help tremendously towards Florence fulfilling her dreams.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read a little bit about Florence and her dreams, we would love to take you on this journey with us in what could be a history in the making and inspiration to future generations. The current statistics are set at 67.86% male to 32.12% female within the F1 - lets make that change!
Thank you and the Kindest Regards
Amy Walkington (Mum)
"I just want to drive fast"
Always practicing
Always striving!
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