Where can an 8yr old get a taster of Karting in Hants?

[mattman]

Hope you can help.

My 8 year old son would like to start Karting, but before I go ahead and buy a kart and all the gear, i would like to take him on a taster session somewhere, just so he can give it a go and make sure he really likes it.
Any suggestions where we can do this? We live in Basingstoke, so anywhere within 30 mile radius would be good, indoor or outdoor - hants, berks, surrey etc?

Thanks in advance
Matt

[anonymous-user]

the daytona track at sandown park is very good. its quite technical and has a good mix of corners and its not too far?
http://www.daytona.co.uk/venues/sandown/juniors.ht...

[okgo]

pablo said:

the daytona track at sandown park is very good. its quite technical and has a good mix of corners and its not too far?
http://www.daytona.co.uk/venues/sandown/juniors.ht...

Went there with the autosport lads a couple of weeks ago, great fun. Although tough on your arms IMO, and I don't know if an 8 year old could deal with that, as my wrists took a beating over the hour..

[pilbeam_mp62]

mattman said:

Hope you can help.

My 8 year old son would like to start Karting, but before I go ahead and buy a kart and all the gear, i would like to take him on a taster session somewhere, just so he can give it a go and make sure he really likes it.
Any suggestions where we can do this? We live in Basingstoke, so anywhere within 30 mile radius would be good, indoor or outdoor - hants, berks, surrey etc?

Thanks in advance
Matt

Matchams , near Ringwood

http://www.matchamskarting.co.uk/

Regards

[Marc W]

I'm amazed no one has mentioned your local circuit of Thruxton, just down the road from Basingstoke.

http://www.thruxtonkarting.co.uk/Juniors.aspx

[mattman]

thanks guys - some great recommendations - just what I was looking for

this could get very expensive if all goes well!

[stockhatcher]

mattman said:

thanks guys - some great recommendations - just what I was looking for

this could get very expensive if all goes well!

it doesn't have to. Most indoor kart tracks have junior championships on a saturday morning, at £30-50 a go. Stick with that for a year and see if he can beat the local hotshoes/ After that keep it low key, then move onto cheaper sports like autograss at 12 and grass track at 14. At his age it is about experience, developing him not going out a winning championships, that can come when he gets to cars.

which reminds me i need to talk to my daughter about bambino karts, anyone know where near oxford i can take her for a sampler session?

[anonymous-user]

stockhatcher said:

mattman said:

thanks guys - some great recommendations - just what I was looking for

this could get very expensive if all goes well!

it doesn't have to. Most indoor kart tracks have junior championships on a saturday morning, at £30-50 a go. Stick with that for a year and see if he can beat the local hotshoes/ After that keep it low key, then move onto cheaper sports like autograss at 12 and grass track at 14. At his age it is about experience, developing him not going out a winning championships, that can come when he gets to cars.

which reminds me i need to talk to my daughter about bambino karts, anyone know where near oxford i can take her for a sampler session?

daytona milton keynes, not wanting to sound like a broken record, but they are very good at getting youngsers into karts and are good at teaching the basics as well as racecraft. agree with the other poster, why waste thousands on karting when there is stuff like grass track, ministock etc out there for the younger drivers...

[dougie-rs]

stockhatcher said:

mattman said:

thanks guys - some great recommendations - just what I was looking for

this could get very expensive if all goes well!

it doesn't have to. Most indoor kart tracks have junior championships on a saturday morning, at £30-50 a go. Stick with that for a year and see if he can beat the local hotshoes/ After that keep it low key, then move onto cheaper sports like autograss at 12 and grass track at 14. At his age it is about experience, developing him not going out a winning championships, that can come when he gets to cars.

which reminds me i need to talk to my daughter about bambino karts, anyone know where near oxford i can take her for a sampler session?

Oxford karting is a short track and do arrive and drive sessions, bit of technical section with harpin and is outdoors. which is good as it would be more realistic, as most karting champs are outdoors. You could also try contacting shennington which is near banbury or little rissington not far from burford.

[mattman]

Quick update - Took my soon to Thruxton on an arrive and drive over xmas - even though it was absolutely peeing down he loved it, so much so that he's starting the cadet course this sunday.

Thanks to eveyone who responded. Thruxton is an excellent venue with some very good instructors - highly recommend it to anyone else who wants a go

Matt

[Marc W]

Glad he liked it. Get ready for things to become gradually more expensive as the years go by if he keeps it up!

[mattman]

It just gets better. Took my son to the first part of the cadet course - £35 per session and what an absolute bargain. Got there at 8:30 for a 9am start and didn't finish until 12 - superb instruction from Des and my son can't wait to get back to the next session.

So if anyone knows of a Cadet kart with a W60 engine going cheap.......

[JoeJones]

Hi all.

The TeamSport indoor centres are a good place to get a taste for Karting and ensures the costs stay down until you work out if it really is for you. There is no point in rushing into it and then finding out that it's just not for you or the budget gets silly. They are also now running an Academy providing tuition at a good deal.

http://www.kartingperfection.co.uk/Academy%20Websi...

[hullbilly]

mattman said:

It just gets better. Took my son to the first part of the cadet course - £35 per session and what an absolute bargain. Got there at 8:30 for a 9am start and didn't finish until 12 - superb instruction from Des and my son can't wait to get back to the next session.

So if anyone knows of a Cadet kart with a W60 engine going cheap.......

Good luck! My dad and I raced for 10 years, from cadet through to senior TKM.

Have fun, father son teams are the best!

[mattman]

it will be father son and grandfather - drafting him in as chief mechanic (and working on making him primary sponsor - i.e pay for it all!!) - Unfortuantley my karting days are limited to indoor corporate stuff as my waistline expands with my age

[RobM77]

mattman said:

Quick update - Took my soon to Thruxton on an arrive and drive over xmas - even though it was absolutely peeing down he loved it, so much so that he's starting the cadet course this sunday.

Thanks to eveyone who responded. Thruxton is an excellent venue with some very good instructors - highly recommend it to anyone else who wants a go

Matt

I've only just seen the thread, but I would have said Thruxton too I've karted in a number of different venues and Thruxton is great. I go there with work quite a bit. My only criticism is that it's bar far the most physical track I've ever driven on; the bumps are quite horrific!

I'm glad your son enjoyed it and I wish him the best of luck in his first races!