For two days, Whilton Mill became a working archive of British karting. The 2026 Retro Kart Championship O Plate put machinery from several eras back where it belongs: on the circuit, under load and being raced properly.
The meeting
The O Plate, raced rather than displayed
Staged by the Retro Kart Championship, the O Plate brought a broad cross-section of retro machinery to Whilton Mill. The official programme ranged from 100 Classic and 100 National through Formula A, Formula C and Formula TKM, with the Class 4 categories adding their own mix of 125, 210 and 250 machinery.
That variety matters. Retro karting is not one frozen moment in the sport’s past; it is a set of distinct ideas about chassis, engines, tyres and driving, each with its own feel. At Whilton Mill the sound changed from grid to grid, as did the shape and stance of the karts. What stayed constant was the commitment required to make old racing equipment work at racing speed.
Once the grids rolled, the meeting stopped being a static history lesson. Drivers had to place these karts accurately, manage the equipment they had prepared and race the people around them. The photographs catch the surface drama—front wheels light over the kerbs, drivers leaning into the work and a train of bright bodywork behind—but the real pleasure was seeing period machinery asked serious questions again.
Behind the racing
A paddock built on knowledge
The visible part is the race. The less visible part begins long before the kart reaches the dummy grid: finding the right period component, checking a frame that has lived a racing life, setting a carburettor and making hundreds of small decisions without taking away the character that makes the machine worth preserving.
That is why the O Plate paddock felt as important as the action on circuit. Panels came off, tools changed hands and conversations carried on between sessions. The competitive edge was real, but so was the willingness to help keep another kart running. Historic machinery survives because people share what they know as well as because they own the parts.
IC Kartstore in the paddock
Our weekend, from inside Formula A
IC Kartstore was there as a participant, not as an event organiser or championship partner. Andrew Platt raced the number 92 1999 Birel R932 in Formula A Pre 2000, giving us a first-hand view of what it takes to run one of these karts through a full O Plate weekend.
Practice brought plenty of work. The kart was gripping up and repeatedly lifting onto two wheels through the corners, so the team made extensive setup changes, including shortening the axle. The result was a kart with front-running pace throughout the heats—a sharp reminder that getting historic machinery to work properly is as much about methodical setup as presentation. The weekend also included the much harder setback of a seized engine.
For us, that experience belongs in the same conversation as the parts and advice we provide every day. Track time keeps the advice grounded: it sharpens the questions we ask, the details we notice and our respect for anybody who commits to putting older equipment back on a grid.
Official classifications
Thirteen classes, thirteen O Plate winners
The Formula A final put several generations on the same track. Mitchell McLeod won the combined race and headed Formula A Pre 2000, while Kris Hughes took the Pre 1995 class and Glenn Guest led Formula A LC. Elsewhere, Chris Sears won 100 National and Mike Daniels took 100 Classic.
Formula TKM honours went to Sam Hill, with Peter Townsend winning TKM Heavy and Tom Marshall winning TKM Junior. Paul Ozanne headed Formula C. In Class 4, Oliver Holmes won 125 Classic; Derek Ellis, Chris Mellard and Martin Marks led 125 P&R, 210 Historic and 250 Classic respectively.
| Class | O Plate winner |
|---|---|
| 100 Classic | Mike Daniels |
| 100 National | Chris Sears |
| Class 4 125 Classic | Oliver Holmes |
| Class 4 125 P&R | Derek Ellis |
| Class 4 210 Historic | Chris Mellard |
| Class 4 250 Classic | Martin Marks |
| Formula A LC | Glenn Guest |
| Formula A Pre 1995 | Kris Hughes |
| Formula A Pre 2000 | Mitchell McLeod |
| Formula C | Paul Ozanne |
| Formula TKM | Sam Hill |
| Formula TKM Heavy | Peter Townsend |
| Formula TKM Junior | Tom Marshall |
This table reflects the official final class classifications, including applied penalties. See the complete official timing and results for every session and competitor.
Trackside
The machinery in motion
A retro kart makes most sense when it is moving: the driver’s posture, the exposed mechanical detail and the way the whole package works through a corner.
The lasting impression
The people who keep the karts alive
The final results deservedly record the winners, but the weekend depended on a much wider group: competitors and mechanics, families and friends, the Retro Kart Championship team, officials and marshals, and the people who brought machinery simply because they believe it should still be seen and heard.
Every clean start and completed final also rested on patient work that rarely appears in a classification. Scrutineering, gridding, recovery and circuit operation gave the competitors the stage; the steady flow of help in the awnings kept the show moving when an old component or a fresh repair needed another look.
Whilton Mill showed the distinction between nostalgia and preservation. Nostalgia looks backwards. Preservation does the work, solves the problems and then pushes the kart out of the awning to race again. The O Plate was a celebration precisely because nobody treated the machinery as fragile scenery.
To everyone who shared a grid, a tool, a piece of advice or a conversation over the weekend: thank you. We came home with more work to do on the Birel, more respect for the people who run these karts, and every intention of keeping IC Kartstore’s connection to racing practical and real.