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450m Indoor Kart Circuit

F1 Karting is a 450 meter indoor karting track based on an industrial estate just outside of Nottingham. When we arrived at this venue a race was already taking place which was good because it gave us a chance to get a good look around the track and get a feel for the corners based on what the guys already on track were up to. The venue itslf is quite impressive with the track based in the middle of a large building and plenty of room trackside for spectators.

After the usual briefing session is was on to the track. The event we went for on this occasion was called a supersprint 22. This consisted of a quick 5 minute practice session followed by a massive 80 lap race (22 miles). The format we thought was slightly unusual as there wasn't any qualifying session(s) involved, so after the initial 5 minute warm up the grid for the race is chosen entirely at random, with between 10 and 15 drivers of varying skill levels randomly placed, this i think makes the race slightly unfair, if you end up (as we did) with the fastest on pole and other quick drivers towards the back of the grid then the man in front has a massive opportunity to get away from the pack as the others try to weave there way through slower karts, not good.

As illustrated on the track layout above the starting grid leads straight into a tricky left hand corner then onto a longer right hander leading onto the main straight, this leads into the flyover. The flyover on the track is very very bumpy which made it tricky to negotiate especially entering it from the fastest part of the track, i found that lifting off slightly on the crest and steadily taking the inside line around the corner seemed to be the best tactic. After the flyover its down the hill and onto the tightest corner of the track the LEFT HAND HARPIN in our race this caused a quite a big shunt on the first lap, one guy (dave) managed to spin his kart which left him stranded in the middle of the racing line while another driver (me) unsighted, drove straight into the side of him, this unfortunately left Dave slightly dazed and confused unable to carry on, limping off the track and onto the sidelines as a spectator, (& i thought he was made of stronger stuff!!), then onto another left hand corner which can be taken flat out & past the start / finish line.

80 laps later it was the pole sitter that took the chequered flag, i managed to make my way upto 2nd and Dave managed concussion!!

A good large indoor track, although in this format a qualifying session is needed in order to make the race fairer.

Review by Andy Hotchkiss