Some of you may remember the feat of the Leicester football team, coached by the Italian Ranieri, which in 2016 won the Premier League by outsmarting the historical teams of English football, monopolists of the world stage like Manchester United, Chelsea, etc. From there, an hour south of the Pfi Circuit, Glenn Guest, a 31-year-old software developer, will set out to conquer "his" World Championship. As an unconditional lover of our sport, he has decided to write his name, if not in legend, at least in the entry list of a competition so far beyond the reach of an amateur driver that just seeing him there, in the paddock, under his canopy with his father as a mechanic and his mother preparing breakfast, among the motorhomes of the official teams, will be an exception that is hard to repeat. Or perhaps, it could become a challenge that some local driver might attempt to take on year after year.
«I didn't start racing competitively until I was about 14. Before that I had a cadet at 8 years old and when I was a bit older a prokart and a TKM 4 stroke just for practicing on at local tracks.» Glenn recalls of his beginnings. He has practically driven and raced in every possible and imaginable category: "«I've raced in many different categories, listing them all is almost difficult: Open, TKM Extreme, Senior X30, OK, KZ, 100cc pre-95, 100cc pre-2000, Formula C, 125 Superkart, Division 1 Superkart." The successes have all come quite recently, especially in the old 100cc kart races, which are very popular in the UK: "I was the British Champion F100 Pre-2000 in 2018, I won the F100 O Plate in 2019, 2021, and 2023, I was the British Champion F100 Formula C in 2021 plus a series of other wins in the Open categories. I currently race in the Retro Kart Championship Pre-2000 and LC when time allows.»
From Monday to Friday, Glenn is a software developer and works at the office.
«I'm a software developer by trade. This has always been a passion of mine and I've been a Junior developer, Director and everything in between in my career! I'm currently a senior architect and software developer for a compliance company. I also run my own business which is centered around kart setup and analysis software which is called KartSetups (www.kartsetups.co.uk).»
Do you train a lot with the kart?
«I try to be out at least once a month whether that is racing or practicing. I tend not to do much karting in the winter now as I'm usually preparing for the season ahead. My closest track is Stretton Circuit where I began as an 8 year old, my closest Motorsport UK track is Whilton Mill which was a fantastic technical track but has been ruined by chicace syndrome unfortunately.»
What do you think about PFi where the World Championship will take place?
«PFi circuit is one of my favourites since it got extended, before that I never used to like it but this made all the difference for me. Funny you should say about memories, I have both good and bad. My good memory is winning the first 100cc race back there in many years when I won the 2018 F100 Pre 2000 O Plate. It was a weekend where everything came together on a very competitive grid. My bad memory is when I competed in the very first X30 race in the UK where a young George Russell was also competing. I crashed heavily into the bridge on black ice and was lucky I didn't come away with any serious injuries, got myself a ride in an ambulance to the hospital in the process though and ruined George's chances of taking the win! »
Why the idea of signing up for the OK World Championship?
«The World Championship is something I've always had in the back of my mind. I had 3 things I wanted to achieve in karting: to win a British Championship, to compete at the LasVegas SKUSA SuperNats and in the Karting World Championships 1 of these 3 I've done and when PFi announced the World Champiosnhip was to be back in Britain again I knew this was my only opportunity to do it at the standard I wanted considering I'm now 31 and will probably be one of the oldest drivers on the grid.»
Was it difficult to register? Did you encounter any difficulties?
«I've had no real issues in getting myself on the grid. It's obviously a case of money like all things Motorsport which is why I'm doing very minimal racing or any other kind this year. The overall process of getting my international licence was also very easy. There are two hard parts to this for me. One is weight. In the UK a normal senior class is 162KG and OK is 150KG. I've lost 10KG already but I need to lose another 6 or 8 to have a hope of being competitive on weight. The second has been organising equipment, this has been very hard as a privateer and very little support in the UK, probably because we haven't ran the class since 2016. I'm hoping to have some good news on this front in the coming days though.»
How do you find this kart?
«I initially didn't like the engine at all when I tested one at PFi in 2016. I found it quite awkward as the throttle was like an on/off switch which didn't work well with my driving style. Fast forward to 2020 when COVID hit and I really didn't know what to race so I got a couple of Vortex OK engines to compete in the open class at Fulbeck and we eventually won the championship. Throughout that year I learned their intricacies and how to run them well which gave me a lot of experience. »
How are you preparing physically and mentally for the World Championship, which is now imminent?
