Jonny helps Johnny to raise £30,000 for charity | 01/12/08 The annual Johnny Herbert Kart Challenge is a popular fixture in the motorsport calendar, and brings together a lively mix of racing drivers, kart racers and members of the public to raise money for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. Three-time Grand Prix winner, Herbert started his eponymous event when he was racing in the Benetton F1 team alongside Michael Schumacher - and it is now in its 15th year, with 23 teams entering up to 6 drivers in a punishing endurance race. This year's race saw Jonathan make his debut, when he was called up for his racewear sponsor's - Alpinestars - Dream Team. "It was a good laugh," he said. "It was good to see so many famous drivers and celeb's supporting the event. It wasn't too serious and that created a fun atmosphere. I enjoyed being able to catch up with some people I hadn't seen for a while too." Although on paper, his team's line-up looked to be invincible - as it consisted of former karting superstars Riki Christodoulou, Jon Lancaster and Oli Oakes with Jack Harvey and Jonny representing the best of today's crop - bad luck would blight any chance of victory. "Our first kart was dead slow, so we changed it thinking that another kart couldn't possibly be as bad. What they gave us though was even worse. It wouldn't turn left-hand corners - and most of the corners went in that direction. So we changed again and this time, the kart went well and handled. It just had absolutely no brakes!" The pit-lane marshals soon discovered they weren't joking about this when Jonathan and Oli both accidentally collected them as they came into the pits for their driver changeovers. Having dropped down the order to 18th, Jonathan and his team-mates staged a dogged fight-back to finish 10th after three hours of relentless action. "I wish we'd had that last kart first. Although it wouldn't stop, it was the best one and if we'd had it for qualifying and the start, I think we could've done quite well. Still, we helped to raise £30,000 for the WNAA and had a great time doing it." He added, "We'd all like to thank Alpinestars for the opportunity, the really cool clothes they sent us and we're determined to do it again next year and win it!" << back to news