Karting Costs and getting started?

[infernouk]

Hey guys

This is further to my other thread researching car racing costs, I wanted to see the alternative costs for karting as a practice / learner for moving into proper racing.

Im not sure if this is the correct forum section but couldn't see a dedicated one so please do move the thread if I am wrong.

I wanted to know what is required in terms of going from nothing to being ready to race at any circuit with all your own things. Ive found a few resources but the process looks very similar to regular car racing but at a smaller scale and cost? (licences, medicals, equipment etc) so dosent look like it would be that much cheaper than a car in the end?

Thanks for any tips with this, ive registered at karting uk but am waiting for forum authentication before I can ask around there so I thought i would check here as theres bound to be someone who knows the answers!

Thanks for your time and any help with this guys, once again sorry if this is the wrong section!

[infernouk]

37chevy said:

Basically if you want to race in a class like Tkm then your start up costs will be 2-2.5k for a decent kart, engines, tools, trailer and racewear. You will then spend about 250 quid a weekend on practice, race entry, tyres, engine rebuilds and parts etc. I used to have a 2500-3000 budget for the year in Tkm which is a reasonable budget at club level, you can spend silly amounts, if you're spending over 5k then go car racing!

yea its interesting which is the better choice. I assume less can go wrong with a 1k cart than a 1k car though?

and race entry seems cheaper (going by what my friends pay)

[infernouk]

37chevy said:

Less can go wrong, Karts are easier anf cheeper to fix! You can take everything to bits within minutes and everything is light enough to pick up!! And yeh entry is about 50 quid a day. Karting is great I you want some fun, but let it stay that. Some people take it wayyyyyy too seriously and throw silly amounts of money at it, like I said If you start spending over 5k a year on running costs, pack up and look at 750mc or monoposto with msvr

im looking at it as a way to get experience for moving into proper track cars so not competitively just go when i have the money have some fun and gain track exp. not sure what im aiming for cost wise for that, but im not going to be out there every weekend trying to place 1st

[infernouk]

37chevy said:

Well you've got the attitude right to start with, karting is great fun but even at club level there is some serious racers, it will take 3 or so years to be on the pace of the top guys. I was within a second at the end of my novice year, within half a second and winning trophies in my second year and winning races in my third. a lot of it is down to race craft and confidence with overtaking. It's a great way of teaching you that aswell as setup and mechanicing skills, and if it goes wrong you do a hundred quids of damage instead of thousands in a car

In terms of money it depends on what class you want to race in. Really in Tkm the prices I quoted are sensible, you can do it on less, say 1500-2k a season If u use 2nd hand super one tyres and dont do as many practice days. Rotax will be more expensive. If you don't mind 4 stroke racing look at prokarts, they're reliable as hell and cheep to run. I had one last year, just put fuel in and go! And they're a lot quicker than standard hire karts. Talking of which take a look at club 100, it's a Tkm arrive and drive championship so you don't need to buy a kart, just hire it for the day! It's a good cheep way to go 2 stroke racing!

Edited by 37chevy on Friday 8th June 23:53

TKM sounds good for me reading about it. I have that kind of money for it so its not unreasonable. Really i only plan to race over a year and a bit, until i get a good full time job (currently a uni student for 1 more year) and then ill move into a real car. so basically i want to train up to move on rather than to become a god at karting if thats sounds like a good idea.

What costs am i looking at? Licence, race entry, kart, clothing, repairs? Any way i can get more specific price breakdowns?

[infernouk]

37chevy said:

I think from memory licence and test was around 100, racewear came to about 500, trailer is abou 300, tools about 200, kart and engines are about 1000-1500 so that's 2000-2500 start up costs. In terms of out goings, practice day is 50, race day is 50, tyres are about 150 every 3 meetings, engine rebuild is around 250 every 8-10 hours do you will need a couple a year, so over a 10 round series that's about 2k, u need to factor in oils and spares so I'd add another 500 for the year to give you a bit of fk up factor!

