Go Carting is Available for Everyone

Go carting has become an extremely popular sport offering many avenues for excitement. When most people think about go karts, they envision vehicles sprinting down a paved circuit and taking hairpin turns at breakneck speed with their go cart tires squealing loudly, but in go carting there are many ways to enjoy the thrill of open wheel racing.

Speedway Racing is a Form of Go Carting

Go carting that is done on oval tracks is called speedway racing and only has left hand turns. The go carting track itself can either be dirt or asphalt and can be large or small. Some tracks can even be larger than 1/4 mile around. Paved go cart tracks require a great amount of grip or traction to maintain control and speed during sharp cornering. On the other hand, dirt tracks may require a bigger challenge as sliding occurs in turns, requiring particular handling skills to be successful.

Go Carting on Road Courses

Go carting on road courses is known as sprint racing and takes place on paved surfaces which involves both left and right turns. There will be straightaways as well as sharp turns. Speeds will move from fast on the straights to slow through the turns. On more sophisticated go carting tracks you will find banked turns which allow for increased speeds and less slowdown during cornering.

Go carting on both speedway and sprint racing tracks can be exciting for anyone age 8 and up, but Enduro racing requires a higher skill level and is most commonly reserved for experienced racers. This type of go carting is very similar to sprint racing, but the races are longer. Enduro, which is short for Endurance, is a race that lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours or longer. The longer races will normally require more than one driver, given them a chance to rest here and there during the race. Shorter races are sometimes called Sprint Enduro races and are run without pit stops, but longer races require pitting from time to time. These events are held on professional racing circuits such as the Daytona International Speedway.

Another type of racing is reserved for very young children between the ages of 4 and 7. The engines are small and not too powerful for younger kids, but they can still produce a fair amount of speed for this age of driver. Kids Karts are run on either sprint tracks or speedway tracks and allow younger drivers the opportunity to develop their racing skills before moving up to speedway and sprint racing. This is the perfect place to learn go carting skills because it takes place in a safe and controlled environment.

Another avenue for go carting excitement is off road go karting. With off road go carts you will have bigger go cart tires, allowing the kart to sit higher off the ground as well as improve traction in all types of terrain and weather. Four wheel drive vehicles will also improve traction on even the bumpiest and muddiest of tracts or trails. Roll cages are especially valuable in off road go carting as accidents and rollovers are more common with this type of kart.

When it comes to the actual go karts, the different types will vary greatly. Some go karts will have small engines that may only produce speeds from 5 to 10 mph while Formula One karts can hit speeds greater than 200 mph. That’s close to the speeds you see at the Indy 500.

As you can see, no matter what speeds you’re looking for, or whatever type of go cart racing you want to get involved in, go carting is available to everyone. And it’s important to note that racing isn’t the only activity go carts are used for. You can simply take them out on a track or dirt road and enjoy the excitement without any need for competition. What could be more fun than a leisurely drive in your go cart merely for the thrill of it? And if you should ever have the desire to increase your driving skills there are many go carting schools all over the world that will allow you to ride for a small fee, helping you to develop your skills as a driver.