Outdoor Karting Hobby

The first kart was built in 1956 by South Californian hot rodder and race car builder, Art Ingels. The latter is generally accepted as the father of karting, which has rapidly spread to other countries and received a large following in Europe

As a hobby and sport, karting or kart racing is the most low-cost and safe form of motor-sport that can either be a competitive sport, or a casual fun activity, enjoyed by both children and adults.

Kart racing

Karting is considered to be the first step towards the higher and most expensive forms of motor-sport such as freestyle motocross, car racing and motorcycle racing. Children as young as eight years old can hold a karting competition license as racing classes usually starts at age seven or eight. Generally, these classes run in three-year age groupings until a ’senior’ status is reached at 15 or 16.

Kart racing has many formats, and it can be any of the following:

1. Sprint racing – a series of short-duration races held on dedicated kart circuits, which tracks go from 400 metres to over 1,600meters length.

2. Endurance racing – a form of kart racing that usually lasts from a period of 30 minutes to 24 hours or more, and generally measures drivers’ consistency, reliability and pit endurance.

3. Speedway racing – this type of racing event is usually held on an oval tracks which are normally between 1/6 mile (about 266 metres) or 1/4 mile (400 metres) long.

There are currently a number of national and international leagues and competitions dedicated for karting. Among them are the Karting World Championship, European KF1 Championship, Italian Open Masters, and Super 1 National Kart Championships.

Several motor champions also got their start in kart racing. Examples of them are Spanish Formula One two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, three-time former NASCAR Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip, and former Formula One seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.

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