WELCOME TO ROUND 5 OF NKC 2026!
It’s the penultimate round of NKC 2026 and we’re back at the fantastic Warden Law circuit for the third year running.
A huge thank you to the Hunter family for welcoming us back. It’s great to see the continued investment being made in the venue, helping to establish Warden Law as one of the finest karting facilities in the country. The circuit has undergone several changes since our last visit, so take your time during practice to learn the updated layout and find the quickest way around.
This weekend also marks the opening round of the Andy Wagstaff Cup, named in memory of one of NKC’s original members, who sadly passed away in 2024. The driver in each class who scores the most points across Rounds 5 and 6 will be crowned the Andy Wagstaff Cup winner.
It’s also fantastic to see so many new names on the entry list. We hope you enjoy your first weekend with NKC and are made to feel at home. If you entered as a guest, should you decide to join us again for the season finale at Clay Pigeon on 11–13 September, just come and speak to us.
For anyone new to NKC, once practice and qualifying are over, the racing follows the schedule without specific timings. Please keep a close eye on which race is on track and make sure you are at the dummy grid in good time.
Where grids are over 34 drivers — Junior Rotax and Senior Rotax — drivers have been split into groups for Saturday practice and qualifying. These groups are random and different. They are also different to the Friday practice groups, which are allocated on the day.
Please check your groups carefully so you do not miss practice or, more importantly, your qualifying session. Qualifying groups will be published on the results page on Alpha timing by Friday.
Arrival and paddock
Competitors are welcome to arrive from 10am on Thursday.
Please make sure you vacate the paddock by 8pm on Sunday evening and do not leave any tyres behind. You will be billed for any tyres left at the circuit.
Anyone that has booked a pit bay should have been contacted by the track to confirm of your spot. Warden Law are looking after the paddock so if you haven’t booked a bay, you will be directed where to setup on arrival. They have a dedicated page for our event on their website with more information regarding gate times etc.
Transponders
In a change from previous rounds, drivers must fit transponders from the FIRST practice session on Saturday. If you are hiring a transponder, please collect from the office at 8am on Saturday morning.
Reminder – you will not be allowed on track without a working transponder fitted.
Trophy presentation
Trophies for this round will be presented at the NKC podium as soon as the results are finalised.
Trophies awarded:
- Inter Max – 1st to 3rd, plus top privateer
- Junior Rotax – 1st to 5th, plus top privateer
- Senior Rotax – 1st to 5th, plus top privateer
- Rotax 177 – 1st to 3rd, plus top privateer
- Senior TKM – 1st to 3rd, plus top privateer
- Rotax 177 Masters – 1st
- Senior TKM Masters – 1st
Format
Round 3 uses the qualifying format.
- Qualifying (6 minutes)
Each driver will take part in a qualifying session to determine heat grid positions. Classes with over 34 drivers will be split into groups. No points are awarded. - Heats x2 (8 minutes + 1 lap)
Each driver competes in two heats. Results set the Super Heat grid.
50 championship points available per heat. - Super Heat (10 minutes + 1 lap)
Results from the heats and Super Heat determine final grids.
50 plus top privateerspoints available. - Finals (A Final – 12 minutes + 1 lap)
Classes with over 34 drivers will have a B Final, with the top 4 progressing to the A Final.
100 plus top privateers points available.
Tyre collection
Collect your race tyres from the tyre bay near dummy grid during the following windows:
- Friday: 9am–3pm
- Saturday: 8am–11am
If you have not paid for your tyres yet, please pre-order them here:
Wets can be ordered from any source, but Dartford Karting offer next-day delivery and may be able to arrange delivery to the track.
Order Maxxis SLW wets
Order Mojo CW wets
Friday practice
In a change to a normal NKC weekend, Warden Law are running Friday practice but it is still under NKC conditions.
Please book online in advance as there is no guarantee they will take practice entries on the day
Please remember that Friday practice groups are different to Saturday groups.
NKC will have clerks watching over the practice sessions. Practice is not racing. Contact with other drivers will not be tolerated. Drivers causing incidents in practice risk being made to start heats from the back, championship points deductions and/or exclusion from the event.
Sign-on and scrutineering
Sign-on for Saturday and Sunday must be completed on Alpha.
You must also submit your engine number(s) and chassis number by 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
Driver briefing
The driver briefing will be held at 8.30am on Saturday morning on the dummy grid.
All drivers must attend.
Saturday practice and qualifying groups
Saturday practice groups for Junior Rotax and Senior Rotax can be downloaded here:
Download Saturday practice groups
Qualifying groups will be available on Alpha Timing on Friday.
