The karting world has lost one of its most iconic figures with the passing of Martin Hines following a lengthy battle with cancer.
The sad news was confirmed by Hines’ son Luke on his facebook page earlier today.
Hines, 63, was the founder and owner of Zip Kart – a business he started in 1964 in a partnership with his father. From its humble beginnings in the United Kingdom, Hines spread the word of the Zip Kart to all parts of the globe.
Hines, the “Karting Guru” always had the foresight to lead karting’s technical advances from Superkarts, Indoor Karting and Corporate Karting, introducing Bridgestone tyres and finally creating a karting TV series.
Hines introduced McLaren and Mercedes Benz into the sport of karting with Britain’s first-ever national network TV series – ‘The McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future’ series.
He was also instrumental during the formative years of the careers of Formula One drivers David Coulthard, Lewis Hamilton and Anthony Davidson, among many others.
Hines was one of the most capped drivers in karting. Among his list of achievements were three FIA Superkart World Championships, five European Championships and six British Titles.
Hines also visited Australia on a number of occasions throughout his career, where he was highly respected by the karting community.
Hines’ son Luke was a top line karter before graduating through the ranks and he recently tested a BTCC Triple 8 Race Engineering Vauxhaull.
