Now in its eleventh running (in twelve years), the SGMW Karting GP has raised over £32,300 for charity. For the past three years, the event has been held in honour of Sue Baker, the long-standing SGMW former chairman and member, who sadly passed away in November 2022 after bravely battling motor neurone disease. 

For 2025, the SGMW teams up with WOMAC

For this year’s race, the SGMW has again teamed up with Woman On The Move Against Cancer (WOMAC). This amazing charity raises funds for those affected by cancer, funding a different project each year. WOMAC counts a number of female motoring journalists and PRs among its patrons, including members of the SGMW.

2025 SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP: everything you need to know

The 2025 SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP pits motoring PRs against each other in an endurance race lasting two hours. The venue was Team Sport Karting in Crawley, where the teams faced the formidable 750-metre-long indoor circuit that spans three floors.

With the petrol-powered karts now long retired, the drivers would again be driving the BIZ EcoVolt GT, a fully electric go-kart. In the 2024 race, Andy Jenner from the Toyota team took the honours for the fastest lap with a blistering time of 46.316 seconds – 1.3 seconds faster than the previous petrol record lap time sent by Sean Ward in 2023.

The race: flags, position swapping, and hard-fought racing to the end

Eight teams entered this year, with a very competitive grid. Last year’s winners, Honda, returned, alongside entries from Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Lexus, and Performance Coms. With the remaining two slots on the grid completed by the WOMAC team and the BMW/SGMW team (nicknamed the SGBMW) featuring group members Tim Pitt, Stu Bird, and Phill Tromans.

In the 20-minute practice session, Honda, Hyundai and Performance Coms led the standings with lap times in the high 47 seconds mark, while WOMAC, BMW/SGMW, Kia, Toyota and the Lexus teams were just behind with lapping in around 48 to 49 seconds.

With practice over, the race started with Honda quickly setting the early pace with a fastest lap of 47.994 seconds. Performance Coms were a few tenths behind in second, with Hyundai behind by a further second in third spot. Making up the rest of the standings were Toyota, BMW/SGMW, WOMAC, Kia, and Lexus.

By lap 17, Honda had established a 6.7-second lead over the Performance Coms in second place, while the BMW/SGMW team had climbed the rankings with some spirited driving to reach third spot. At the front of the pack, Performance Coms had set a fastest lap with a scorching time of 47.114 seconds, with Honda a shade behind with a time of 46.944 seconds.

With 23 laps completed, Honda were holding onto first place, with Hyundai 8.5 seconds behind in second, while SGMW/BMW were a lap adrift in third. The remainder of the standings saw Toyota in fourth, WOMAC fifth, Performance Coms in sixth, and Kia in seventh, with Lexus now three laps adrift at the back of the field.

However, it was all to play for at this early stage, with each team giving their all.

By the 64th lap, Honda were cementing their lead in first place with a gap of 12.27 seconds over second-placed Hyundai. The WOMAC team had put in some stellar lap times to reach third spot. At the back of the field, meanwhile, the BMW/SGMW team had fallen to seventh spot, followed by Lexus – both of whom were seven and eight laps, respectively, behind the leading Honda team. 

After 85 laps the top three of Honda, Hyundai and WOMAC remained unchanged. Honda had also made their intentions clear with a new fastest lap time of 46.786 seconds, while Performance Coms had moved up from sixth to fourth spot and were now hot on the heels of WOMAC in third place. 

At the 100-lap point of the race, the leading Honda team had again set another fastest lap time of 46.055 seconds. Hyundai was a lap behind, with very little between WOMAC in third and Performance Coms in fourth. At the back of the field, Toyota were now four laps away from the leaders, while the BMW/SGMW team were languishing nine laps behind, with Lexus some fifteen laps off the leaders pace.

As with previous years, there was some late drama to come. After 121 laps, the Honda team received a penalty that saw Hyundai take the lead from them before quickly establishing themselves a one-lap cushion at the front. Meanwhile, WOMAC continued to hold third spot, fighting off the Kia team in fourth.

In the final laps of the race, there was yet more late position swapping to come. As with four laps left to go, the Kia team sprinted past WOMAC to take third spot – while at the front of the field, Hyundai fought to hold onto their single-lap advantage over second-placed Honda.

