Firstly, just stop and breathe, don’t rush in, and don’t make a hasty purchase from Facebook! It's probably best that I explain how we did it, and what mistakes we made!
First, you need to know what kart options there are for your budding race driver, so I shall list some of them below to save you from digging around our website
PLACE LINE UP OF KARTS - BUT SIMPLE VERSION
We were in a difficult position as Zenico will wake up one morning in September 2023 and turn into Kevin Perry as he will turn 13yrs of age. Problem is, he is still only 29.2Kilos, so our choices were somewhat challenging!
The best thing to do right now is to find your local track. If you have already started a bit of hire-kart action, check if they also have owner days as some tracks are only set up for Hire Karts and mostly concentrate on birthday parties and cooperate events etc.
Once you have found your local track, then find out when they have owner days, they are normally once a month and on a Sunday, with some tracks holding them midweek, including the evenings.
“Owner days” What does that mean I hear you ask, as we were the same when it was mentioned to us!
An owner day is when the track opens its paddocks for people who own their own Karts, you will have all classes turn up, from 8yr olds to racers who clearly need to stop racing before they have a heart attack!
Most people arrive around 08:00 am, and start to set up. You will have a mixed bag of parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, mums, dads, and even the family dog turn up. You will also get a little green envy when you see the high-end van conversions with leather seats, TVs, computers, and dedicated Kart storage, but you will also see a family turn up in their clapped-out family estate pulling a Kart from the boot and setting up their gazebo and tea and coffee station!
You will also see the 23plate Landrover’s pulling expensive race trailers, and then you will have the racing teams! Big fancy awnings with their race logos on, matching Go-Karts, and the parents sitting back while the race mechanics fine tweak the Karts to the millimeter to get that extra fraction of a second lap time.
Although I may have annoyed some people if they fit in any of the above brackets, and I'm sure I’ve missed some out, when you first turn up to an owners day, they will be your thoughts.
However, the paddock (Other than UK Motorsport race days) is one of the most fascinating and welcoming arenas, not one parent or race team will tell you to go away, they will greet you with open arms and will be more than happy to share experiences and advice. They won’t be too happy to speak with you though when they have a Kart issue, and they are cursing and hitting it, so avoid those approaches!
The best thing to do is turn up around 11 am, park up, and walk through the paddock and towards the viewing area of the track. The owner's day will be broken down into classes, with each class getting around 10 mins on the track while the next class of Kart line up in the pits ready to go out.
Sit back and watch! When you see a Rotax Kart hitting a corner at around 60mph, the Kart sliding around the corner, wheels screeching, and the person driving is only inches from the floor, you would think its an adult driving, but no, it's probably a junior Rotax driver who is about 13yrs of age pushing his/hers limits to get a better time around the track and most of all getting valuable seat time to learn!
This is when you really look at yourself and think “Holly shit, they are so much faster than the hire karts, I don’t fell comfortable with this!” If you do think this, I guarantee your child will be watching, mouth open, mind dreaming of wanting to be that 13yr old, and they will be hooked!
Again, take a step back, disengage the parent worrying mind, and remember the different kart classes that could fit your child. Watch them go around the track, and then watch them again, the parents taking the kids and karts to the pits, having a little prep talk with the child before they engage the engines and the sound and smell of fuel will start to register in your brain, and your emotions will be all over the place!
Welcome to racing! You now either have the drive to pursue it, or you are going to walk away and say its not for us and stick to Hire Karts!
So, you decide, it's for you! Now it's time to start talking to the parents. Don’t go marching up to them when the child has just come into the pits, as they will be concentrating on their child's performance and looking at where to change things to make them better. Sit and watch as the child raises his visor and you can see the glow in their face and the adrenaline in their eyes!
Once the parents have loaded the Kart onto the Kart trolley (It's how we transport the Karts around the paddock) watch where they go and chose your target. Look for the family, the Kid who has a mum, dad, grandad, whomever it may be by their side. Don’t look for the race teams with the full-on branded clothing or the child with the most expensive-looking kart with personalised race clothing. Chose the family that you feel resembles you, and wait for them to get back to their pitch, give them 15 mins or so, and go introduce your selves. Explain that you are new, give a very brief back story why you are there, and what questions you would like answered.
As you engage in conversation, without even knowing it, you are starting to enter the racing family of Go-Karting, the parents will give you advice and use it like a shopping trip, choosing what you want to place in your basket and think about it.
Then, go watch some more racing, and enjoy the day!
Next step, go again!!!! Visit the same track on the next owners' day, but this time, engage with some of the race teams. This will open you up to a possible offer of a day trying a real Kart as a tester. Yes, it costs money, but it will give you an idea of whether your child is suited to the sport, and also if you have chosen the right class! Expect to pay anything from £150 to £300 for the privilege, but in the long run, it will be beneficial to you and your child!
We wish we knew this, as we didn’t take that option, but luckily we chose correctly, and Zenico is now perfectly happy in his class.
Ok, so, you have made up your mind, and it's time to flex the cash!
Most tracks will have a kart shop on site or will be affiliated with one. Go speak with them before you hunt on Facebook, you will be surprised at what 2nd Hand Karts the shops have access to!
For us, we looked at Facebook and it was riddled with cheap, mid-range, and expensive Karts, so work out your budget. What can you afford to spend on a Kart, but remember to keep some back for race clothing? People underestimate the price of that!
After speaking with the Kart shops and finding out what is available, again do your research. Don’t buy the first kart you are offered by the Kart shop, have a look around! You can normally find the same Kart that the Kart shop is offering you, far cheaper on Facebook groups, but that does come with risks!!
What are the risks you ask???
Firstly, the most expensive part is the engine! Has it been looked after?
The chassis! Has it been bent in an accident, or has it had welding done to repair parts that could fail when your child is in the seat?
Are the breaks suitable and have they been looked after?
The cables, the nuts, the bolts, all these things need to be correct
Would you buy a second-hand air balloon and stick your kids in it to go see the clouds!!! I would hope not.
So in essence, my advice is to buy from a Kart shop, don’t buy new, there is no point. There is a lot of money in Karting and parents, race teams etc will swap out their Karts only after a few races, or after each race season, or the kids are going into the next class, which allows their Kart to enter the market for you to buy!
If you do decide that buying from a kart shop is not an option as it is more expensive, then those visits to the tracks on race days or owner days often throw up some decent 2nd hand karts that are for sale, or someone will know where there is one going!
Even better, if you know someone who is a Kart racer/driver, then that will be your savior, as they should know a bad purchase to a safe purchase!
So, what Kart did we buy for Zenico?
We were lucky and had the budget to buy from a Kart shop.
Our local track, Bayford Meadows (add link) in Sittingbourne has a Kart shop attached to it called Project one racing. (Add Link) After doing the paddock walks and seeing what was available, browsing the Kart groups on Facebook and basically reading what we could, we went to speak with them, and within minutes the right Kart was available at the right price. It was set up for Zenico, right down to his weight with added lead to the kart to make him legal weight for Motorsport, and he became the owner of a 2022 Project One Honda Cadet Gx160 Kart and he loves it!
It's the perfect kart for his fit and was safe to learn in. He is dying to get into a Rotax, but we shall see!!!!
And the best thing, when he actually starts eating, or we start to place him in a grow bag at night with miracle grow as a drink, he will hit the right weight, and Project One will happily take the Kart back in part exchange for an agreed price when we purchased it. (Note, Grow-bag and miracle grow are not advised for your children, that was a joke!)
I hope that helps.
