| For anyone who doesn’t think kart racing (a.k.a. go-kart racing) is a strenuous physical activity, let me tell you that I’m typing this article with my nose because I just can’t seem to raise my arms up to the keyboard. That’s after two evenings involving two 25-lap races as part of KartCalgary’s Fall Racing Series at Grand Prix Indoor Racing.
I don’t really watch professional racing, so it wasn’t an activity that immediately sprang to mind when thinking about what to do on a chilly evening. And I must admit I have occasionally questioned the "sport" part of the word "motorsports."
But my rubberized arms tell me otherwise.
It was a last-minute decision to take part in the Wednesday night racing series. Three friends were one person short of a team, so on a whim I joined them, paying $99 to race one night a month for three months.
Upon entering the indoor facility on race night, it was instantly apparent that some people take kart racing very seriously. Fancy racing helmets, complete with their own fancy cases, sat on a boardroom table, while their owners awaited the pre-race meeting. Racing gloves, rib guards and other such karting paraphernalia was aplenty. I felt quite gear-deficient, particularly when slipping a plastic bag on my head, as required when wearing the helmets provided by the track. I’m not quite fancy helmet material yet.
But despite my pre-race jitters, the racing series seemed very welcoming to newcomers. According to series co-ordinator John Barr, who is also president of KartCalgary, there has been a conscious effort to ensure that people of all skill levels feel welcome.
"With 40 people in this series, and only 10 people on the track at a time, we organize it so there are tiers, and you are always racing against people of similar ability, so it’s not too intimidating," he explains. "You’re not getting out there with someone who’s been on the track for 10 years and knows all the ins and outs of it."
On my inaugural quarter-mile lap, the track marshal waved a black flag at me, which calls for a pit stop and often some sort of lecture. However, I was simply informed that constant use of my brakes wasn’t really necessary. (Never mind the braking – I’d flip on the hazard lights and drive on the shoulder if either actually existed). Despite not looking so from above the track, the action seems pretty fast when you’re putting the rubber to the road for the first time. With 6.5-horsepower Honda engines and European racing chassis, the karts reach speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour.
No worries though, as the mantra of the first-time racer seems to be "there’s nowhere to go but up." Or down, if you’re talking lap times.
Jennifer Furgason, a 23-year-old accountant and student, says she has been interested in anything to do with racing since she was very young, but it wasn’t until karting became an official part of Calgary’s Corporate Challenge that she tried organized racing.
"It can be a little intimidating at first when you're coming into a series averaging 31 seconds or slower a lap and everyone else averages 29, but once you're into the groove, you find yourself improving at every race," she says.
That seems to be true. After a fastest lap time of 31.72 seconds on my first outing, I squeaked out a 31.00 on night two. Sure, I still placed last out of the 10 karts in the race (and was lapped at least twice by Furgason), but in karting, every split second counts. Yay me.
Twenty-year-old mechanical engineering student Chris Patterson has been kart racing for seven years, starting on an outdoor track and then moving exclusively to indoor racing. He agrees that KartCalgary races make it easy for newcomers to get involved.
"That's the best part of KartCalgary and Grand Prix – everything is prepared for you, so all you have to do is come down and drive the karts," he observes. "The way the KartCalgary series are structured caters to all skill levels. There is nothing easier in the motorsports world."
There’s that "sport" word again.
Furgason is adamant that kart racing is a sport because the results are easily measurable and comparable and it takes a lot of skill and endurance to complete a race.
"With two 25-lap races a night, the series can be gruelling the first time you try it," she says. "I was extremely sore the first time I drove 25 laps in a row."
Patterson agrees. "Anyone who has raced at Grand Prix will know that after you get off the track, your arms ache and you are sometimes out of breath. Racing karts is also a very mentally challenging sport. You have to be focused all the time out on the track – otherwise you are likely to make a mistake that will cost you race positions and time."
The fact that I was dehydrated enough to drink my body weight in Gatorade after each race also says something about the "sport" part of motorsports.
But there’s more to it than that. Barr sees kart racing as a social activity, and you don’t need a team in order to join.
"This has always been a place where you can meet people and they are easy to talk to," he says.
In addition to the regular summer, fall and winter racing series, KartCalgary holds occasional Iron Man races, where individuals complete 100-plus laps in one hour, and Team Enduro races, which sees teams of three racing 100-plus laps in an hour. The organization has plans to add a youth series as well as separate series for veteran karters and new racers. They also hold various activities at Race City Motorsport Park.
The bottom line, according to Barr, is that by organizing specific karting activities, KartCalgary makes it easier to get into the sport.
"We find that if you walk on (as an individual) it is more expensive, but if you organize things as a group, it is satisfying to race together with a number of people," he says. "Even if you don’t know them, if it’s organized it is more friendly and more of a challenge."
Challenge indeed. I’m going to go find a hot tub while I look forward to my next race.
For more information visit www.kartcalgary.com and www.theplacetorace.com. |
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