Karting

[t951]

So a few friends and I went karting yesterday.

WOW!

A few realizations:

1. I suck on a racetrack
2. I am out of shape. (I feel like I was in a fight, or an accident).
3. Concentrating on the apex is just part of it, you need to think about the following curves as well.
4. Braking is only used rarely. (I improved my times dramatically by not braking but lifting).
5. Weight is truly the enemy. If I was lighter my time would be better, and it changes the line you take, etc.
6. WHAT A BLAST! I can't believe I haven't been doing this all along.

Have you been?
Oh, and shifter karts are insane!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I agree - this is something any car/racing enthusiast should try. Go-karts aren't just for kids. Honest-to-goodness karts (much less shifter karts) can be serious ways to get better and understand racing dynamics.

There's a kart place not too far from here that I've gone to a few times. If it's any consolation I too walked out of there my first time thinking I sucked royally despite a fair amount of experience behind the wheel. But at least I'm getting better and can turn pretty smooth/consistent laps now.

[porsche4life]

I've been trying to get our PCA region to go carting....

[silverwhaletail]

I have a 125cc shifter kart (TonyKart). I think that several of us on the board have karts...

Your right. Things happen in a hurry and it is exhausting when done right. It takes supreme concentration to put lap after lap together while minimizing mistakes. The first thing that you learn is that its much easier to be the follower than it is to be the leader.

Nothing like going off backwards at 50+ mph...

[Joeaksa]

I did lay down enduro karts years ago and absolutely loved it. You could actually race, have a good time and come home with a few $$$ in your wallet afterwards.

Anyone who has not tried it should.

[Zeke]

Joe, you and I should swap stories over a beer someday. As you already know from many previous posts, I raced all through the 80' and early 90's in a laydown. Still have my sit up sprint kart converted over for road racing, but it's so out of date that in maybe 5 years it would qualify for vintage racing.

I raced a poor man's enduro in the 70's as well and got to Riverside, Ontario and the old Orange County Raceway drag strip and bike road course. I've got some 8mm movies of that I should dig out.

Full bodywork WKA style. And it's not that much slower than my old laydown enduro. Only at the top end and it will come within 10 MPH of top speed at around 90 geared appropriately.

I would do a few laps, but not race anymore. I know a full race in a sprint kart, shifter or single gear, would kill me outright. I knew an older guy (however, he was a smoker) that did die on the course of a heart attack. He was in his late 40's as I was at the time.

Karts are about the same as motocross as far as overall exertion goes. Maybe more in a couple of aspects. Formula racers in IRL and even F1 compare karts to their cars for the amount of effort they take with one exception, the G's formulas produce.

With no downforce, a kart is good for about 2 G's in some corners and braking. And, with no belts, you have to hold yourself still in the seat with upper body strength because if you flop around in there, the kart starts to handle like crap. Not many drivers use any Body English while driving unlike all the movement on top of a bike.

[Joeaksa]

Milt,

I loved the old lay-down karts and sounds like you and I did the same things. Lots of fun and on a reasonable budget.

Next time I get over to SoCal and have a get together will try to give you a heads up. Your name came up at the last one (Santa Monica pier with Rick Lee, Dave, Shumi and ??) so you might as well be there!

Joe

[dewolf]

Karting is awesome. Both my lads race. My oldest is the State Champion for his class and my youngest is #2 in the state for his class. Very expensive at the level we compete at!!. It did start out as fun but I soon realised my boys had talent. Great family/ father/son bonding as we travel extensively.

Some insane karting here

YouTube - Karting - Isle of Man

[Joe Ricard]

I race an ICC Vortex powered CRG in SCCA Solo events. These are are so stupid fast it scares the hell out of me all the time. And I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[legion]

I think my local place has 50 cc carts. (No shifting.)

I keep my right foot planted and only occasionally tap the brake. I let the back end slide because it seems that getting the engine back up to speed loses more time than anything.

