Getting in to go-karting?

[So]

ChemicalChaos said:

I can't think of any local kart series, unless it's a series hosted by the track itself. They tend to cover nationwide because there are only a handful of top level outdoor tracks and they are all over the place

Is PFI near Newark considered top level?

[slipstream 1985]

So said:

ChemicalChaos said:

I can't think of any local kart series, unless it's a series hosted by the track itself. They tend to cover nationwide because there are only a handful of top level outdoor tracks and they are all over the place

Is PFI near Newark considered top level?

In my day it was the best facilities but not the most interesting layout.

[aponting389]

So said:

Is PFI near Newark considered top level?

yes very much so, you would need to be one of the best drivers in the country to even win a club round at pfi

[Ruffy94]

Do Daytona still do an Inkart championship? that was always arrive and drive and i enjoyed the junior version as a kid. If they do there's a Daytona in manchester (i think). Let me know if you find/ can recommend any arrive and drive karting near Preston though, im up there for uni and have been tempted to have another go (especially now im a bit lighter these days...)

[CanoeSniffer]

ChemicalChaos said:

I race club100 at the minute as part of the British Universities Championship.

I would definitely recommend making up a team (or joining a current team 1 person short) and having a go at some of their events first - it gives you a taste of proper karting on proper tracks, without the outlay for a kart and helmet/overalls of your own before you're certain you'd enjoy it.

What a coincidence, I was just enjoying some of the 'Matt777' photoshop brilliance via the PH legendary forums. I've got a few chums in Club100 and have been tempted myself for a long time.

I'll have to get involved sooner rather than later if only to meet PH royalty

[CanoeSniffer]

OP, if you've got a Daytona venue near you then that's a brilliant place to start.

We recently did up a 24hr race in MK

and I can't speak enough for the effort and organisation those guys put in- top class!

Daytona MK also gets my vote as one of the best A&D circuits in the UK, I'd give it a blast if you ever get the opportunity

[Ballistic]

aponting389 said:

So said:

Is PFI near Newark considered top level?

yes very much so, you would need to be one of the best drivers in the country to even win a club round at pfi

The facilities at PFI are some of the best in the UK and the circuit is more interesting now its been extended.
If you want to race 4-strokes, there is a monthly club championship and for around £250 per race weekend you can hire a fully preped and race ready prokart. You have to be a very quick driver to be at the sharp end of the grid.

[Speed_Demon]

CanoeSniffer said:

OP, if you've got a Daytona venue near you then that's a brilliant place to start.

We recently did up a 24hr race in MK

and I can't speak enough for the effort and organisation those guys put in- top class!

Daytona MK also gets my vote as one of the best A&D circuits in the UK, I'd give it a blast if you ever get the opportunity

Are you doing the next 24 hour at MK? Myself and a friend are putting a team together and should be there. At 105kg it's gonna be a toughie!

[CanoeSniffer]

Speed_Demon said:

Are you doing the next 24 hour at MK? Myself and a friend are putting a team together and should be there. At 105kg it's gonna be a toughie!

Am I right in thinking there's one in October? We won't be doing that but will be hanging on til April again and entering two teams both Sodi's because the saving in cost + the reaction of some DMAX drivers getting overtaken by a 4 stroke = no brainer!

[warcalf]

Ruffy94 said:

Do Daytona still do an Inkart championship? that was always arrive and drive and i enjoyed the junior version as a kid. If they do there's a Daytona in manchester (i think). Let me know if you find/ can recommend any arrive and drive karting near Preston though, im up there for uni and have been tempted to have another go (especially now im a bit lighter these days...)

I've only ever been to a place in Euxton (near Chorley) it's called Extreme Karting UK, it's a really small track, but for a first experience it was wicked! Plenty of corners you can go flat out through and a lot you have to balance on. Bags of fun and cheap.

However having knowledge of the size of circuits for tracks used in places like club100, it's really small. But a great intro, for me. The one that me and my friends are going to next is Trax (near the Docs). That's a lot bigger than Euxton and should be a lot more challenging, if you'll be in the area you could always come with us? Be great to have more people interested in motoring etc

[CraigyMc]

CanoeSniffer said:

Speed_Demon said:

Are you doing the next 24 hour at MK? Myself and a friend are putting a team together and should be there. At 105kg it's gonna be a toughie!

Am I right in thinking there's one in October? We won't be doing that but will be hanging on til April again and entering two teams both Sodi's because the saving in cost + the reaction of some DMAX drivers getting overtaken by a 4 stroke = no brainer!

There is, it's on October the 7th/8th and is actually the 2nd Daytona 24 hour race of the year.

[CraigyMc]

warcalf said:

I have been go karting once or twice now and find endless fun and enjoyment from it, I also personally think I'm better than I expected to be!

I want to make it a proper hobby, get in to it on a competitive level and just enjoy it more than anything.

Where is best to start? I read about a place called club100 where you can do arrive and drive tournaments I think they are, where you needn't own your own equipment etc, which is ideal for me! However it is in Kent and I'm in Preston (North-West England).

Anyone any experience or pointers with this?

