Jedi Racing Cars

Spectators at Wiscombe Park and other South West hillclimb and sprint venues in recent seasons will have seen a very rapid, bright yellow Jedi Mk4 Suzuki GSXR being driven by father and son duo, Ben and Tony Bonfield.

Ben was crowned ASWMC Sprint Champion in 2020 as well as setting a couple of ASWMC hillclimb records during the Covid hit season. The pair are fitting a new engine over the winter which should produce an extra 20 bhp....on the rolling road in April and looking for 300 bhp!

Jedi Racing Cars, based in Wellingborough, were founded by John Corbyn, with the first chassis appearing in 1984 built for hill climbing. The Jedi re-introduced 500cc bike engine cars to hillclimbing. Small capacity cars had been very popular in the 50’s and early 60’s with the Cooper-JAP’s of Ken Wharton, Tony Marsh and David Boshier-Jones winning the British Championship during an unbroken 10 year sequence.

John had been running a Cosworth powered single seater which proved costly, so he set about finding a cheaper alternative. The first Jedi was powered by a 500cc Suzuki T500 Twin two stroke. Larger 1000cc engines from Suzuki and Yamaha followed. John started manufacturing the Jedi chassis, and In 1990, the Formula Honda race series was introduced using the 600cc four stroke Honda engine from the F2 side car.

Since that first chassis in '84, a Jedi became a popular choice for racers to progress to from karts. An affordable “slicks and wings” single seater race car. Another one make race championship was established in 1996 – originally christened Formula Jedi, now known as F1000 – with rounds at all the major UK race tracks. The Jedi is also eligible for other race series too, both in the UK and world wide, and has enjoyed plenty of success.

The construction of the car means that it is relatively straight forward to work on and set up – ideal for the novice or more experienced racer. Factory support is excellent too – John Corbyn remains very “hands on”. A 1000cc motor bike engine should give performance figures of 0-60mph in around 3 seconds, and on to 150mph while revving to around 14,000rpm. Its light weight, compact dimensions and agility has ensured that, although the overall design has changed little from the original car, it is still an obvious choice for hill climb and sprint competitors.

And the name? Yes, of course it’s Star Wars....John Corbyn needed a name for his creation, and in 1984, an 8 year old Frazer Corbyn, John’s son, was a big fan of Star Wars (who isn’t?) and suggested the name “Jedi”.

John Corbyn – a self builder who went on to become a race car manufacturer.

May the force be with you....on the hills and tracks!

This article has been published on the Wiscombe Park FB page with additional photo's -

https://www.facebook.com/WiscombeParkHillclimb/posts/1917627428389499