Lewis Hamilton is on top of the world in Formula 1, this season his quest is for a fifth world championship in Australia this weekend, but there is mounting concern at grassroots level that motorsport is becoming unaffordable for anyone but rich kids as karting fields shrink in what is one of the hotbeds of junior racing. With costs spiralling and some junior kart teams racing on six-figure budgets, youngsters hoping to emulate Hamilton’s rise from social housing to stardom are being priced out of contention. Britain’s Motor Sports Association says the number of MSA licence holders in karting — where future champions learn their craft — has fallen by 30 percent in the decade since...
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