«My training schedule is intense, gym every day without fail in the morning before work, eating correctly and fitting in any other exercise as my life allows. My expectations are to make the final and I'm under no illusion that this will be the hardest and most competitive event I've ever and probably will ever compete in. If we make the final thst is an enormous achievement in my eyes. I'll also be praying for rain the whole time!»
Good luck, Glenn!
«I didn't start racing competitively until I was about 14. Before that I had a cadet at 8 years old and when I was a bit older a prokart and a TKM 4 stroke just for practicing on at local tracks.» Glenn recalls of his beginnings. He has practically driven and raced in every possible and imaginable category: "«I've raced in many different categories, listing them all is almost difficult: Open, TKM Extreme, Senior X30, OK, KZ, 100cc pre-95, 100cc pre-2000, Formula C, 125 Superkart, Division 1 Superkart." The successes have all come quite recently, especially in the old 100cc kart races, which are very popular in the UK: "I was the British Champion F100 Pre-2000 in 2018, I won the F100 O Plate in 2019, 2021, and 2023, I was the British Champion F100 Formula C in 2021 plus a series of other wins in the Open categories. I currently race in the Retro Kart Championship Pre-2000 and LC when time allows.»
From Monday to Friday, Glenn is a software developer and works at the office.
«I'm a software developer by trade. This has always been a passion of mine and I've been a Junior developer, Director and everything in between in my career! I'm currently a senior architect and software developer for a compliance company. I also run my own business which is centered around kart setup and analysis software which is called KartSetups (www.kartsetups.co.uk).»
Do you train a lot with the kart?
«I try to be out at least once a month whether that is racing or practicing. I tend not to do much karting in the winter now as I'm usually preparing for the season ahead. My closest track is Stretton Circuit where I began as an 8 year old, my closest Motorsport UK track is Whilton Mill which was a fantastic technical track but has been ruined by chicace syndrome unfortunately.»
What do you think about PFi where the World Championship will take place?
«PFi circuit is one of my favourites since it got extended, before that I never used to like it but this made all the difference for me. Funny you should say about memories, I have both good and bad. My good memory is winning the first 100cc race back there in many years when I won the 2018 F100 Pre 2000 O Plate. It was a weekend where everything came together on a very competitive grid. My bad memory is when I competed in the very first X30 race in the UK where a young George Russell was also competing. I crashed heavily into the bridge on black ice and was lucky I didn't come away with any serious injuries, got myself a ride in an ambulance to the hospital in the process though and ruined George's chances of taking the win! »
Why the idea of signing up for the OK World Championship?
«The World Championship is something I've always had in the back of my mind. I had 3 things I wanted to achieve in karting: to win a British Championship, to compete at the LasVegas SKUSA SuperNats and in the Karting World Championships 1 of these 3 I've done and when PFi announced the World Champiosnhip was to be back in Britain again I knew this was my only opportunity to do it at the standard I wanted considering I'm now 31 and will probably be one of the oldest drivers on the grid.»
Was it difficult to register? Did you encounter any difficulties?
«I've had no real issues in getting myself on the grid. It's obviously a case of money like all things Motorsport which is why I'm doing very minimal racing or any other kind this year. The overall process of getting my international licence was also very easy. There are two hard parts to this for me. One is weight. In the UK a normal senior class is 162KG and OK is 150KG. I've lost 10KG already but I need to lose another 6 or 8 to have a hope of being competitive on weight. The second has been organising equipment, this has been very hard as a privateer and very little support in the UK, probably because we haven't ran the class since 2016. I'm hoping to have some good news on this front in the coming days though.»
How do you find this kart?
«I initially didn't like the engine at all when I tested one at PFi in 2016. I found it quite awkward as the throttle was like an on/off switch which didn't work well with my driving style. Fast forward to 2020 when COVID hit and I really didn't know what to race so I got a couple of Vortex OK engines to compete in the open class at Fulbeck and we eventually won the championship. Throughout that year I learned their intricacies and how to run them well which gave me a lot of experience. »
How are you preparing physically and mentally for the World Championship, which is now imminent?
«My training schedule is intense, gym every day without fail in the morning before work, eating correctly and fitting in any other exercise as my life allows. My expectations are to make the final and I'm under no illusion that this will be the hardest and most competitive event I've ever and probably will ever compete in. If we make the final thst is an enormous achievement in my eyes. I'll also be praying for rain the whole time!»
Good luck, Glenn!