If you race club 100 you just have to pay race entry and don't have to worry about anything other than buying racewear. Plus you don't have to worry about selling the kart at the end of it

Whether you race in rotax or Tkm will depend on where you're from, both classes are stronger and weaker in grid sizes depending on the track

hmm thanks, when you lay it out like that i wonder if it wouldn't be better to go straight for real car racing and use the money that would go on karting on that...

[infernouk]

37chevy said:

I think if you're looking at just getting experience for a year seriously consider club 100 or get a cheep car and do some track days, either way your outlay and running costs will be low, if you end up karting for 2-3 years then buy your own kit.

yea i cant see it being more than 1-2 years, might be better off spending the money on a cheap car and going track days through the year for experience

[infernouk]

so is the best bet to go to the turn up and drive events mentioned above? Or can i get practice another way?

Also is it worth buying a kart and taking that to the open practices to learn? Id rather practice out of race situation

[infernouk]

37chevy said:

Club 100 do practice days as well as race days where you can hire a kart for the day. Practice days and track days are great for learning tracks but there is no substitute for racing in terms of learning race craft

so perhaps books a few practice days and then do some races? I dont want to enter a race with only a few hours on and off experience over the years

[infernouk]

intrepid44 said:

Which uni do you go to?

They might do the BUKC.

bournemouth, just checked and they dont. from what ive seen uni teams in anything are massively elitest and only want the very best so as a beginner i wouldnt stand a chance anyway.

[infernouk]

also guys i wanted to ask. my friend recommended buying a 4 stroke (apparently they dont break often or need as much maintenance as a 2 stroke) and then booking in on practice days on circuits just for fun. Then i can do Club 100 for competitive 2 stroke if I wanted to / when im good enough. Sound like a good idea? He races 2 and 4 stroke regularly so thought he might be of use on info.

[infernouk]

Jack Blag said:

Have you tried your local karting track? You said that you were in Bournemouth, have you tried this place?
http://www.matchamskarting.co.uk/?page_id=57

It appears that they do open events. That would be the cheapest and simplest way to learn the basics. The guys at the track can then point you in the right direction regarding going further with karts.

hey sorry i didnt specify, I live in hertfordshire. Bournemouth is my uni. So im looking for places around herts that allow for open practice with your own kart but there dosent seem to be as many as my friend made out, or im just missing them

[infernouk]

Jack Blag said:

Have you been to Rye House? It's a great circuit.
http://www.rye-house.co.uk

They even have their own hire kart championship so you just need to "arrive and drive"!
http://www.ryehousekarting.co.uk/hire/index.html

ive been looking at their site but not been. Is it the open grand Prix i would do? They dont seem to publish costs on their site?

Also im looking for places where I can drive my own kart, I was looking t picking one up for £1K and using that to practice with so I can get some consistency, also constantly renting is going to add up. are there any places that will allow that? Id quite like to turn up and just be allowed to drive for a couple of hours

[infernouk]

Jack Blag said:

They also have an owner driver championship. Your best bet would be to give them a call or go over there when they are open and have a chat with the staff.

looks like owner/driver is pretty serious with multiple member teams and such.

Ill take a look at going over there, lack of pricing is annoying though!

[infernouk]

dont a bit of reading on the ryehouse site and their series look amazingly well organised.

Think I will go down to their next owners endurance and watch / ask questions. Then join up when I have the info.

Seems I will need t buy a 2xGX160 kart as thats what they all use there. hopefully I can buy and maintain one of them for good money!

[infernouk]

slipstream 1985 said:

4 strokes are the diesels of the kart world.

I hear 2 stroke need a lot of rebuilds / are much less reliable? or is that not true?

if i enter the series i talked about in my previous post ill go for a 2xGX160 kart

[infernouk]

Use Psychology said:

bournemouth might have a karting club... I certainly seem to remember them having one back in my BUKC days (cause they were cocks, mostly).

lots of unis have karting clubs and there is a national championship run by club100 (so fairly decent arrive and drive)

we dont have one, ive just had a look.