Go Cart Racing: important differences between karts

Do you have any idea what open wheel racing is? If you’ve seen the Indy 500 car race, you’ve seen open-wheel racing, an exciting type of racing action where race drivers hit speeds in excess of 230 mph. Kart racing is similar to open wheel motor sport, using a fast racing kart. Kart racing is often used as a stepping stone to the faster and more expensive ranks of auto racing, where a host of professional drivers began.

When most people envision go-karts, the idea that comes to mind is usually the slow-moving go-karts seen at family amusement parks. The best speeds achieved on almost all amusement center tours are on the order of 15 miles per hour, but various other forms of go-karts can reach top speeds in excess of 160 mph.

Go-kart racing is a regulated motor sport and allows anyone 8 years of age or older to drive. As young children increase their talents in a regulated environment, they can advance to faster kart races as they become more skilled.

In addition to the various go-kart racing leagues, Kid Karts go-kart courses are offered for children aged 8 years and sometimes younger. These programs are uninterrupted until the age of 16, in which young people will reach the category of older adults. This is an excellent approach for young children to get involved in go-kart racing in a safe and fun environment.

You can find a large number of different varieties of kart racing, including sprint, speed, and endurance racing, often called Enduro racing. Sprinting takes place on small race tracks that require both left and right turns. Racing fields generally range in size from a quarter of a mile to a mile. A normal speed kart race included preliminary kart races, also called heats, which are only a few laps in length. The best drivers in each qualifying race will then advance to the championship race where the final winner will emerge.

Speedway races are similar to some Indy Car races, occurring on oval tracks with only left turns. The basic variation is the size of the race track, and kart race tracks are much smaller, usually between 1/6 and 1/4 mile. The tracks are typically asphalt or clay and have two straights and 4 left turns.

Some racetracks will not be oval, but may have a triangular design or some other outline. Occasionally the race track may consist of dirt, allowing for extremely fun racing. A unique kart chassis has been produced for use on these left-turn racetracks that enhance kart handling. Despite this, using these “dirt track” kart frames will not be better if they are used in other types of racing such as sprinting.

As with sprinting, sprinting will typically employ heats to find out which drivers are competing in the main event. Qualifying heats will normally last 4 or 5 laps with the final race up to twenty full laps. Endurance, also known as Enduro racing, lasts for a particular period of time, most commonly half an hour to 24 hours or more. For shorter duration kart races, a single driver for a racing karting should be all that is needed. On the other hand, for longer Enduro races, there is usually more than one driver for each kart, and they take turns driving, allowing for a periodic break.