Arrive and drive rental kart championships in the UK really boils down to two; Club100 (C100) and Daytona DMax*

Club100 is a company that takes their own fleet of karts to various tracks throughout the year - there are 12 rounds (so, 12 weekends), but some tracks are visited twice in the same year so there are 8 tracks. The tracks are generally in the south east of England, although there is a trip to Llandow in Wales. The karts themselves are 2-stroke TKM-extreme 115cc powered Birel Chassis, circa 18bhp peak power.
I'd recommend doing a test day (these are often the day before a race event) to get your eye in, before going for a race. They drive totally differently to 4-stroke karts.
Web -> https://www.club100.co.uk

Daytona is a company that runs 4 tracks (Manchester, Tamworth, Milton Keynes, Sandown Park), of which the latter 3 are outdoor.
For the outdoor tracks they each have two fleets of karts - 4-stroke "Sodi RT8" 390cc Hondas and 2-stroke "Dmax" 125cc (which are actually Rotax junior-spec 22bhp engines on a Birel Chassis).
As well as offering arrive+drive practise sessions in both types of kart, and various race sessions in both types of kart, Daytona also have a couple of championships. In the Sodikarts, each track has a local championship called InKart, run generally on Sunday mornings.
Separately to all that, there's a Daytona Dmax championship. This runs a lot like the C100 championship in that it's a national series, visiting many tracks (not just the Daytona ones) and unsurprisingly uses the Dmax karts. There are 10 rounds in 2017.
https://www.daytona.co.uk/
https://www.daytona.co.uk/events/inkart-championsh...
https://www.daytonamax.co.uk/

Common to both:
DMax and C100 have similar crowds of people, and similar weight classes (C100 has classes for 75, 88 and 98kg - DMax has classes for 70, 85 and 97.5kg) - there are rules on how to add ballast to get to a certain weight, and rules about how much ballast you're allowed to add (so for example a 50kg driver can't add 48kg of ballast to get into the heavyweight class at either championship).

Prices for each event are similar - a round of C100 is about £175 per race, Dmax is about the same although Dmax has two championships in parallel (sprint racing made of 4x short heats, and a separate 1-hour enduro championship) - lots of people do both and discounts apply if you do both. DMax also has a membership scheme where if you plan to do several events your membership fee will be obviated by member-only discounts.

Both series use different timing systems than the tracks usual ones (both give each competitor a transponder for their exclusive use for that round, returnable at the end).

If you were to turn up at a Dmax or C100 round and be instantly winningly competitive you'd be doing something that -generally speaking- professional drivers cannot do - both championships have professionals for a round or two here and there and it's rare for them to make a big impression.

Daytona is probably easier to try out because they are generally open for testing every day at their own tracks. You can get your eye in on a 4-stroke, then try a 2-stroke.
C100 is a bit more "elite", but in the upper echelons of C100 the drivers are generally (my opinion) better than the Dmax standard guys.

In my experience, both championships have good driving standards at the front and sketchy driving standards at the back.
If you're new, you're more likely to be at the back with other new folk, and more likely to be punted off because of the lack of skill/red mist/"desperation"/"I have one tool to get past and that's advantage by contact" demonstrated by less experienced/skilled folk. Driving near the front tends to be a hell of a lot cleaner.

If you get past all of this, the next step up is buying an entry in a prepped kart at something like OEKC or similar -one round of which will set you back circa £800 for a prepared kart (you just turn up and drive). After that you're really talking about owner/driver and budgets.


*You can also look up covkartsport and NKL, but these are more localised.

Edited by CraigyMc on Tuesday 30th May 09:08

[Gary29]

Can you be big and fat and be good at karting?

Weight is a massive penalty when you have so little power surely?

[CraigyMc]

Gary29 said:

Can you be big and fat and be good at karting?

Weight is a massive penalty when you have so little power surely?

That's why there are weight classes.
If you're over the heavy limits then you will definitely struggle - the winners are all near the lower weight limit for each class - just physics (power to weight). Heavy drivers tend to be less uncompetitive in the wet, but it's still a disadvantage.

Someone well over 100kg will struggle in either championship.

Edited to add: being tall means that you will struggle to fit in certain karts - I'm 6'1" tall and I just about fit in a dmax kart. They don't have adjustable seats, just adjustable pedals and I tend to use them full-forward. I recently saw someone who was about 6'6" tall trying to drive one, and his knees were splayed out to each side with the steering wheel in the middle.

Edited by CraigyMc on Tuesday 30th May 09:19

[WhatamIgettingmyselfinto]

ChemicalChaos said:

I race club100 at the minute as part of the British Universities Championship.

I would definitely recommend making up a team (or joining a current team 1 person short) and having a go at some of their events first - it gives you a taste of proper karting on proper tracks, without the outlay for a kart and helmet/overalls of your own before you're certain you'd enjoy it.

I also raced in the BUKC this year, and will be doing the 24hr race at Teesside.
OP, the organisers are a great bunch and always a good laugh. One of them has a mum competing on Britain's got Talent!

[So]

Gary29 said:

Can you be big and fat and be good at karting?

Weight is a massive penalty when you have so little power surely?

