The beauty of karting is that it is a sport for all ages. You can find kids from the ages of 4 to adults aged 40+. It is arguably easier for kids to get into, but adults can still definitely get into karting.
The 3 steps to get into kart racing as an adult are:
- Visit your local karting circuit
- Find out the best places to buy equipment
- Make as many connections as possible
There’s obviously more to it, and I’ll take a deeper dive into these below. After that, I’ll discuss the key things you need to think about when trying to get into karting as an adult.
3 Steps To Get Into Karting As An Adult
1. Visit Your Local Karting Circuit
The best thing you can do if you want to get into karting is to visit your local karting circuit. This way you can meet some of the drivers who are competing in the series. Talk to as many drivers as you can. Most if not all drivers will be happy to help out and give advice.
2. Find Out The Best Places To Buy Equipment
Kart drivers love to talk about themselves and their journey, so they won’t if mind you are asking about it. It will also help you to find out where it’s best to buy equipment in your local area. You might get lucky and find a driver who is willing to sell you their kart as well!
3. Make As Many Connections As Possible
Try and make as many connections at the track as possible and make some friends. Offer to help a driver out and learn about the karts and the mechanics behind them so that you can get a head start in this aspect. You’ll need to work on your own kart at some point, so getting familiar with what’s actually required will be key to figuring out if racing karts is for you.
Things An Adult Should Consider When Getting Into Kart Racing
Your Budget
As we have covered in another article, karting is an extremely expensive sport to get into. Not only do you have high start-up costs when buying your kart and safety gear, but you also have running costs to consider. Any time you get into a kart and take it around a track, it will cost you money.
All in all, your initial start-up cost will most likely be around the $11,000 mark if you plan to go racing, depending on whether you buy new or second-hand, and how much you shop around to save some cash. In this sport, saving money is important because you can always put it towards something else, like spare parts or extra fuel and tires.
A benefit that you have as an adult is that you can try to seek out some potential sponsors. If you are able to secure sponsorship, you can get started in karting for little to know cost at all! The challenge though is securing that sponsorship in the first place.
Travel & Accommodation Costs
You’ll also need to think about travel costs and accommodation costs too if you’re traveling far between events. You will also need to consider storage costs if you are leaving your kart at the circuit. It’s best to go down to your local karting circuit to find out about these costs beforehand.
Aim to visit your local karting circuit on a race weekend and try to speak to at least 3 different drivers. This will give you 3 different opinions on where to go for the equipment you need to get and where to get the best prices.
Also try to find out when drivers go to the circuit for practice sessions. It’s always nicer to be on track with other drivers rather than being out there alone. This means that there will be other drivers around to help you out with driving techniques or mechanical issues you might have.
Race Fees
It will also be a good idea to try and chat to the race organizer or race director in order to get an idea of the race fees that you will need to pay if you were to enter into the championship.
Attending a race weekend will give you a pretty good idea of how the championship runs and the type of format they use in their race weekends. This is always helpful to know so that you know what is happening before you attend your first race meeting as a driver.
Your Availability
Kart racing is a sport that takes up a lot of your time. You won’t just be turning up at the circuit, getting into your kart and racing for the day. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes as well – much more than many people expect.
If you want to be competitive in karting, you will need to devote a lot of time and effort into the sport. You will need a lot of time on track in order to become more comfortable in the kart. Being comfortable in the kart will mean that you can start to find speed, which will result in you being more confident in improving your driving techniques.
In addition to this, time on track will also allow you to work more on the kart’s setup, which can play a big role in getting your lap times down. You will need to be comfortable in the kart before you can start working on your setup, otherwise you won’t know what works and what doesn’t work for you.
Working On Your Setup
Setup work also takes a lot of time. For example, it might take you at least a full day of testing, maybe even two full days, just to find which rear track width works for you. Then you might test something else on your kart and it throws everything off balance, and you need to start again.
Your time will be taken up with various things off-track as well. You will most likely be spending hours cleaning and maintaining your kart if you aren’t driving it. The maintenance aspect is just as important as the driving itself, and it should definitely not be overlooked.
The Racing Itself
This is all before we have even got to the racing yet! Race meetings will take at least a full day, often on a Friday or a Saturday. So, you now you also need to give up your weekends for races, plus perhaps a day or two per week for testing and practice.
I am probably making this sound more like a chore, but the times that I have spent at the track have been some of my fondest memories, even if it is just sitting around and chatting with other drivers, or working on my kart. The racetrack quickly becomes a really fun and happy place to be.
Physical & Mental Fitness
Finally, karting is a sport, and as such, there are some medical requirements that you will need to meet in order to be declared fit to race. This will come in the form of a general medical check-up at the hospital in order to get your racing license. It’s nothing to stress about though, just a precaution.
Believe it or not, karting requires quite a lot of physical and mental fitness. However, it’s a different kind of fitness to what many other sports require. You can’t prepare for a karting race by long distance running or spending 5 days a week in the gym, although having a proper karting fitness program in place does help a lot.
Race Fitness
In the motorsport world there is something called race fitness. This is something you will experience if it is your first time in a race, or your first time in a kart after a long while. Racing is strenuous on your body because of the G-forces involved. Your body can only stay “race fit” by experiencing those G-forces regularly.
You will even see Formula 1 drivers struggling if it’s their first time in the car after a long break, no matter how much training they have done beforehand, as the G-forces in F1 are extreme. This is why it is so important to get as much time in the kart as regularly as you can.
Karting also has a large mental fitness requirement. You will need to be able to focus for a long period of time while under physical pressure. Being able to concentrate throughout the full course of the race will be crucial in reducing mistakes during the later stages of the race when drivers become more tired.
KEY POINTS
• You definitely can get into karting as an adult
• You need to get as much track time as you can to stay race fit
• Don’t underestimate the time and financial costs associated with kart racing!
Final Thoughts
There are huge time investments in karting, and there is also a lot of money involved. You will need to be fit, healthy, and keep your mind sharp. It might sound like a huge task and like a lot of effort, but it is absolutely worth it. Karting is the best sport in the world (in my humble opinion!), and you will never regret your decision to start off in this incredible sport.
I created and have been writing on this site since 2019, collaborating with drivers, coaches, engineers and manufacturers to provide you with the most reliable information about motorsport. Find out more about me here.