Rotax drivers – fuel
Rotax race fuel must be purchased from the following petrol station:
Esso petrol station
Dairy Ln
Fence Houses
Houghton le Sprin
DH4 5NW
The petrol station is open 24 hours.
Only E10 regular unleaded is permitted. NKC will use this fuel as the control fuel when testing, so please make sure you buy the correct fuel.
TKM drivers are exempt from this rule and can purchase any pump fuel.
We have answered some fuel FAQs in the section below.
Inter Max exhausts
Inter Max drivers must collect their exhaust from the tyre bay on Friday or Saturday morning.
All exhausts are sealed and allocated randomly by number draw. Please remember that the exhausts are your responsibility and damage or loss is chargeable.
Regulations and cost can be found here.
Reminder on practice sessions
We have seen a few more incidents in practice sessions recently. These are avoidable and unacceptable.
Penalties will be issued to drivers who cause crashes in practice. These will be at our discretion, but are likely to include starting from the back of the heats and/or a championship points deduction.
Alpha RaceHub app
We will be communicating primarily through the Alpha RaceHub app throughout the weekend.
Please make sure you have downloaded it and that it is working correctly before the event. Search the Apple Appstore or Google Play for the app.
NKC app
The NKC app is a hub that contains information about the race weekend. Drivers registered for this event can also use it to submit incident reviews and add driver profile information for the commentary team. Click here to read about the incident review process.
NKC Tyre Buy Back
If you are a guest driver at this round, or unable to attend Round 6, NKC may buy back your race tyres (unless the meeting is wet).
To qualify, tyres must:
- be removed from rims without damage
- scan and match your allocated race tyres
- be undamaged (aside from normal wear)
- have completed at least 80% of the meeting
If eligible, please bring your tyres to the office or scrutineering after the meeting.
Buy-back price: £50
Please make sure you have:
- Read these final instructions
- Downloaded the timetable
- Checked your Saturday practice group where applicable
- Completed sign-on
- Completed online scrutineering
- Ordered your race tyres
Hopefully we have covered everything, but if you have any questions, please email us race@kartcup.co.uk.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Fuel FAQs
With a new regulation comes a lot of questions. We’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions about the new fuel regulation but if you have any questions not answered here, feel free to email us at race@kartcup.co.uk.
OFFICIALS
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| NKC organisers | Oli Nitch-Smith |
| Event Managers | Matt Hildred Gez Owen |
| Clerk of the course | Gary Livesey |
| Assistant Clerk | Lee Manchester |
| Assistant Clerk | Nigel Pritchard |
| Chief Steward | Matt Hildred |
| Steward | Tom Storrar |
| Grid Marshal | TBC |
| Timekeeper | Darren Alway |
| Scrutineers | George Hay George’s assistant |
| Assistant Scrutineer | Bailey Vernon-Higgs |
FINAL INSTRUCTIONS
Health & Safety
We are expecting over 160 drivers, so it is important to stick to the Health & Safety rules to keep everyone safe. Spectators are welcome at no charge.
- Traffic movement in the paddock must be kept to a minimum and limited to early morning/evening where possible.
- Please keep young children nearby and safe.
- Only officials will be allowed onto the live circuit.
- Trollies are not permitted on the live circuit. Wait until the circuit is neutralised and you have permission to enter from the grid marshal.
Friday Testing
Friday testing can be booked here. The day is being run by the track so they would like you all to book in advance. Signing on will start at 8.30am in the office beneath the terrace. All drivers must sign on even if they have paid online to receive their wristband for the day. Under 18s must bring their parent/guardian with them.
Paddock
You may arrive any time on Thursday from 10am. Gates will be locked at 10pm every night and reopen at 7am.
The paddock is going to be busy, so please be courteous and don’t take up more space than necessary. Only park in either your booked space or a space that hasn’t been booked. Please leave the paddock clean and tidy and take old tyres home with you. You’ll be fined for leaving tyres behind.
Schedule
The timetable for the weekend can be downloaded above and will be on display in the paddock. For race day we are publishing a running order only. Please make note of the order and listen out for Tannoy calls and Racehub app updates, so you know when your next session is approaching. It is the driver’s responsibility to be on the dummy grid on time.
Please ensure you are on the dummy grid at least 5 minutes before your session starts. If drivers are late, it will affect the smooth running of the event and impact on everyone’s track time. Sessions will not be delayed for late comers. Repeat offenders will be penalised.
Tyre barcodes
Tyres will be scanned in when you collect them. Look after your tyres. Don’t mix them up. Tyre softener is banned. If use is detected, you will be excluded from the championship.
Only laser-etched tyres are eligible for racing.
