[shuttertalk]

Well, I'm off this morning to do a round of Go Karting my Mr. Gadget and some of our buddes.

I haven't been go-karting since over a year ago (for my bucks night, just before I got married) and that time, I think someone sabotaged my kart because I came 2nd last. The last guy had a severe asthma attack and had to pull out on the last lap. Or, it could be that my driving sux.

Anyway, wish me luck, I'll let you know how I go this time. I'll try to take some photos too...

[StudioJ]

Woohoo Go-karting is so much fun, we took the kids a few weeks ago, I didn't get to have as much of a go as I'd like but it was still fun watching them.

[Lak]

I've never actually been go-karting before (except the crappy ones at adventure world, which I don't think comes close to real karting ). How is it like? Clutch? Gears? Is it like a driving a manual car? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just really curious and interested.

[patch17]

last time i went karting was down in Albany. They weren't race carts, but they have some speed, probably about 35-40 kmh.

Lak, they pretty much are like an automatic car. a "go" and a "whoa" pedal. my brother managed to spin one of the carts out by taking a haripin too fast.

great fun though!

[EnglishBob]

I used to race 6-8 times a year with a group of friends for fun on a 1000m track, the carts were twin engined with no gears. By the end fo the 200m straight they could be doing as much as 65mph into a long sweeping 180 degree bend taken flat out if you had the right line.

I used to love it, but it gives you a real work out, those things are so heavy to steer. I nearly wiped out a gatepost leaving the parking lot as I oversteered badly in my car with power steering and no wieght.

[loopy]

Bob, you're dead on with the workout! I used to race my own kart in Canberra (125cc two stroke fixed gear with about 20 odd HP), and the day after the race, you're hurting. But the feeling when you take a chicane at about 80-90km/h, sitting maybe 4 or 5 inches off the ground is incredible... Pete, if you get a chance while you're in Canberra, my old track is out at Queenbeyan (same one Mark Webber used to race at), and the chicane I'm talking about is right as you come out of the starting line.

I never raced a shifter kart (the geared ones - essentially a motorbike engine strapped to a go kart), but they're fast. Casing point - a few years back now when Mick Doohan was still racing bikes, he had a championship at Eastern Creek. He was on a 500cc bike that's the engineering equivalent of an F1 race car, and at this race they had a demo of some 250cc shifter karts. In their race, the winner of the shifters had an average lap time lower than that of Doohan's!

They're not all fun and games though - I was supposed to enter a race at Wollongong (just south of Sydney) about 3-4 years ago. I couldn't get my kart there in time, so I just went to watch it with my parents. In the race I was supposed to go in, after the girl who placed second crossed the line, she hit a crah barrier, flipped, and was thrown head first into the barrier. The accident happened about 10m away from where I was standing with my mum, and the girl died in hospital a short time later. Mum was understandably pretty upset about that, so I ended up selling my kart, and I haven't raced since - more for my mums peace of mind than my own.

Saying that though, have a ball mate - they're great fun

Cheers,


Brad

[shuttertalk]

Hey all, I had an awesome time... the track was indoors and wasn't too big. The karts were more like sitting on a lawn mower, but we had heaps of fun too. Like the others have said - they just had a accellerate and brake pedal.

The race itself was a 2 race format - one race to qualify for grid positions, and the 2nd one the actual race. I qualified 7th out of 10, and in the race I managed to find my "groove" - and managed to overtake about 3 or 4 carts. With 4 laps to go though, I overdid it, spun out and got stuck in a barrier... which cost me all the hard work I gained. I ended up finishing 8th... Oh well, there's always a next time.

I used to love it, but it gives you a real work out, those things are so heavy to steer. I nearly wiped out a gatepost leaving the parking lot as I oversteered badly in my car with power steering and no wieght.

Heheh tell me about it. We went out for lunch afterwards and I almost drove into the back of another car because I was so used to tailing the car in front!


Brad, those karts you've described sound pretty interesting! Must try one day!

[shuttertalk]

I can't believe I went to the trouble of preparing some photos, only to forget to upload them.

Here they are:







As you can see the indoor track was pretty tiny, but made for some tight racing.