I find that in corporate karts. I am not at all fat, but I weigh 90kg and on some circuits I have to work very hard to keep pace. Hairpins scrub off a lot of speed and trying to regain it when you weigh more than the moon is hard. By contrast, 14 year old youths who weigh nine stone soaking wet are less troubled by their weight.

Our nearest circuit's lap record is held by a lad who set it on his 14th birthday I believe, i.e. the day he was old enough to qualify for the big karts.

[warcalf]

CraigyMc said:

Arrive and drive rental kart championships in the UK really boils down to two; Club100 (C100) and Daytona DMax*

Club100 is a company that takes their own fleet of karts to various tracks throughout the year - there are 12 rounds (so, 12 weekends), but some tracks are visited twice in the same year so there are 8 tracks. The tracks are generally in the south east of England, although there is a trip to Llandow in Wales. The karts themselves are 2-stroke TKM-extreme 115cc powered Birel Chassis, circa 18bhp peak power.
I'd recommend doing a test day (these are often the day before a race event) to get your eye in, before going for a race. They drive totally differently to 4-stroke karts.
Web -> https://www.club100.co.uk

Daytona is a company that runs 4 tracks (Manchester, Tamworth, Milton Keynes, Sandown Park), of which the latter 3 are outdoor.
For the outdoor tracks they each have two fleets of karts - 4-stroke "Sodi RT8" 390cc Hondas and 2-stroke "Dmax" 125cc (which are actually Rotax junior-spec 22bhp engines on a Birel Chassis).
As well as offering arrive+drive practise sessions in both types of kart, and various race sessions in both types of kart, Daytona also have a couple of championships. In the Sodikarts, each track has a local championship called InKart, run generally on Sunday mornings.
Separately to all that, there's a Daytona Dmax championship. This runs a lot like the C100 championship in that it's a national series, visiting many tracks (not just the Daytona ones) and unsurprisingly uses the Dmax karts. There are 10 rounds in 2017.
https://www.daytona.co.uk/
https://www.daytona.co.uk/events/inkart-championsh...
https://www.daytonamax.co.uk/

Common to both:
DMax and C100 have similar crowds of people, and similar weight classes (C100 has classes for 75, 88 and 98kg - DMax has classes for 70, 85 and 97.5kg) - there are rules on how to add ballast to get to a certain weight, and rules about how much ballast you're allowed to add (so for example a 50kg driver can't add 48kg of ballast to get into the heavyweight class at either championship).

Prices for each event are similar - a round of C100 is about £175 per race, Dmax is about the same although Dmax has two championships in parallel (sprint racing made of 4x short heats, and a separate 1-hour enduro championship) - lots of people do both and discounts apply if you do both. DMax also has a membership scheme where if you plan to do several events your membership fee will be obviated by member-only discounts.

Both series use different timing systems than the tracks usual ones (both give each competitor a transponder for their exclusive use for that round, returnable at the end).

If you were to turn up at a Dmax or C100 round and be instantly winningly competitive you'd be doing something that -generally speaking- professional drivers cannot do - both championships have professionals for a round or two here and there and it's rare for them to make a big impression.

Daytona is probably easier to try out because they are generally open for testing every day at their own tracks. You can get your eye in on a 4-stroke, then try a 2-stroke.
C100 is a bit more "elite", but in the upper echelons of C100 the drivers are generally (my opinion) better than the Dmax standard guys.

In my experience, both championships have good driving standards at the front and sketchy driving standards at the back.
If you're new, you're more likely to be at the back with other new folk, and more likely to be punted off because of the lack of skill/red mist/"desperation"/"I have one tool to get past and that's advantage by contact" demonstrated by less experienced/skilled folk. Driving near the front tends to be a hell of a lot cleaner.

If you get past all of this, the next step up is buying an entry in a prepped kart at something like OEKC or similar -one round of which will set you back circa £800 for a prepared kart (you just turn up and drive). After that you're really talking about owner/driver and budgets.


*You can also look up covkartsport and NKL, but these are more localised.

Edited by CraigyMc on Tuesday 30th May 09:08

S**t, that's a lot to take in!

I think for the benefit of cost saving and that the season is half way in, I'm going to go on a couple more arrive and drive's with friends and in the meantime, contact Daytona.

Mainly because they are closest to me, being in the North West!

Thanks for all the information though, very helpful! Thank you

[warcalf]

Gary29 said:

Can you be big and fat and be good at karting?

Weight is a massive penalty when you have so little power surely?

This is a slight concern of mine as well, being 6'5 and weighing 15 and a bit stone :/

[DeltaTango]

Try Covkartsport.

Good value for money, better than club 100 as an 'entry level' arrive and drive championship.

I did a season in 2015, was great fun. Various weight categories, even a 'heavyweight plus' for the real men (90kg and up).

It's now run by a good friend of mine so feel free to pm me for details;


http://www.covkartsport.co.uk/

[98elise]

Gary29 said:

Can you be big and fat and be good at karting?

Weight is a massive penalty when you have so little power surely?

Yes, its simple physics. Weight is an issue for acceleration rather then speed so unless you are on an oval track a light driver is going to pull away after any corner.