Scrutineering
All drivers must self-certify when signing on however we will be carrying out safety scrutineering in person at the scrutineering bay on Saturday morning. Karts will be pulled in at random. We may request that you bring your race tyres with you. Only one chassis and up to two engines are allowed and must be signed on in your Alpha account before racing starts.
Novices
Qualifying – If you have nominated to be a novice on entry, unless you tell us otherwise, you will start the heats from the position you earn in qualifying.
Mixed grids – If you have nominated to be a novice on entry, you will start your heats from the back of the grids. If you didn’t choose to be a novice on entry but have decided you’d like to be one please let one of the organisers know on Saturday. The organisers may compel a driver to start from the back should they deem this is required for safety reasons.
Hand-held starter policy
Hand-held starters must not be shared between karts if that is your only way of starting. They can be used to assist a driver to get started as a backup if required.
Transponders
We only use AMB Mylaps transponders. If you are hiring, please check the timetable to find out where and when to collect.
Signing On & Drivers Briefing
Signing on for the weekend is now open. Please click on the ‘EVENT SIGN ON’ button above.
There will be a driver briefing in person on Saturday morning that you all must attend. Please see the timetable.
Kart recovery
Kart recovery can take a long time and can potentially hold up racing. The clerks and marshals will guide you so please listen to them. You may need to wait until the following session has been before you can return to the paddock.
If you find yourself and kart in a position that is causing a yellow flag, if it is safe, please do your best to move yourself and your kart out of the way otherwise you will impact the racing on track.
Post-session parc ferme
Other than the drivers involved in the session, nobody will be allowed into parc ferme until they have been given express permission by an official. Failure to follow this rule may result in your driver being disqualified from the session or receiving a penalty.
Abusive or threatening behaviour is not acceptable here or anywhere. We understand emotions run high, but parc ferme is not the place to air your frustrations with other drivers. You are expected to leave the area quietly and return to your paddock area without altercation. If you have a problem, you should report it to the steward.
Any driver witnessed abusing another driver in parc ferme will be automatically disqualified from the session. If it’s a practice session a 10-point penalty will be applied to your racing heats. This is very much a case of if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all. If we witness any abusive or threatening behaviour in the paddock from the driver or mechanic/family member or friend you are at risk of being thrown out of the whole meeting.
Formation laps – starting grid position
It seems some drivers may occasionally have found themselves in the wrong grid slot by the time they get to the start line. It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure they form up correctly on the rolling up lap. We will be watching for this more closely (see below) and drivers who gain an unfair advantage will be penalised.
Formation laps – tyre warming
Weaving is allowed in moderation. You must leave space to allow drivers to come through to take their position. If you spin, we will not wait for you.
Starts
Drivers to form up in the tramlines. DO NOT leave the tramlines before the lights go out. Cameras are on the starts and you will receive a penalty if you break this rule. If a driver is missing from the grid in front of you, LEAVE a gap. You mustn’t close the gap, otherwise you will be penalised for starting out of position.
Judicial
We have a great team of officials, but please remember they are human. We can try to give clarity on penalties where possible, but they cannot be overturned without compelling evidence. Official appeals will only be heard after A-finals.
- Some of you will feel you’ve been penalised unfairly
- Some of you will miss yellow flags and be absolutely sure they weren’t there
- Some of you will get unfair nose cone penalties
- Some of you will feel another driver got away without a penalty
We will do our best, but we will not be perfect. Please treat our officials with respect. And please remember that these things do tend to even out over the course of a championship.
Review procedure
We have an incident review procedure in place so please make yourself familiar with it, though please note we are limited to the camera views provided by the live streaming team and sometimes, trackside CCTV. Most incidents will not be caught on camera, in which case, the officials’ decisions will stand unless you have very strong evidence that it is wrong. If you do not have the Racehub app installed and you’re not signed in to the right account, we will discard your form.
Appeals
We have updated the appeals procedure in the regulations. Drivers will be allowed to appeal decisions from A Finals only. .
The system isn’t perfect
Not everything gets caught on camera and even when it does the pictures are often inconclusive, however, this will improve the accuracy of our stewarding.
Communication
Being able to communicate with you all can be a challenge however the new Alpha Racehub app should help enormously. Please ensure you download the app (see buttons above) and please keep checking for notifications throughout the event. We will use it to update you of timetable changes, call drivers in to the clerk and for all other important information. It is your responsibility to be keep up with the updates to the running of the event so please keep your phones charged and ensure they are checked regularly.
General
Once again, we welcome Stu Stretton and his team as official photographers, so we’ll be treated to some more great images.
Questions
Hopefully we’ve covered most of the questions you may have but if not, drop us an email or message our Facebook page.
See you all there
Oli