Karting, also known as kart racing or go-karting, is a form of open-wheel motorsport in which drivers speed around a track and compete with each other to be the first past the finishing post. A kart is a small, open, four-wheeled automobile which is also known by the names go-kart or gearbox/shifter kart based on its design. These are mostly raced on scaled-down circuits.
An American race car builder (at Kurtis Kraft), Art Ingels is the father of karting who built the first kart in 1956 in Southern California. The sport became instantly popular and spread to other countries and currently has a huge following in Europe.
Karting is usually regarded as the stepping stone for aspiring drivers of other motorsports. Karts vary extensively in speed and Superkarts can reach speeds exceeding 160 mph, while recreational go-karts meant for the general public may be limited to lower speeds.
Kart racing has different racing formats which include sprint racing, endurance racing and speedway racing. Sprint races take place on small road courses and track range from 400 meters to 1600 meters in length. Endurance races take place on full-size road racing circuits that range between 1.5 & 4 miles in length. Speedway races take place on asphalt or clay oval tracks which are usually between 1/10 mile and 1/4 mile long.
The primary aim of the sport is to complete the racecourse and reach the finish line first. These racing karts are four-wheeled automobiles with small engines with a maximum rate of acceleration. These karts have approximately 250cc two-stroke engine, which helps in achieving higher speed during the race. These karts can race with a speed of 70 to 100 miles per hour. It’s a kind of team sport where one or two drivers participate in the race, and other members help in the rebuilding and fuel addition in the karts.
Karting has its roots emerged from the United States. The American Art Ingels is regarded as the Father of Karting. In 1956, the first-ever kart in Southern California was built by a veteran hot Rodder. The Go Kart Manufacturing Company is the first kart manufacturing company in America, established in 1957. The same year, the first official racing championship was held with the aid of a few home-built machines in Rose Bowl Parking lot, situated in Pasadena, California. During 1959, the engines for the karts were manufactured by the McCulloch Company Pvt Ltd.
The first engine was the McCulloch Mc-10, an adapted chainsaw two-stroke engine. In 1959, the first Grand National event was organized in California. Since 1962, the sport has been regulated by the FIA, and it also hosts the World Championship annually.
In 1963 the Australian Karting Association was established, it started to organize the kart racing competition in Australian places such as Granville, New South Wales, Sunnybank and Brooklyn. In 1964, the first CIK World Championship was held in the ‘Pista d'Oro' in Rome.
In 1994, the official track was built with 700 meters in length which was bulldozed and rebuilt in 2001. Today, major championships are held worldwide where racers belonging from various clubs and association participate.
Sprint Racing
This variant of karting is usually built on specially designed circuits which also resembled 1/4th to 1-mile long road courses with turns in both directions left and right. The races are performed for fewer laps with a time limit of 15 minutes. It is common in the FIA Championship.
Endurance Racing
This variant is generally conducted over a long, full-length racing course which is usually 1.5 to 4 miles long which lasts from 30 minutes to 24 hours or even for more hours. In this variant, one or more than one drivers participate in the race. The Le Mans Karting race is considered as the most famous endurance race.,
Speedway Racing
It is conducted majorly on the oval tracks. These tracks are usually 1/10 to 1/4 miles long. These races typically vary in length within a range of 4 to 20 laps. The tracks consist of two straight and 4 turning corners which look mostly like a tri-oval shape course.
