What would it cost...to build an outdoor Kart circuit?

[nedge2k]

Friend and I were debating the corners we'd have if we could build a kart circuit. Bit of Laguna Seca corkscrew here, bit of Eau Rouge there, Karussell etc. etc.

Assuming you'd quit the rat race and turn it into a business, attract the pros with fast karts and just generally live the dream etc....anyone know what it would cost, roughly? To FIA-ish regs, say 1700x12m? Just the track, car parks and buildings could be worried about later

Edited by nedge2k on Thursday 15th June 10:56

[Krikkit]

I'd be surprised if you got change from £3-4m before you built facilities and assuming minimal landscaping, if you want it up to FIA spec.

Of course I'm sure you could do it much cheaper if you just wanted to bodge it for personal use!

[JohnoVR6]

nedge2k said:

Friend and I were debating the corners we'd have if we could build a kart circuit. Bit of Laguna Seca corkscrew here, bit of Eau Rouge there, Karussell etc. etc.

Assuming you'd turn it into a business, attract the pros with fast karts etc....anyone know what it would cost, roughly? To FIA-ish regs, say 1700x12m?

Apologies if it's not cricket linking to another site, but in an interview I did with Paul Fletcher of PF International, he said he's spent about £7.5m getting it to where it is today - with over £100,000 on planning permission alone;

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/143340e6#/1433...

That said, Three Sisters in Wigan has gone under with £2m of debt - might be a cheaper way in to circuit ownership...

[Krikkit]

JohnoVR6 said:

That said, Three Sisters in Wigan has gone under with £2m of debt - might be a cheaper way in to circuit ownership...

The circuit itself is owned by the local council, not the company that went under.

[Toltec]

This topic may be helpful https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=14...

Looks like it would be into the millions just for the track itself.

[JohnoVR6]

Krikkit said:

The circuit itself is owned by the local council, not the company that went under.

Yeah sorry, I did mean that. Good to hear that the Council are keen for karting to continue there though.

[VladD]

nedge2k said:

Friend and I were debating the corners we'd have if we could build a kart circuit. Bit of Laguna Seca corkscrew here, bit of Eau Rouge there, Karussell etc. etc.

That comment reminded me of this

[nedge2k]

Jeebus...I was thinking more the £1mil mark! Thanks for crushing my five minute dream

[VladD]

nedge2k said:

Jeebus...I was thinking more the £1mil mark! Thanks for crushing my five minute dream

If you swap the go-karts for hovercraft, you don't need to lay any tarmac. Mark out the course with cones/hay bales and you can have any number of circuit layouts.

You can even build your own hovercraft.

Edited by VladD on Thursday 15th June 11:28

[Krikkit]

More interesting, if you had the room, would be to build a mini special-stage. Couple of knackered Imprezas and a bit of bravery it'd be a riot!

[nickfrog]

What makes those corners interesting is the topography. Sadly, this is what would also add to the cost, even within the proportions of a kart track.

[c6r]

be surprised if you could do it for less than 5m if it was for business, insurable, fia spec etc. but sure, if it was just for private use on your own bit of land, 1/10th of that should do it just to flatten stuff out, bit of subbase, and pour tarmac all over it - it's just a very long circular driveway really.

going round a scaled-down version of eau rouge / corkscrew in a kart does sound like fun though. all the kart circuits I've been to were completely flat. do a scaled down version of the IOM TT course complete with dry stone walls on the edge for added danger!

[HustleRussell]

nickfrog said:

What makes those corners interesting is the topography. Sadly, this is what would also add to the cost, even within the proportions of a kart track.

Would argue that the OP's vision isn't even a kart track, 1,700m x 12m is bigger than Brands Indy

[Shakermaker]

You could just do the old Michael Carroll route and just race old bangers around your back garden and upset all your neighbours?

[nedge2k]

HustleRussell said:

Would argue that the OP's vision isn't even a kart track, 1,700m x 12m is bigger than Brands Indy

Is it?

I was going off the max FIA specs for non-geared karts. Yeah, prolly a bit extreme then!

For those wondering about elevation changes - there's a wicked little indoor kart circuit in Corby that goes up 1 story and then down a banked corkscrew so it is doable on a small scale. You can pretty much take it at full pelt, awesome fun for an indoor track!

[anonymous-user]

12m wide and a mile long? That's getting on for M25-levels of width. I'd say you want no wider than 10m anywhere, probably nearer 5 for a karting circuit.

[mackie1]

I guess my idea for an underground electric kart track would cost even more then

[rodericb]

VladD said:

You can even build your own hovercraft.

With a bit of a tweak it looks like you could have a cup holder on that throttle trigger assembly. One then won't need to preface hijinks with 'hold my beer'!

[MDMA .]

Krikkit said:

JohnoVR6 said:

That said, Three Sisters in Wigan has gone under with £2m of debt - might be a cheaper way in to circuit ownership...

The circuit itself is owned by the local council, not the company that went under.

and the tenants that ran it ( which owed the money to the lease holders ) is one and the same

it's a decent place, needs a massive re-vamp. never had anything spent on it for the past 10-15 years. shame, as it could be a brilliant place. I go to quite a few track attack / supermoto days there.

[Tuvra]

Krikkit said:

I'd be surprised if you got change from £3-4m before you built facilities and assuming minimal landscaping, if you want it up to FIA spec.

Of course I'm sure you could do it much cheaper if you just wanted to bodge it for personal use!

How do you come to that figure?

Hire in an excavator, two dumptrucks and a blade, you'd have the land formed in a week at a cost of about £10k. Sub base and Tarmac would cost you circa £300k, throw in labour/machinery to lay it say £300k, that leaves you £390,000 for drainage, kerbs, tyre walls, lights, lights, fencing etc. Figures based on a 10,000m2 surface.

What exactly would "FIA Standard" require? I think £3-4m "before building facilities and assuming minimal landscaping" is miles off the mark.

In reference to the PFI International costing £100k in Planning and £7.5m to build, it didn't. If you read the article it states he spent £100k on planning applications on various sites and that he has spent £7.5m overall, not to build it. Article mentions that it has been extended, resurfaced and that its been running since 1997, at the time of that article it was 18 years old! I think it's fair to assume that the £7.5m includes 18 years of running costs.