As the chequered flag fell with 142 laps completed Hyundai finished in first spot, followed by Honda in second place and a resurgent Kia team in third place – some four laps behind the leading pair.

The Final Standings:

Despite finishing second, the Honda team did win bragging rights for the fastest lap of the race, with Bradley Beningfield setting a time of 46.055 – a lap time that beats the 46.316 seconds set by Andy Jenner for Toyota in the 2024 Karting GP. The Honda team also committed the highest number of infringements during the race. A feat that earned the team the now traditional wooden spoon awards. 

At the end of the race, the SGMW’s David Ward handed over a cheque for £1,535 to the Chair of WOMAC, Georgia Fox. 

After the race, SGMW committee member Ben Hodges said: “Again, the SGMW membership is hugely appreciative for the amazing support we’ve received from our friends and colleagues in the automotive industry for this year’s SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP. Everyone had great fun, in what was another thrilling race with a nail-biting finale. On the night, £1,535 was raised for WOMAC. So we’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone that took part and those who made a donation and congratulations to the winners. We look forward to welcoming you back for the 2026 race.”

To learn more about WOMAC’s fantastic work visit https://womac.co.uk/en-us/.

The post 2025 SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP: Annual Karting Event Proves to be Another Thriller appeared first on Southern Group of Motoring Writers.

Since its inception, the SGMW Karting GP has raised over £30,000 for charity. For last year’s race, the event was renamed in honour of Sue Baker, the long-standing SGMW member and former chairman, who sadly passed away in November 2022 after bravely battling Motor Neurone Disease. It is held annually to celebrate Sue’s contribution to the world of motoring and the SGMW. 

Southern Group Happenings: March 2024

For 2024, the SGMW’s chosen charity is Woman On The Move Against Cancer (WOMAC). This fantastic charity raises money to support the fight against cancer, including providing funds for vital research. WOMAC has a number of female motoring journalists and PRs among its patrons, including several members of the Southern Group. 

The SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP pits motoring PRs against each other in a two-and-a-half-hour endurance race at the Team Sport Karting venue in Crawley. A formidable 750-metre-long indoor circuit that spans three floors. 

While several of the returning drivers were familiar with the indoor circuit, there was one major change from last year with the introduction of a new fully electric go-kart, the BIZ EcoVolt GT. According to Team Sport, these new electric karts are capable of similar performance to the outgoing petrol-powered ones, with a top speed of 40mph and a claimed fastest lap time of around 46 seconds. 

A total of twelve teams entered, with a highly competitive field consisting of Honda, Hyundai, Ineos Automotive, Lexus, Nissan, PFPR, Stellantis, and Toyota. This year’s beneficiary, WOMAC, also fielded a team, which included SGMW member Trinity Francis on driving duties. Several other group members teamed up with their PR counterparts to race as well, with Tim Pitt, Stu Bird, Rich Gooding, Phill Tromans, Chris Rees, Chris Manning, and Jonathan Musk making up the numbers across the Subaru, Genesis, and Kia teams. 

With an all-new go-kart to get to grips with and a very competitive field, the practice session gave a preview of the exciting action that lay ahead. From the start, every driver gave it their all, with the new go-kart proving to be as formidable as the old petrol models. Aside from a few spins, though, the only real drama was the testing of the electronic red and yellow flag system to ensure the drivers were ready for the race ahead. 

In the practice session, Honda, Hyundai, Genesis, and Toyota showed the fastest pace, with lap times of around 48 seconds. WOMAC, Nissan, and Subaru were not far behind, with Ineos, Kia, PFPR, Lexus, and Stellantis sitting towards the back of the field. 

After practice ended, the drivers immediately lined up for the start. From here on out, the early pacesetters at the front were Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai, with Subaru, Nissan, and Genesis swapping fourth, fifth, and sixth spots behind the leaders. In the middle of the field, Stellantis, PFPR, and Ineos were fighting to get ahead of one another with little separating them. Meanwhile, Lexus, WOMAC, and Kia found themselves slightly off the pace towards the back of the field.

