Go-karting is one of the most accessible forms of motorsport on earth. The simple machines give people on a modest budget access to the same wheel-to-wheel racing as the pros, at a fraction of the cost (and speed).
For pros willing to spend a little more on their kart, the format can even offer them something that they haven’t had in a very long time: a big shot of adrenaline. At least that’s what Scott Mansell of the Overdrive YouTube channel says.
The channel wanted to find out what driving some of the fastest karts on earth was like, so they rented the Rockingham Speedway for the day, and hired a Division 1 Superkart team to help them find out.
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Both Mansell, a pro driver who has driven classic F1 cars, and co-host Callum McIntyre, who got his racing license just days earlier, took turns at the wheel to see what it was like for people at varying skill levels. But the answer was always the same: Scary.
Although the kart has a relatively modest 100 hp (74.5 kW/101 PS), it weighs just 145 kg (320 lbs) without the driver. That amounts to a power to weight ratio of about 690 hp (515 kW/700 PS) per metric ton, or more than a McLaren Senna can offer, or any GT3 car on the racetrack today.
And all that in a vehicle that’s shorter than a coffin, which means that it’s quite prone to spinning, as McIntyre found out on his first corner. With cold tires, the kart’s owners recommended not even touching the throttle unless he was on the straights.
McIntyre described the experience as being inside an F1 engine because of the amount of vibrations, sound, and the burns to his coat. Mansell, meanwhile, was barely coherent after his drive, so full of adrenaline was he.
Asked if it’s the scariest thing he’s ever driven, he says, “Yeah. Early ’80s F1 cars, they’re quite scary for car. This is more scary.”