The Casual Go-Karting Thread

This is a thread dedicated to go-karting, but is more about those who turn up to the local circuit and have a go, rather than for karters who race regularly.

Post your experiences here, and how you felt you went:

I'll start with my most recent experience (about 4 hours ago )

I went to a kart circuit in Newcastle (Australia, NSW), near the football stadium. It's the first time Iv'e been karting since I developed an interest in motorsport, so I was very keen to drive well.

The Track:


It's a nice track, and you can really get the kart I was using sideways if your not careful, epecially in the chicanes and the double hairpin section. There was also a puddle on the racing line at the exit of the chicane on the back straight, so I got quite wet towards the end of my 15 minute run. It was really fun, and if you felt brave, you could go flat out around the sweeping corner in the middle of the track, but this hurt your time, rather than helped.

I was by myself for this, as my friend bailed out due to personal reasons, so I had a clear track and was just time trialling. The shop gives you a printout of your laptimes after your session My times started from 46.9 seconds at the start (first lap), to a Personal Best of 36.6 seconds. I was consistantly in the low 38's though, and I realised (at the end) I was tying to overdrive the kart, probably due to the adrenaline. What didn't help, was the brakes seemed less effective towards the end. Looking back, I could probably shave another 3 seconds off that time with proper lines, now I know my mistakes

I had a fun session, and ran 20 laps. It cost $30 AUD for a 15 min session, but it would be cheaper if I had been there before.

On a side note, it felt really, really weird getting into my little coupe for the drive back home. getting out of the carpark, I kept expecting oversteer if I turned too hard!

I'll agree with the oversteer part. Also after my first experience in a kart I got in the car and expected it to turn and stop like the kart!

Have been to a place in Sunshine (Melbourne) in Victoria and the karts there were quite sharpish, with a different brake setup to what I'd been used too. Took a little of getting used to. Haven't been there in a few years but a group of GT4 Lanners would get together a week before the Aussie F1 GP. Good fun, plenty of taking the mickey and the odd spin/crash or 2.

Up untill recently I was racing at our local indoor track in here in Ballarat. Very competitive and some fast guys too.

Been karting a lot of times so have many stories!

On my first ever drive I tried to overtake on the inside of someone, wedged the rear axle and lifted the front of the car off the ground momentarily. Aged 8, lap 3! 👍

Most of my driving has been at my local track in Crawley which moved to a new site about 3 or 4 years ago. The first was very grippy, all lefts and largely flat out. The new however is like ice which makes for interesting racing!... I find on the indoor circuits its VERY hard to overtake without being cautioned, you have to hope the person in front concedes defeat rather than trying to defend (and thats only if they see you). I haven't karted in a while for this reason, since I can race simulators (free) whenever I can in a range of cars on a range of tracks. ALL of them allow for very good racing.

Although I've never karted proffessionally, I've taken part in 2 competitive events. The first was at Buckmore Park in Kent which is a brilliant track if you get a chance to drive it. It was a 3 hour endurance event in a team of 4 work colleagues, with a wide range of karters and experience present. I did the second stint (we ran 45 minutes each), taking over with us surprisingly as high as 5th. I spent my stint chasing down a proffessional karter (I expect, you don't just buy team overalls with your name on do you?). We were evenly matched but EVENTUALLY I slipped past him and could see if I could extend a lead. Except that at the very next corner in my aim of gaining ground, I spun out... Was still happy with my performance that day but would have been ecstatic if I'd kept the place.

The second event I have taken part in is "Kart Champs", a regional event at the new Crawley track. You have to submit 3 fast lap times in individual sessions and the top 25 get selected for the quarter final. I qualified first at Crawley. In the heats I did well, coming from last in race one to take 4th, and then winning my second heat. Another decent result (2nd) put me second on the grid going into the last race of the night, with the top 3 steps going onto the semi finals (which happened to be at Crawley again, being the newest circuit in the chain). At the start I filter into second, exactly as intended. I get a nudge at turn 1, but hold it without spinning. I get a tap at turn 2, but hold it without spinning. And turn 3. And turn 4. EVENTUALLY, turn 6, the guy in third succeeds in spinning me out at the top of the hill, demoting me to last. I then had to suffer the remainder of the race making gestures to the stewards who "didn't see anything". Gutted, but apart from lap 1 of the final I had a good night and couldn't complain.

/essay

I understand the pain of being turned around (and over) without the people in charge "seeing anything". I figure that karma is a good weapon and comes back around to bite those that it needs too. On the rare occasion I even get to hand it out and gives me a chuckle and some satisfaction to boot

Your indoor experience, concrete or bitumen? Concrete here and if it gets a bit of dew on it, can be, entertaining I'll say, to drive on. When a dry line appears though, the amount of grip on offer is awesome.

Due to a back injury sustained elsewhere, I've not been able to induldge myself for a while, pity as it is enjoyable.

I've decided I might have a bug for karting. I wish I could get invovled more, but the closest places to me are over an hour away by car. It actually costs about $45 Australian (factoring in petrol/gas) for me to do 15 mins. I really would like to race actual people too, not just a time trial.

Funny thing is, I have a project management class as a part of an IT diploma, and the assignment asks you to "create and execute" a project (all on paper), and the teacher hates it when all the projects are IT related, so we have free reign of project choice. My choice was to build a go-kart facility near where I am. It was just an assignment at first, but I'm genuinely thinking of following through with this, and it would really only cost about $400,000 Australian to set up (this is a conservative estimate).

long story short, I want a more local track so I can go karting more often!

Bollocks#999

I understand the pain of being turned around (and over) without the people in charge "seeing anything". I figure that karma is a good weapon and comes back around to bite those that it needs too. On the rare occasion I even get to hand it out and gives me a chuckle and some satisfaction to boot

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That was my view on the day, they clearly needed to prove themselves more than me, whilst I just went for some seat time and good racing! Throughout the day there were a number of fights break out and it really does affect the enjoyment when things can't be settled on the track cleanly. I remember tapping one person ever so slightly when passing, and after the race I found him and apologised. He didn't mind anyway (he had his kid there too) but he appreciated the gesture and we both had a better time for it.

Bollocks#999

Your indoor experience, concrete or bitumen? Concrete here and if it gets a bit of dew on it, can be, entertaining I'll say, to drive on. When a dry line appears though, the amount of grip on offer is awesome.

Due to a back injury sustained elsewhere, I've not been able to induldge myself for a while, pity as it is enjoyable.

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Do you mean outdoor? I've driven in both, love it when it gets wet Most places try and stop you, but at Buckmore Park they just reminded us that we had slick tyres on and couldn't change them It stayed dry during our event though.

Thats a shame, when you think you'll be back out driving again? My dad is bad for this, he has a bad back but he'll drive without much hesitation any chance he gets.... and then complain like hell about his back for the next week!