Rob Goes Racing

15/05/2025

TL;DR - I'm now a qualified driving instructor, and I'll be back on YouTube soon!

Here it is! The reason I've been missing from YouTube for a little while!

In September 2024 I started working as a self-employed Trainee Driving Instructor (PDI). It's a long process with long wait times for tests. Whilst you operate as a trainee instructor, you are legally (!) not allowed to call yourself a driving instructor and most importantly you cannot advertise yourself on social media as being one.
For a social media creator like myself, this is obviously quite tricky as I've had to be very careful what I say. I've been to TeamSport (Sheffield, Leicester and Warrington) in my work car (albeit with the L roofbox off for the ones further away!) and so some people will have seen and asked me about it, which was fine.

In January I had my first of three attempts at the final test required to become a qualified driving instructor, unfortunately that time I was unsuccessful. It was at that point, that I realised I needed to focus a little more on my training and a little less on go-karting/YouTube! So I did that, I stepped away silently and focused.
I'm proud to say in April I passed my qualifying test on the 2nd attempt. However, as I was still bound by the rules of my trainee license I still couldn't say anything, as I wasn't able to legally advertise myself as a driving instructor.
Today that changes! My green badge, showing that I am a qualified approved driving instructor has arrived and I can finally call myself a Driving Instructor.
I still need to work a few things out, as I need to increase my pupil numbers to get my salary back to a stable amount again. But I'll be back fairly soon!

I've been recording videos, Grid Series at Sheffield, along with a few other things. We've a new event format (Trackmaster) and another one tonight (Uno), which I'm taking part in (although I have a bad shoulder, so not expecting a great performance! 🙄). At this stage, I'm unable to commit to BIKC 2025, but we'll see how things go.

Incidentally, if you're looking for driving lessons and you're in an area I cover (part of S8, S17, S18, S41 postcode areas), hit me up! 👍

03/02/2025

It's finally coming!

The Autumn Grid Series from 2024. Releasing each round on the dates shown.

20/10/2024

I can't quite believe it! I fully intended to "just do better than last year", with my aim being to make it into the top 12 and into the grand final.

I got lucky for qualifying, especially at a track where it was going to be vital to start high up the grid. Kart 20 was the fastest of the fleet, I was last out on track and tried to back off and make some space. Some drivers ahead had the same idea though and I found traffic pretty quickly, having passed some, I found another gap and pushed. I wasn't expecting a lot as I didn't feel I'd had a tidy lap.
I was shown the number 1 finger on the way into the pits and my heart was racing!

It then became a story of defence, and unfortunately some rather boring video footage. Not great for a YouTuber 🙄! With two different karts, I started and finished both heats in 1st place, with Gary close behind in 2nd. Just like the local finals!

I started to worry about the semi-final. I knew I was allocated a slow kart and had right behind me in a quicker one! I held him off for a few laps, before the driver behind him started fighting for 2nd place. At which point, as I didn't need to defend anymore, I pushed on and pulled a comfortable lead.

The grand final was much the same story again. Starting in first, I soon found myself with a comfortable lead. Only we had a red flag, with a rolling restart. I had to do it all again! I once again pulled a bit of a lead, but my back was becoming an issue, so I dropped my pace a little to ensure I could make it to the end of the race.

A 1-2 for Sheffield middleweight drivers in the end. Well done to Kav and Joel for 2nd and 3rd place. See you at Warrington!

🏆 BIKC Middleweight Regional Champion 2024 🏆

13/09/2024

What a night!
Firstly, congratulations to everyone who made it this far.
We had low numbers this year at Sheffield, which was a bit disappointing, but the quality of racing made up for it!

I know an element of luck always comes into it, especially with rental karts and I'm just thankful that luck was on my side when I needed it!

After nabbing the fastest kart (9) for practice, setting a new personal best (in the new karts) in the process, that kart was removed for being too quick.
It then took me a few laps to get used to kart 17 in qualifying, but was I able to pop it on pole on the final lap!

That just left the race. I wasn't impressed with the kart, and my pace showed that. Thankfully, I was able to hold 1st and eventually start to pull out a bit of a gap.

A huge shout-out to Charlie, as a mega drive saw him recover from last up to 2nd!

Congratulations to all who progress through to the regionals and good luck!

Fair play to all the staff involved. I know some people will be left disappointed, but I do feel the way the evening was run was the fairest it could be. A huge improvement from last year 👍

Here comes Leicester!

22/06/2024

A few photos from a family day out. My eldest turns 6 soon, so we took a sunny drive down to Silverstone Museum to celebrate. Can you tell what I'm drawn to the most? I've always wanted one! 😂

Even managed to watch some on track action, as the Classic Sports Car Club were racing.

03/06/2024

24/05/2024

The new karts have arrived, so it's just one thing left for me to do!

I wasn't sure if I was going to sign up at Sheffield with the condition of the karts. But having driven the new ones last night, I now know it should be a much fairer competition locally!

09/05/2024

Have you seen the new bonus video for this week yet? I got a chance to try out speed 4 on the SODI electric karts at TeamSport Liverpool, whilst the short Combat Karts track was free!

https://youtu.be/BV8GMghTn-Q?si=npfbg0pShEEaI6Me

19/04/2024

ELECTRIC SUNDAY!

I'll be visiting TeamSport Warrington and the recently re-opened TeamSport Liverpool on Sunday. Both are now using electric karts, but from two different manufacturers. It'll be interesting to do the back-to-back comparison!

25/03/2024

So it seems the YouTube Gods have decided to promote my vlog video! 😂
I'm getting mixed reactions in the comments though, with a lot of opinions claiming it's £90 for a days work. I'm not replying to anymore, as I can only reply saying it's 3 hours work, with a very long commute! 😂

Did you watch? What are your thoughts?