The top three positions remained largely unchanged for the first stages of the race, with Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai all continuing to show consistently quick pace for the first 50 or so laps. The middle of the field continued to swap positions as well, with consistent lap times making it difficult for any of the teams to carve out an advantage. At the back, however, the story was slightly different. Kia and WOMAC found themselves occupying the bottom two positions, with an ever-increasing gap separating them from the top ten.

As the race continued with an array of driver changes and more red and yellow flags, Toyota was the first team to complete 100 laps, with Honda and Hyundai sitting a single lap behind the leaders. In the middle of the field, things were still closely matched, with Subaru, Nissan, and Genesis all sitting on 96 laps apiece, with Stellantis and PFPR behind by a single lap.

In the final stages of the race, Toyota showed frantic pace at the front, gaining a two-lap advantage with 136 laps completed. In second and third spots were Honda and Hyundai, sitting two laps down on the leaders. In the midfield, Nissan, Subaru, and Stellantis were having a mini GP of their own, with all three teams closely matched with 132 laps completed.

Of course, the SGMW Karting GP wouldn’t be complete without some late drama. Which is exactly what happened. After 147 laps and with a little under 20 minutes remaining, the Toyota team received a 30-second stop/go penalty for an infringement. The resulting enforced pit stop allowed Honda to take the lead, moving Toyota down to 2nd place, with Hyundai in 3rd. 

Shortly after taking the lead, Honda quickly established a one-lap advantage ahead of their nearest rivals. There was further drama happening behind them, though. With 150 laps completed, Hyundai moved up to 2nd place, pushing Toyota back into 3rd.  

By the 159th lap, with 10 minutes of the race left to run, Honda was firmly holding onto their lead at the top. There was still time for a little more position swapping in the final minutes of the race, though, with Toyota upping their pace in the final moments to pass Hyundai to retake 2nd place. As the chequered flag fell, the top three teams remained the same, with Honda finishing in 1st place with 172 laps completed. Toyota came in 2nd place, one lap behind, and Hyundai finished in 3rd, two laps adrift of the winners. 

The final standings:

The fastest lap of the day was completed by Andy Jenner for Toyota, who managed a scorching time of 46.316 seconds. Not far behind were Hyundai, who recorded a time of 46.437, while the winning Honda team managed a fastest time of 46.596 seconds. Notably, all three of the fastest times were set by the top three teams, and all beat the fastest lap time set in the 2023 event, when former SGMW member Sean Ward set a time of 47.648 seconds at the wheel of a petrol-powered go-kart. 

Traditionally, the slowest drivers of the day have also received the legendary SGMW wooden spoon award. This year, though, in the spirit of mixing things up, this highly coveted award would go to the team that incurred the highest number of yellow and red flags during the race. The winners of this prestigious title were Ineos, who somehow managed to commit nearly a third more infringements during the race than several of the other competing teams.

At the end of the event, the SGMW’s Chris Manning and Chris Rees handed over a cheque for £2,385 to Georgia Fox, the Chair of WOMAC. 

At the end of the race, SGMW Secretary Chris Rees said: “Everyone had tremendous fun at this year’s SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP. We were very fortunate in the Grand Prix’s 10th anniversary year to receive such generous support from our friends and colleagues in the motor industry. As a result, £2,385 was raised for our chosen charity for 2024, WOMAC. The total raised in the first decade now exceeds £32,500. Sincere thanks to everyone who took part, and congratulations to the winning teams. Now we can’t wait for next year’s Karting GP!”

To learn more about WOMAC’s fantastic work visit https://womac.co.uk/en-us/.

All photos: Richard Parsons for Sims Images.

The post SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP: annual karting event speeds into 2024 to raise money for WOMAC appeared first on Southern Group of Motoring Writers.

Sue, who was a pioneering force in motoring journalism, a long-standing SGMW member and former chairman, passed away in November 2022 after bravely battling Motor Neurone Disease.

To celebrate Sue’s contribution to the world of motoring and the SGMW, members agreed that this year’s annual karting event would take place in her honour, renaming it the SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting Grand Prix with the Motor Neurone Disease Association as its nominated charity.

Fifteen teams entered – with last year’s winners Gazoo Racing competing against BMW, Genesis, Honda, Ineos/PFPR, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, Newspress/Loop, Nobull, Porsche, SMMT, Toyota, Volkswagen – along with the Southern group team entry, Volvo by SGMW.

From the moment the lights went out, every one of the teams dug deep with some very committed racing.

The early pacesetter was the Porsche team, trailed by SGMW by Volvo in second and Gazoo Racing in third. In the early stages, the SGMW’s own Sean Ward set the pace with a fastest lap time of 49.868 seconds.

After nearly 50 laps, Nobull had broken into the top three only a couple of seconds behind SGMW by Volvo by SGMW in second place, while the Porsche team was showing strong pace in first place, quickly establishing a lead of nearly 12 seconds.

Soon after, Nobull battled into first place – with Porsche, Gazoo Racing and SGMW by Volvo regularly swapping places to make up the top four – with all showing strong pace to separate themselves from the rest of the field.

By the end of the two-and-a-half-hour race though, the Porsche team claimed victory with a brilliant fightback to complete 161 laps by the chequered flag and take the coveted SGMW Karting GP Trophy.

In second place, Gazoo Racing finished only 14.3 seconds behind the winner. It completed the same number of laps, while the Volvo by SGMW team took a well-deserved third place completing 159 laps.

All of the top three teams set the pace throughout the race with only a few tenths of a second separating them for the quickest lap of the day.

Overall winners Porsche recorded a time of 47.989 seconds, with second place Gazoo Racing just ahead with a time of 47.704.

Both were denied the bragging rights by SGMW by Volvo driver Sean Ward, who set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 47.648 seconds in the final stint of the race.

The race finished with SGMW treasurer Chris Manning handing over a cheque for £4,850 to the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).

SGMW chairman Ian Robertson said: “A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in organising the karting event.

“But, more importantly, thanks so much to everyone that supports the event, donates the money, participates in racing and who helped us to raise a whopping £4,850 for Motor Neurone Disease in memory of our dear friend and colleague, Sue Baker.

“Since we started the annual charity karting event, we have now raised more than £30,000. It’s thanks to our colleagues in the industry that this has been made possible.

“As chairman of the Southern Group of Motoring Writers, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

The top picture shows Stuart Bird, a leading light of the SGMW karting organising team, and Sarah Armstrong, MND Association south east regional fund-raiser, with the £4,850 cheque and other SGMW members.

To learn more about the MNDA’s fantastic work visit www.mndassociation.org

The post Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP raises record sum for charity appeared first on Southern Group of Motoring Writers.

Sue, a motoring pioneer, long-standing SGMW member and past chairman, died in November after bravely battling Motor Neurone Disease.

SGMW members unanimously agreed to choose the Motor Neurone Disease Association as its nominated charity to benefit from this year’s karting GP in memory of Sue.

It looks set to raise a record amount for charity. That is testament to Sue’s popularity and the esteem she was held in throughout the motoring world.

It has been renamed the SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting GP.

Sue was the driving force behind setting up the annual charity event. She was part of the original team which came up with the idea, and got the karting GP established, and remained a keen supporter.

The highly-competitive event is on Thursday, April 27, 3pm to 8pm. It is again being staged at the triple-level indoor circuit at TeamSport Crawley (www.team-sport.co.uk/crawley), near Gatwick.

The SGMW karting GP is tremendously popular with PRs, each year attracting a grid of ‘works’ teams from the automotive world.

This year’s response has been exceptional with a near-maximum field of 15 teams, some making their debut in the event. There have been financial pledges from four other manufacturers which are unable to attend but want to help a good cause in memory of Sue.

Chris Rees, SGMW secretary and karting GP organiser, said: “The amazing response to this year’s karting GP is testament to Sue Baker’s popularity and the respect people have for this pioneer of the motoring industry.

“There will be a lot of memories of Sue, and a lot of laughter, which will make it even more fun – something Sue would approve of.”

The event is also a great opportunity to network and, including this year’s grand prix, has raised more than £30,000 for charity since launched.

Teams compete in a 150-minute endurance race, trying to complete as many laps as possible, for the coveted SGMW karting GP trophy.

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