Who doesn’t love going fast? If you’ve been on the road, you’ve gone over the speed limit, but where can feel the wind rushing through your hair and still be safe? Go Karting! Speed down the raceway solo or with friends, you’ll have so much fun!
Go Karting can be expensive, but it isn’t always the case. The price ranges from $25-$120 per session. The pricing is primary based on the number of racers and the number of laps. You can expect to pay around $50 per person for a decent time on the race track, which will get you about 3-4 races on average or couple hours’ worth of fun.
A lot of people might think they’ll need to purchase a bunch of gears like Formula 1 Racers, but you really don’t have to if it is your first time racing.
Do I need Protective Gears when Racing?
Go Karting is a serious hobby with considerable amount of risks, so when it comes down to protection it is an absolute must.
With that said, don’t jump on Amazon to gear up just yet, because the Go Karting Raceway will have gears onsite that’s either covered with your day pass or is available for rental.
To get ready for the race, they’ll give you something called a “Headsock”, essentially a thin headgear that goes on your head like a socks as the name implies. Wear this to ensure that you can slip in and out of the helmet easily when you get on the race track.
Once you’ve found the right size helmet, make sure that your visor is all the way down; you can crack about a 1/2″ or a centimeter to let some air through so you don’t fog up your visor or your glasses if you’re wearing them.
A helmet is not optional, it is mandatory, if you don’t wear it, you will not race. Unfortunately, you can’t feel the wind through your hair like I sold it out to be, but you’ll definitely feel some G-s and have plenty of fun!
All good? Now that you’ve got your helmet on you’ll need a toilet seat.
Haha! Just kidding, you’ll need a neck brace that looks like a toilet seat, this is to prevent whiplash and concussion when you collide with other racers on the track.
Make sure the pointier end of the neck brace is pointing down and behind your neck. And don’t think it’s unnecessary to race without it, you’ll need it, trust me.
Closed toe shoes is a must to race, so make sure you wear tennis shoes or a comfortable pair of closed toe footwear.
And also, here’s an incentive to wear your protective gears, at most race track, violation to abide the safety rules can result in stopping the race, no refunds, and even be banned from the go kart raceway all together.
If you follow the rules, you’ll have no issue with the establishment. Are you ready to overtake some of your friends on the track?
7 Tips that Guarantees a Higher Ranking on the Racing Score Board
Believe it or not, once the flag is waved, it is extremely hard to overtake the person in front of you if you don’t know these tricks.
Luckily for you, I am going to share the 7 tips that guarantees you a higher rank on the score board.
Hug the Inner Wall
When it comes to go-karting, one of the tricks to get ahead is by hugging the inner wall of the race track.
If you were to take any race track’s inner wall and offset a certain distance to create the outer wall, the inner wall when laid out in a straight line, it is significantly shorter than the outer wall.
What does this mean for you?
It means a short cut, especially around the corner or tight turns. The tight turns has a smaller turning radius meaning you can make the turn without traveling a longer distance compared to hugging the outer wall.
The smoother you can make this turn, the less speed you loose when you return to the straighter route.
Take Sharp Turns
To achieve sharp turns consecutively requires practice, which you can try out during the practice session before the Grand Prix (The Final Race). Also the “Grand Prix” is pronounced the “Grand Pree”. Don’t make the same stupid mistake I’ve made in front of my friends. It’s french, so the X-ending is silent.
Anyway, the best way to achieve these sharp turns is to first hug the inner wall and decelerate by gently tapping on the brakes prior when you are approaching a turn.
Do NOT slam on the brakes during the turn, it will cause you to lose momentum and spin out. Tap the brakes, don’t slam!
Turn your steering wheel accordingly and once you’re about half way into the actual turn, turn your steering wheel all the way and put the pedal to the metal.
This will accelerate you through the other half of the turn. Your steering wheel should also return to straight at the end of the turn.
It doesn’t matter how much I explain this in text, you’ll have to learn by feeling it out on the race track, but I’ve already planted a seed.
Stay Right Behind the Person in Front
One of the most frustrating aspect of racing on the track is that the person in front of you is blocking your path to victory.
By staying right behind their rear ends, you’ll be prepared to overtake them when you see them loose momentum or when they spin out.
Floor It when Straight
The best time to overtake someone is when the race track is straight, there are more room, the racer’s moves are more predictable and it is the best time to gain the most amount of speed.
Whenever you are on a straight route, floor it, and I mean FLOOR IT!
You’ll gain the most distance in the least amount of time with little consequence of spinning out.
Do the Zig-Zag move
You’re a smart racer, but so are your competition. They know you’ll try and overtake them during the straight route, that’s why they’ll zig-zag on the track to block you from passing them.
You should do the exact same, one way to get a better ranking is by not preventing others from overtaking you.
During a zig-zag maneuver, you might loose a little bit of speed and traction, but it’s a relatively small price to pay to retain your ranking.
Be Aggressive
Just remember this, no one likes losing and you’ve got to believe that no one on the race track wants to win more than you.
One of my mistakes during my Grand Prix race was not being aggressive enough. Remember that collisions are a common thing and although the people managing the raceway will tell you that you should avoid colliding with other racers or they’ll tell you to not be aggressive, you should still be aggressive.
The first time I raced, I kept holding back, fearing that I’ll get a black flag; which means a warning for being too aggressive and thus I reduced my speed and I brake frequently even though I was probably fine not doing that.
When you attempt to overtake someone, a bit of scrapes and bumps are necessary and will happen, it is in the nature of go-karting.
Mastering Timing / Stay Focused
When the flag is waved or the lights turn green it’s time to accelerate. You don’t want to be somebody stuck at the starting line when everyone has started the race.
A delayed reaction time is a ranking killer, a fraction of a second of delay can equate to a very huge gap between racers. That’s why it’s always important to stay focused and master the timing of when you can overtake someone, when to turn, when to drift, and when to slow down.
Accidents sometimes occurs on the race track, so be prepared. On the day of my race there was a multi-collision involving 5+ racers at a turn. I wasn’t paying any attention because I’ve passed them already, it was only when they were in sight again did I realize that there had been a huge collision. The race was paused and the staffs had to come and separate them.
While all of this was taking place, I had not noticed that one of the staff was waving the flag that began the race again, since I was still watching the other racers slowly accelerating after the collision.
So, it’s absolutely critical that you always pay attention to the person waving the flag as well as anything else that occurs on the race track.
By maintaining focus, you can gain valuable time that will puts you higher up on the score board.
Shameless plug, but by following the tips that I’ve laid out for you, I was able to advance 7 places from Rank 10 to Rank 3 despite it was my first time racing.
Final Thoughts about Go-Karting
As long as you wear the protective gears, follow the rules, watch for the flags, and don’t horse play on the race track, you’ll have a ton of fun!
Remember that although you may be racing with friends or family, once you are on the track everything is fair game.
It’s a cut-throat, no mercy, action packed indoor and outdoor fun and everyone wants to be #1, but only one person can be the Champ. So, do not soften your heart and race to your heart’s content.