HUNTINGDON Kart Racing Club marked its 50th anniversary with a weekend of historic kart racing and activities. More than 200 competitors came to take part in the celebrations at the Stow Longa track, which saw drivers aged from eight to 86 going wheel-to-

HUNTINGDON Kart Racing Club marked its 50th anniversary with a weekend of historic kart racing and activities.

More than 200 competitors came to take part in the celebrations at the Stow Longa track, which saw drivers aged from eight to 86 going wheel-to-wheel in nine different kart classes.

To mark its half-century, the club invited their founders to take to the track one more time in karts provided by the British Historic Kart Club.

Bobby Howes and Ray Convine, who co-founded the club in 1959, raced a lap in the vintage karts on Sunday morning.

"Seeing them back in a kart was brilliant - seeing these two men in their eighties on the track once again, it was like they shaved off 30 or 40 years," said Martin Chesterman, club chairman.

The karts from that era were such different machines that they were really just frames on wheels."

"It really was a very special moment for everyone."

Howes and Convine raced in the race suits they would have worn in the 1950s, when karting began to take off as a sport, as part of the weekend's historical karting demonstration.

Spectators also had the chance to visit the clubhouse, where a museum has been set up to remember 379 Bomb Squadron, which operated from the airfield during WWII.

"It was an absolutely wonderful weekend - perfect weather, some great racing, and a chance for people to find out about the club," said Chesterman.

"The weekend was organised to celebrate 50 years of Huntingdon Kart Racing Club, but it was also to mark 50 years of karting as a sport."

Howes and Convine founded the club in 1959 at the site where it still stands today. They would race against karters from all over Britain, and travelled across Europe in search of races.

At the weekend, racers came from as far as Germany to join in the celebrations, which began with qualifying and a heat on Saturday, and the second heat, pre-final and grand final on the Sunday.

On the Saturday night, the club hosted a hog roast dinner with live music, which was attended by over 500 drivers, mechanics and spectators.

The club also revived the historic East Anglian Trophy, a one-off trophy which had not been contested for over 20 years, for the leading driver in each class.

The club have been organising the celebrations since November, and plan to hold the East Anglian Trophy again next year.

"People really enjoyed themselves at the weekend. We got a resounding roar from the crowd when we asked if we should hold another event," said Chesterman.

"It has taken a lot of work for this weekend to happen, but we have had a big thumbs-up from spectators for next year's event. We've had such a lot of positive feedback."

Huntingdon Kart Racing Club has more than 200 members, and hold race meetings on the second week end of every month, with the next falling on July 11 and 12.