Any1 into Karting?

[John Childs]

Can’t fit into a kart anymore. 🙁

Great fun when I could though. 😀

[Ian Higgins]

Hi
I raced for 20 odd years, not Karts though and I was looking at getting my sons into Karting but it seems that the money can soon run away!!

Mind you all motorsport can seriously damage your wealth!!

The thing you are racing sounds pretty awesome though.

cheers
Ian

[Jill Marie Welsh]

I attended a race in England this past May with my friend Catherine, a sign chick from Scotland.
She has been karting for years.
I didn’t see many other female karters there.
I think some of the fellows are a bit jealous of her skills.
She is also a first-class airbrush artist and sign writer.
Seems like a tight-knit community, kind of like here.
They all helped each other with spare parts, etc.
There were even babies in prams wearing tiny karting suits!
love….Jill

[Stephen Ingham]

hi alan, yeah i race karts……. the real ones not the twin prokarts, i race in rotax max and formula blue.

gearbox are a little out of my league, although we have a lad who races 125 gearbox in our awning

cheers
stephen

---

Attachments:

[Alex Pirozek]

Hi Alan,
Yes i know exactly what you mean as i race 125 gearbox on and off for the last 12 years (4 years at national level). I still have one and do the odd meetings per year but really just for fun now, it seems more enjoyable this way as theres no pressure to win as much. My mates race 250 single but i never really fancied going into 250 as im a lightweight and would have to carry so much ballast we wouldnt be able to pick the kart up onto its stand.

Alex.

[Steve Smith]

I’ve tried it a couple of times, great fun. My normal sport is racing sidecars on grasstrack and speedway, thus I find not having a passenger to help me out (or blame) a wee problem. I recently did a charity event at Buckmore park in Kent and spend most of my track time facing the wrong way and having to avoid oncoming traffic!

---

Attachments:

[Alan Wharton]

i dont like the auto karts, the gearbox karts are more fun, the 250 rotax i use now is just for fun no serious stuff anymore for me, if you every get a offer to try 1 grab it they are so FASSSSST scary little demons they are lol, like the pic but if i had karts coming at me like that my hand would be somewhere else n not in the air 🙄 hehehe

[Robert Lambie]

ive done a good few races, just for fun though… i really enjoyed myself and would do it again anyday… like with most things these days… just never seem to have the time though 🙄

[Fran Hollywood]

I raced years ago in the UK, Three sisters near Wigan was the local track but went to Chase water, Wombwell, Heysham and Rowrah in cumbria from time to time.
Even a class one kart (100cc direct drive no clutch) had phenomenal acceleration never mind 125 or 250. I remember one time trying a 125 Gearbox kart at Rowrah after being in my 100cc machine and nearly wrecked the kart as l was using the same braking points.
I read somewhere that a 250 kart has a better power to weight ratio than a F3 car. The Kart Grand Prix round Silverstone when they had the old woodcote corner were awesome too.
One of the main speed factors is the fact that you are so close to the ground and it’s so open that you see how FAST your going.
I loved the sport and banter with other drivers but as with all forms of motorsport it can be expensive.

[Nicola McIntosh]

i love them too…not racing either, just for fun, but once i get in one im stuck…keep saying, just another few goes, too addictive for me 😀

nik

[Alan Wharton]

1 of the main reasons for going over to karts now tho is expense as you say motor sport is expensive, in the years we did rallying we were spending 50k + a year and we had sponsors to the tune of 60k a year (set of slicks £1200) and we would do 3-4 rounds a day over a weekend 5-6k in tyres ouch, Rally x was cheaper but still expensive, Karting must be the cheapest form of motorsport going, just bought a 2 year old 250 kart for £1200 and we pay £20 for half a days use of our local kart track which is about 1 1/2mile long set of tyres is about £60-80 and last for months if you are just using it for fun, thats what i call cheap 😛 a lot of the gearbox karts use engines from Moto x bikes so a decent 125cc 40-45bhp and 250cc 50-65bhp power to weight ratio is like you say moto gp bike class or F3 which is awsome and when you think these things lap faster than a moto gp bike 🙄 thats fast, a lot of the 125/250 karts now run brakes on all 4 wheels unlike the 4stroke motors 1 disc on the rear axle (gulp) i think the weight of these gearbox karts is about the same as the 4 wheels and tyres off a standard road car!!! Mucho Smiles all round 😛

[Derek Heron]

i raced for a few years in 100cc rotax and parillas and tkms
mainly club championships tried to qualify for the british championships but ran out of money great fun
amazing how many top drivers start out in karting i remember racing with darren manning amongst others. then i started with bikes
my biggest adrenalin rush at the moment is running a 10 metre banner through the cadet at about 8metres it drifted off line and i had to hold the edge of the sheet now thats a rush! how sad am i
derek
P.s. the youngest karters were called cadets!

[Fran Hollywood]

Derek

quote :

running a 10 metre banner through the cadet at about 8metres it drifted off line and i had to hold the edge of the sheet

That a f**k up.

quote :

drift off line

in 100 rotax in the wet

quote :

thats a rush

[Derek Heron]

That a f**k up.

nearly

in 100 rotax in the wet

on slicks

[Alan Wharton]

LOL driving karts is a bit er hit n miss in the wet lol, some guys just seem to have something that allows them to go soo much faster in the wet !! when rossi/swantz/dohan n co came karting with us 3 years ago they were just so fast in the wet makes you feel like parking it. 😕

[Micheal Donnellan]

Have a kart a 120cc or rather should say I had a kart as it ain’t fit for driving no more need a clutch and by rights a new seat. Their fast and fun and sometimes bloody scary 😮

[Robert Lambie]

i have two guys i know… cousins of one of my best mates. we used to sticker up their carts a while back but they have moved on long way since then. both "i think" sponsored by David coultards company and now do the world circuits. "Ryan and john dalziel." as has been read in the "So when did you loose your Virginity and how? thread" i worked for both their dads "John" in my younger days in Dalziel Bakery. many in scotland will remember dalziel bakeries with the logo of a horse on its back with a speech bubble saying "a good roll does satisfy"?
the logo was very unusual, so much so it won many awards, unlike most logos today it was was actually created by jake dalziel, grandfather of john and ryan and founder of dalziel bakeries.
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article. … FS=TRANSAM