John Surtees relaunches Buckmore Park kart track

John Surtees, pictured in 1966, won World Championships on two wheels as well as four

Racing legend John Surtees has relaunched the karting track where Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button practised as youngsters.

The former world champion, 81, unveiled a new fleet of karts at Buckmore Park in Chatham with the help of TV presenter Paul Hollywood.

Surtees won seven world motorbike championships before becoming F1 World Champion with Ferrari in 1964.

He now aims to "firmly place Buckmore on the map".

Surtees said: "I would like Buckmore to become a feeder for youngsters into racing careers, and hope to work with various colleges with their educational programmes."

Speaking at the launch, Buckmore Park Karting Ltd Managing Director Chris Pullman said: "We start young. We do the training for the future.

"We start the serious training at six. It's all about progression - a ladder of success."

He spoke of his excitement of working with John Surtees and added: "John is the only person that has won world championships on two and four wheels and I don't think that will ever get beaten."

A new fleet of karts were unveiled at the relaunch on Wednesday