HOW KART RACING IS CRUCIAL FOR ANY DRIVER

As most motorsport fans are aware, karting is where you begin your career as a racing driver. Some get into karting with family, which is in the past has been a father and son activity to start off with, however this is changing as more women starting to join.

Trust me when I say this, if you’re going to get involved be prepared to pay more and more money as you go up the karting ranks. At the beginning of it all, it is always best to lease before you purchase a go-kart.

Why you ask?

Because of the expenses and the experience. I’ve raced many people over the years who couldn’t go any further than go-karting and had much more talent than myself to begin with. So, you really want to know what you’re getting yourself into and ensure you have the budget without going broke or into considerable debt.

Many moons ago (let’s say 20yrs), I wanted to be a racing car driver like many kids my age. I was very fortunate at the time because my step-father was racing GT’s and loved motorsport. Now, he’d never raced karts in his life, but my cousin Simon, at the time was. As a youngster I use to go out to Eastern Creek and watch him race in Rotax against guys like Ryan Briscoe, Troy Hunt, Michael Caruso & Supercars Champion Mark Winterbottom.

After watching him race he approached my step-father and said, “I think we should lease a kart for Dan in the slowest kart in junior light, just to see if he really likes it or not.” To be honest I was very overwhelmed to begin with. I struggled at the start, but eventually got a hold of what I was capable of. I was coached by karting greats Troy Hunt, Kristian Lindbom and my now team owner Barton Mawer, I wasn’t very fast to begin with, but we all have to start somewhere right?

Fast forward a few yeas and I eventually saved up for my first go-kart after working numerous jobs before and after school. Like most of my racing it didn’t really click after the first year, but once I’d found my feet I really got the hang of karting and have loved it ever since.

What I came to realise was, once you’ve finished with one class, the next one gets more pricey and so on. I’d moved from Yahama J’s to Yamaha Clubman’s and also by then moved to a new team and new kart chassis. I also swapped to a new mechanic and driver coach along the way. After we won the club level races my coach could see I really wanted to give the state and national level races a red hot go!

I competed in extremely competitive formats back in those early years, only just qualifying to get into the main heat races.

Was it hard?

Of course it was! Every single kart racer I was racing against wanted a career in motorsport. We were all vying for seats in Formula Ford and Aussie Racing Cars, if we could find the budgets to race with. Even by this time in your karting career you’re paying as much for kart racing as you are for car racing. Urgh, that was a struggle and I was not family-funded. I had to work to earn every dollar for my go-karts and even race cars later on. This is a whole other story I will get into on another blog post as many think my step-dad paid for my racing, but he did not.

Times have changed a lot since then in the karting landscape. There are now many organisations and clubs you can race to fit your budget. You can even trial sim racing now! Though, I’m old school and just don’t enjoy this as much as being on the track. However, it is still a great option to get a taste for racing if you enjoy technology. Recently, I bought myself a rotax kart off Facebook to use for training in this upcoming year. I can tell you, years later I still love the thrill of racing karts around the track!

For those of you not wanting a professional career as a motorsport athlete, but want the thrill of racing around the track on your weekends go-karting is the way to go. Kart racing will give you that exact same sensation on a lower budget. You can go to any of your local kart tracks or contact your nearest kart shop for the best advice on how to get into it. Also, if you want to teach your kids how to drive at an early age. Karting also helps with your awareness on the road and confidence in heavy traffic as you get off your P plates.

If you’re reading this and thinking about getting into kart racing, I say do it! Just do your research and work towards your budget. What I’ve gained from my experiences during the karting days has helped me a lot in later life. You will make new friends and potentially travel interstate or even abroad (maybe not too soon in this climate, but hopefully in the future). Also remember, there are a lot of politics in motorsport and even in kart racing, but for the most part just enjoy it for what it is.

Let me know your thoughts, experiences or ask any questions you may have on go-karting in the comments below!

Until next time,

DH

Here’s me back in the day with my driver coach and mechanic Peter Galvin, who eventually went onto run the CIK Stars of Karting Series from 2012-15