My First Actual Racing Experience!

[JohnBM01]

GTPlanet, nice to see you again.

Here in Houston earlier today (3/6/2004), I had a chance to race at Davy Jones KartZone, in Houston, Texas, USA. Those who may know Davy Jones can recall that he was part of the winning team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1996. So what was it like? I'll talk about it.

First off, this was a chance to see if I can take my Gran Turismo skills and apply them to realistic racing. Here is their website:

http://www.kartzone.net

When you race there, you're racing against at least 11 people, depending on who you brought along or who your competition is. You get to wear racing suits if you wish. Helmets and all are incredibly important. You are schooled about the flags thrown in a race and also how the kart works. The track is a little challenging at first. You start off on the start/finish path, then there is a short chicane, and it goes all the way to a slow hairpin. Afterwards, you mash the gas, go into another chicane, then all the way to a mid-speed hairpin. After that, another small chicane, and ANOTHER hairpin, and then you're on the longest straight of the course. The next turn can be done by lifting off the throttle, and you can pretty much mash down the gas all the way to the line.

Did I have fun? Would I lie to you? It was Hell on Earth! From GT to reality. I been banged up a lot, hitting the wall and stuff. One hit really got me, and I experienced my first spin out. So, I enjoyed myself. Another cool thing about this place is that you're in the vincinity of Ferrari of Houston. And sitting in the garage of their race shop, I seen the beautiful 360 Modena Ferrari of Houston races in the Ferrari Challenge. The weather was nice to add to that. A little too many clouds, but I'll take it.

If you are coming down to Houston, check it out. It's fun.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I wish the go-kart place near my dads house was like that. I go all the time, I went on sat, my step bro and I had a 1 on 1 race, he obly just won, I was in the lead for ages.

 

[jizzmirk]

There's a great kart track here in San Diego (real close to my workplace). A friend of mine (ex-coworker) and I used to go to the kart track and we are avid autocrossers (as there is no road course here, that's what we're limited to if we want our racing jollies on a monthly basis).

There are some serious differences in actual car racing fundamental versus kart fundamentals. Racing at the Miramar Speed Circuit is different for a few reasons. The most prevalent is the racing line. Racing cars has you slowing for turn apexing whereas kart racing is best done when you choose a racing line that keeps the RPMs and wheelspeed as high as possible.

It's been about 4-6 months since I last went (too busy), but even though I can't remember the right kart line, I remember that there is a difference.

But kart racing gets you in one place better than car racing - the sensation of speed. The fact that you're doing 45 MPH 2 inches off the ground is pretty damn exhilarating.

 

[JohnBM01]

Hell yes. I been going so fast that playing Gran Turismo versus being at speed were two totally different worlds. My brother and his friends wanted to go at Davy Jones again this Sunday, but I got school work to do.