Never been in anything bigger than a 50 cc, so I'm sure the dynamics change quite a bit with more power/speed.

[Jim Bremner]

This is from a track that had a brief life out in Boumont California. Moran raceway. RIP

I raced in the Rotax Max series. I've done a bunch of HPDE weekends prior to getting into karting. The karts will teach you much quicker than a car will.

Richard Hearn had a pretty cool thing out here prior to his death. He ran a series that ran on spec briggs & stratton engines and spec brick like tires. It was a 6 hour enduro that would be open to any group that had $600 to spend

You would show up with a rolling chasssis. Pick a poker chip with a # on it and get a engine. The gas tank was good for 20-25 minutes and you needed to change drivers, re-fuel and get out in about 20 seconds. Two times during the race you would do a oil change on the engine, they ran on methonal which ruined the oil pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure that we would do a refuel and oil change in under a minute

The speeds were in the 50-55mph range but since the tires where less than grippy it was a hell of a handfull.

There's another enduro series that's out at Fontana speedway that runs a simelar class but they do the refuel for you as well as the oil change.

Would any of you SoCal guys like to form a team? I'll get info.

[john70t]

Anyone in the Mich area? I'm game. Summer tracks are open.

[Head416]

I went once a couple months ago. I couldn't agree more on:

Originally Posted by t951

1. I suck on a racetrack
2. I am out of shape. (I feel like I was in a fight, or an accident).
6. WHAT A BLAST! I can't believe I haven't been doing this all along.

Of course, I was t-boned at one point, so that was a lot of the soreness. If you're wondering how I got t-boned, refer to point #1

Definitley something I'd like to spend more time doing!

[sketchers356]

I have only been once, but it was one of the most fun things that I have ever done!

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by t951

So a few friends and I went karting yesterday.

WOW!

A few realizations:

1. I suck on a racetrack
2. I am out of shape. (I feel like I was in a fight, or an accident).

Where did you go? From point #2 I'm guessing it was an indoor center, the lack of straights to relax will really kill you in there. I run two hour races indoors, and there are often DNF's from drivers just not able to hold up to it.

Indoor and outdoor are two totally different ball games in a lot of cases, its more about control indoors, and more about precision in outdoor kart racing.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by milt

Karts are about the same as motocross as far as overall exertion goes. Maybe more in a couple of aspects.

I raced MX for several years and after my last injury, I hung up my MX boots due to having to work for a living. I took up kart racing even before my collar bone was fully healed. While carts and some other forms of racing on 4 wheels no doubt can be very physically demanding, motocross is much more physically demanding.

[kolies]

Kart racing can be an incredible rush. There is an indoor track near me that was built by a guy that does rally racing on weekends. So instead of looking for max traction, he actually painted and polyeurothaned the the corners, and the karts have ~8hp engines. The whole track is set up to drift around the corners. Brings a whole level of excitement to racing. Never drifted prior to that, and it feels incredible.

I would really like to try the outdoor kart tracks as well. Limited outdoor track opportunities here in MI.

[Cdnone1]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

Would any of you SoCal guys like to form a team? I'll get info.

I would be very interested in forming a team

Steve

[Oracle]

Yes, it is a blast but hopefully you don't have any accidents or you'll be saying things like "I can't believe I did that, ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Originally Posted by t951

A few realizations
...
6. WHAT A BLAST! I can't believe I haven't been doing this all along.

[tevake]

Really fun!! totally exhausting. I did a day long training course at Jim Hall's school in Oxnard a couple years ago. Wow, what a challenging experience. My problem was between runs. the coach wound give us pointers, then send us out to put them into practice. Great, only the thinking part of my brain got over come by the stoked red mist part of my head, and it was hard to remember the details and apply them.

Great fun tho, I wish I was able to do much more!!!!

I would strongly recommend The Jim Hall school, Good instructors, Nice little track, FAST carts with data on board, you can see how you are doing thru the day. Round up a few friends and make a fun day of it.

Cheers Richard