4x Lap Record Holder, Championship & endurance Stalwart: a name to remember
Dexter Roest has never been particularly interested in taking his time. From winning his first SODI race on his birthday to repeatedly lowering the lap record at Daytona Milton Keynes, his karting career has developed with much the same urgency that defines his driving. Most recently, that pace carried him to victory in the inaugural N32 Cup, adding another achievement to a record that already includes InKart podiums, endurance success and experience across several national championships.
Karting replaced football for Dexter after the latter began to lose its appeal. His dad, Steve, had spent much of his life around motorsport and suggested giving it a try, leading to Dexter’s first outing in a Bambino kart at Daytona Sandown Park. Part of the circuit was sectioned off for a practice session with around ten other drivers, and although he now recognises how slowly they were travelling, it felt fast enough at the time. Monthly visits to indoor circuits followed, then became increasingly frequent as Dexter’s attention shifted firmly towards karting.
He soon returned to Daytona Sandown Park, progressing from Cadets into Junior tuition and Race School before qualifying for InKart. The family entered as many rounds as possible, and Dexter began to show his potential with a third-place finish in Round Four. After around a year in the Juniors, he passed his SODI assessment, although he still had to wait several months until he was old enough to compete. His first opportunity arrived on his birthday and Dexter marked it by winning the race.
That result was an early example of the approach he has carried through each stage of his development. Dexter describes himself as aggressive, although he is quick to separate that from forcing other drivers off the circuit. For him, it means committing to an opportunity and getting on with the race. “I just want to win,” he explained, a simple assessment which becomes fairly convincing when set alongside his results.
Dexter’s pace is already familiar at Daytona Milton Keynes, where he holds the SODI lap record and has broken his own benchmark four times, prompting some discussion among staff about replacing his name on the leaderboard with something more permanent. He has since transferred that speed into the N32-XR, setting the leading lap time in the kart and winning the first edition of the N32 Cup earlier this year.
His introduction to the N32-XR came after a difficult InKart round at Daytona Sandown Park. Dexter had been running second before contact took him out of the Final, after which he was offered the chance to try the faster kart. Dexter suspects there may have been some sympathy involved; Steve maintains it was because they recognised a good driver. Whatever the reason, the N32 suited him immediately. He enjoyed its speed and the solid, smooth feeling it gave him behind the wheel, then converted that early confidence into victory when the new Cup competition began.
Alongside his N32 success, Dexter continues to build experience in several forms of racing. Two appearances in the Daytona Sandown Park InKart series last season brought second place on his debut and a Heat Two victory at the final round, where he beat some of the season’s leading drivers. He also competed in Thursday Night League and is racing in the Daytona Milton Keynes InKart Junior class this season, while appearances in Club100 and DRS have introduced him to new circuits and different machinery.
Karting has also become a shared pursuit for the Roest family. Dexter’s brother, Spencer, started first and expected his experience to give him the upper hand once they began racing in the same SODI machinery. The weight difference may have helped Dexter initially, but the contest soon became more balanced than Spencer had anticipated. Their contrasting styles made them useful opponents: Dexter attacked whenever he saw an opening, while Spencer’s developing race craft made him difficult to pass once, he moved ahead.
Their rivalry remains competitive without defining either driver. One story captures the balance particularly well. After Spencer pushed Dexter off the circuit in an open race at Daytona Sandown Park, Dexter recovered through the field and found his brother in a rough battle alongside some fellow racers. He promptly began defending him. They may race each other hard, but the contest rarely gets in the way of being brothers.
That relationship proved valuable at the 2026 KSS charity endurance race, where Dexter and Spencer teamed up with fellow InKart driver Valter Zips. Dexter led from the start, opening a three-second advantage on the first lap and extending it to around two minutes within half an hour. Spencer and Valter continued to build the lead, but a pitlane speeding penalty and the event’s option to purchase black flags for rival teams gradually undid their work. By the time Dexter returned to the kart, the team had fallen to seventh. With ten minutes remaining, he recovered four positions and brought them home in third, completing a podium finish which said as much about the team’s response to adversity as its early speed.
Those family stories provide some colour to Dexter’s progress, but the direction remains his own. He wants to continue developing, race at more circuits and discover how far karting can take him. However far that may be, Daytona will remain an important part of the journey. He speaks warmly about the circuit, the food and the staff who have supported him, and says he will always be happy to return soon.
For now, the next challenge is never far away. Dexter has set the first N32 Cup benchmark, and as the competition prepares for its next instalment, a new group of drivers will have the opportunity to take it on alongside its current champion himself.
