Starting Karting

[chappj]

My 12yr old daughter is showing a keen interest to start karting this year having recently participated in a few arrive and drive sessions over the past 6 weeks.

I'm looking for some friendly advice on how best to progress from here? I used to race 100C karts many moons ago so have some degree of knowledge on the topic, albeit from 25yrs ago.

We're based in the south-east so would be looking to race in the club series at any/all of Bayford Meadows, Lydd and Buckmore Park (Medway valley kart club).

She's still very inexperienced (but super enthusiastic) so I wasn't sure whether a) continuing with arrive & drive sessions, or b) buying our own kart would be the best next step?

Is it best to defer actual racing until 2023 to give her time this year to practice, or is the back of the field at club meetings a friendly (safe) place to be?

She's tall for her age so mini-max over cadet would be the obvious choice, however I'm nervous of the jump in performance from the hire arrive and drive karts.

I'm tempted to buy a kart for myself and join her!

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

to ease her in and see whether she has any long term commitment to karting, I'd suggest either the British schools championship or the Motorsport UK indoor championship. Both of which are arrive and drive, indoor options. There are some good prizes if you win, and from there, if she demonstrates some ability you can put her in club 100 or other junior karting championships.
https://newsite.bikc.co.uk/
https://bskc.co.uk/

[anonymous-user]

I’d find a team who can offer a test day at one of the circuits you mention. This seems like the ideal way to experience a 2 stroke with little outlay (though they’ll still charge £200-300).

This way you can see how your daughter takes to a 2 stroke which requires a slightly different driving style compared to a 4 stroke, but a test day in a well set up kart with some team support will also be a good barometer of how fast she might be at a race meeting so you can see where she would be compared to other owner/drivers. I accept that you may not get new tyres etc for a test but it’s still going to be the cheapest way to try a 2 stroke.

I think the smaller 900mm wheelbase chassis are cadets so you would have a 950mm chassis with a junior max engine and then just upgrade the engine as time goes on to a senior (then you can use it too with a change of seat?!)

If the test day is a disaster for whatever reason, it’s not too much money to have spent, if the enthusiasm is still there, you can look at prokarts (the twin engine 4 strokes) or just stick to arrive and drive, prokarts aren’t that popular these days though and some clubs don’t race them so you may be limited.

Personally I think entering a single circuit club championship is a good approach, learn a circuit, build up confidence as you go. You can do this as an owner/driver or with a team, I guess that’s simply down to your budget. If you’re going to buy one, I’d ask the team for advice though and see if anyone at the club has one for sale with a sealed engine, log book etc, Rotax is so much fun, easy to run and maintain and welcome anywhere.

I can’t see any reason why the back of a club championship is not a safe place to learn, if the leaders lap her, they will no doubt want to get it done quickly and safely. Drop down bumpers have, for better or worse some might argue, changed karting and made it a bit less of a contact sport!

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 24th January 21:10

[G321]

I would personally recommend buying a kart. There should be plenty of second hand equipment at a reasonable price to start with and many people sell everything as a jop lot due to retiring.
As for easing her in. you can always join a club and start by just doing the saturday test sessions before committing to ARKS test and racing. If it's the same as when I was racing, she will be starting at the back of the pack whilst on novice plates anyway, until the relevant signatures are obtained.
The one major plus for buying your own kart is the time spent working as a team and the friendly nature of the karting community (although it does get a bit fraught on the track!)
Good luck with whatever you choose!

[chappj]

G321 said:

I would personally recommend buying a kart. There should be plenty of second hand equipment at a reasonable price to start with and many people sell everything as a jop lot due to retiring.
As for easing her in. you can always join a club and start by just doing the saturday test sessions before committing to ARKS test and racing. If it's the same as when I was racing, she will be starting at the back of the pack whilst on novice plates anyway, until the relevant signatures are obtained.
The one major plus for buying your own kart is the time spent working as a team and the friendly nature of the karting community (although it does get a bit fraught on the track!)
Good luck with whatever you choose!

I’ve decided to do exactly this! Will let you know how much e get on.

[DarrenO'D']

My son and I did exactly this around 12 months ago, it was really the best for us, we are under our own steam to go wherever we like, and have gone to several tracks just for experience. He took his arks test at the back end of last year and started racing. We have and are having great fun, learning how to really talk to each other, work together and we spend the kind of time together a lot of parents and teenagers don’t have. Go for it and enjoy

[chappj]

DarrenO'D' said:

My son and I did exactly this around 12 months ago, it was really the best for us, we are under our own steam to go wherever we like, and have gone to several tracks just for experience. He took his arks test at the back end of last year and started racing. We have and are having great fun, learning how to really talk to each other, work together and we spend the kind of time together a lot of parents and teenagers don’t have. Go for it and enjoy

This is exactly what we’re aiming for! Some quality father / daughter time enjoying each other’s company whilst having a blast. Sounds like you’ve achieved the right balance of it being hobby rather than serious pursuit.

[anonymous-user]

chappj said:

I’ve decided to do exactly this! Will let you know how much e get on.

Good luck, keep us posted on what you get and what you do with it. My brother and I are doing the superkart school at Darley Moor in June, then making a decision on whether we go Rotax Max in the OEKC (endurance championship) or get a 125cc Open…

I’ve asked the PH website bids for a karting sub-forum so you never know, we may get one. Add a comment to my thread in website feedback if you think it’s worthwhile.

[bozla]

Have a chat to GMS - they operate down that way.
https://www.facebook.com/griffithsmotorsport/about...

[jja996]

Club100 have just launched a cadet championship for 7-13s that might be just the ticket. It's in dedicated cadet karts and will visit a couple of tracks around the South East too. It's arrive-and-drive, but if it's anything as good as the "adult" series, it would an AMAZING way to test the water a bit more seriously before going down the owner route.