The Karting Thread

I went to North East Karting, which is sort of near Sunderland/Gateshead way, they were Thunderkarts I think, a grid of 21.

Qualified 16th, finished 11th. Only my brother stopped me from finishing in top 10, he was 10th.

Quite easily the most fun I've ever had in my life, and even though I was kicked to @#$%& - my backs all bruised and I have raw skin on the small of my back off the seat, I'm going again soon. Fantastic stuff.

Spent the last five or six laps chasing this one guy, then two laps or so from the end he spun at the hairpin and I started sliding too but didn't hit him. Our eyes locked for a split second and he was like... damn!

Mint.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2011 09:16PM by loque.

Yep, I agree, karting is great fun.

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The track's awesome - the VT guys are heading there this weekend.

It's even more awesome when water is added and you're all on stone-cold slicks.

Try and win or go for the biggest possible slide? Too difficult!

Yes, karting is fantastic, I really must go and do it again in the next few months.

gav Wrote:
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> It's even more awesome when water is added and
> you're all on stone-cold slicks.

The last time I went karting it was fantastic. We had four 15 minute stints (not races unfortunately, just general track time). The first was dry. Then it started to drizzle just before the second session (it was incredible going out on cold tyres at the start of the session and heading into the first braking area), and got progressively wetter over the sessions.

Karting in the dry is fun, but karting in the wet is awesome, as you say.

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X (@ed24f1)

I've yet to experience karting in the wet so haven't experienced that fun.

I know what it's like when the track temperature drop though and you suddenly have much less heat and hence grip in the tyres.

One time I did two 30 minute sessions at Milton Keynes... One shortly before dusk, and the other practically during sunset. I was taken aback by how much less grip there was at sunset even on a bone dry surface, and suddenly I was four wheel drifting in corners that I had been gripping well in before. Also a low sun makes visibility on kerbs and pit signals etc difficult....but also very very cool.

When I go karting it's inside, sadly There is a track near us which is a good track, I've cycled around it and walked it, but unless you own a kart, you can't kart around there, which is disappointing.

The guy at the place where I go says I'm too cautious in the high speed corners, but it's a very narrow track, like a street track really, so it's hard to go much faster than I already do.

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i went karting twice.not racing.

the first time i was a bit cautious into first laps(into first lap i lost my helmet too),then in the following laps tried to be faster,and got satisfied.
in the second time i had a slower kart and couldn't fight with the others,but kept driving as fast the kart could allow me

i hope to go other times(10€=10 mins),but my father's too lazy,maybe now that my bro got the driving license...

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SchueyFan écrivait:
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> Karting in the dry is fun, but karting in the wet
> is awesome, as you say.

+1 It needs fine control . A lot of fun and unforgettable moments.

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Mine was bone dry, cost me £45 for 15 mins practice/quali and 30 min race.

When you first start driving it doesn't feel like they're going to slide around much, but in the quali I managed to throw it off the road completely a few times getting the feel for the brakes and suchlike. I was better behaved in the race, I had one early doomed manoeuvre down the inside of the hairpin which resulted in me wiping someone out but after that I was laying down consistent times.

I haven't been in a whole race, i have just done arrive and drive sessions at Cheddar, which is good fun. I would love to give a race a go just to see how well I do.

First time I went I was rubbish, span and also got a reprimand for using the throttle and brakes at the same time ( I wasn't aware of doing it, but hey), but I've managed laps quicker than my dad, and only 2 secs off what the guys who have been driving round that track for years manage. All in all it's great fun, and I have the tendency to be quite aggressive in the higher speed corners which gets me right on the edge of the seat.

If you're too comfortable, you're not fast enough :P

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2010 11:11AM by Incident 2k9.

Edit: reply to loque

The curve before the hairpin is lethal when it's wet. It's just flat out, but if you get even slightly wide you're looking at an almighty accident, even at those speeds. The hairpin is quite difficult in a pack too, as there's quite a variety of speeds going into it with a narrowing track.

Turn 1 was great last year (assuming you ran the full course). Again it was wet, and no-one else seemed to realise how much more grip there was around the outside, off the racing line. At one point I went 3-wide overtaking 2 others and at the start I took 2 around the outside too.

The long double-apex left hander at the end of the lap is fun too - it's easily flat out in the dry (though with quite a bit of g-force for a kart!) but on a drying track it's a massive challenge. :D

Our race last year was a double booking - the Vader Trophy lot (plus one dad, friend and girlfriend) and around 20 other drivers from another group.

VT finished 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and had the top girl in 12th too. Utter domination. :D

Like I say, we should be back next Saturday.


The indoor track at Dunston is excellent too. Massive ramp where the kart bottoms out, then a sharp left hander at the top, just as the kart goes light, then a big ramp down, where again the kart bottoms out.

Dave Ellis doesn't like that track.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2010 07:39PM by gav.

Anyone close to london? I say a gpg karting meet at Rye house :P

DJSKYLINE Wrote:
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> Anyone close to london? I say a gpg karting meet
> at Rye house :P

Reasonably close, but no idea where Rye House is :D

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msater Wrote:
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> DJSKYLINE Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
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> > Anyone close to london? I say a gpg karting
> meet
> > at Rye house :P
>
> Reasonably close, but no idea where Rye House is
> :D

haha :P Its just in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire (just north of london)

Dave Ellis doesn't like that track.

I've since discovered that it wasn't the track. Since that event I've done karting 3 times, and all 3 times I got violent motion sickness afterwards. I don't get it in any other type of vehicle, just karting.

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I love karting
too bad it's so expensive (26 euro for 2x 15 minute stints)

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Shaddix Wrote:
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> I love karting
> too bad it's so expensive (26 euro for 2x 15
> minute stints)


That actually sounds a very competitive price as far as arrive n drive goes, as a general rule of thumb it tends to go from £15+ for 10-15 minutes. So €26 for 30 minutes is actually quite cheap compared to most places.

gav Wrote:
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>
> VT finished 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and had the top
> girl in 12th too. Utter domination. :D


Epic. Not quite as dominant as that, but last time I went karting I went with a couple of mates at an arrive and drive kinda thing, and there was the option of paying more for the more powerful karts, which none of us bothered to do - nobody on the track went the more expensive ones in fact, but afterwards this lebanese bloke had a go at us for being "unsportsman" for taking the more powerful ones...best fun telling him we had the same ones. I have suspicions though that the karting options we have out here in aus aren't nearly as cool as what you guys are talking about though

Karting is one of the most fun things a person can do, I absolutely love it and was lucky enough to have my grandma constantly take me racing as a young kid :D.

I plan on having a house on the countryside with a small but nice go kart track and some 8 karts, when I grow up (more).

It just occured to me that Clay Pigeon is quite close to me...wouldn't mind a run out on there.

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski