A Hack's First Exposure To Karting

Below is a story that a local celebrity, Roy Ward from the Wimmera Mail-Times, did for the Wimmera Kart Racing Club. It recounts the experience of a 'first-timer' in a race kart. Roy gives all kinds of local sports a challenge now and again and he decided to do one on karting after watching the first round of the country Series in Horsham which attracted 220 entries. He thought he would give it a go but wasnt expecting it to be as difficult as what it turned out to be!

Friday March 27, 2009 – sports article "CHALLENGE ROY"  Story By Roy Ward

ROY WARD GIVES KARTING A GO

Two things have stopped me ever trying go-karting.

I am a naturally cautious driver and I am fairly tall, so cramming myself into a tiny kart has never seemed attractive.
But when Mark “Mav” Cottrell from Wimmera Kart Racing Club offered me the chance to have a run in his racing kart I decided to give it a go.

Plus when I saw the karting track was nowhere near the Wimmera River – scene of a previous mishap – I thought it was a “can’t miss” opportunity.

When our photographer Kate Healy and I arrived at the Dooen track I watch Mark zipping around at almost 100 kilometres an hour and the zoom of the engine made my bones rattle.

But Mark assured me that a kart was created to stay upright and when he told me kart tyres were among one of the ‘stickiest’ tyres in racing, close to Formula 1 tyres, my fears subsided and I took to the track.

Mark decided to start me off with a walking tour of the 500 metre winding track. He took me through every corner and showed me what line to take, advice I did my best to completely ignore once I got on the track.

The next part was for me to get into Mark’s spare racing suit. It was very difficult for me to get into it mostly because it was probably half a size too small, so small it left my ankles completely uncovered. Mark is about 169 centremetres tall so I was concerned I wouldn’t fit into the suit, let alone his kart. But I managed to get it on and in true ‘Challenge Roy’ tradition, I kept my shirt and tie on underneath the suit, sort of like Clark Kent in reverse.

Mark told me I was not the only driver who wore such gear under their driving suit. He told me about an 80-year-old driver, who still competed in State competition, who wore a shirt and tie under his driving suit. I found that pretty funny.

But after almost dislocating my elbow I squeezed into the suit and looked down at the tiny kart and had two questions. How in the world was I going to fit into the kart and where was the seat belt?

It turns out there is no seat belt, instead, the seat is tilted low to the ground and it was tight enough that I was wedged into the seat between the frontend pedals and the back of my seat. The only hard part was getting up.

I was given a set of ear-plugs and also a helmet. Mark pulled the lever and gave me a running start but I didn’t press the accelerator enough and the kart stalled. This would happen four more times before I actually got the thing driving. Each time I stopped Mark would have to give me another push start, sometimes while I was driving uphill. It is fair to say he was exhausted by the time he got me going.

By the last time I stalled it I wanted to get out and call it off but mark assured me it was a regular thing for first timers to do. I couldn’t resist punching the steering wheel a little bit when it stalled. I call that my Mark Webber moment. I now know what he must feel like when his car conks out on the first lap.

I drove around the track three or four times taking things pretty slowly, going only 20 or 30 kilometres an hour, although I would say that going that fast knowing you have only centremetres between your body and a razor sharp road is pretty unnerving.

It is a fantastic rush to be so low on the track and to take a corner right on the edge. I got through the laps diligently but never really reached any high speeds. Instead I stalled the racing kart again, this time near the pit lane and Mark gave me some pointers, telling me my best lap time was 47.25 seconds.  His best was 25.40 seconds and he wanted to see some improvement.

Getting out of the kart was one of the most difficult things I have done. I tried to wedge myself up, slide myself out but in the end Mark had to pull me up while I lifted myself onto the top of the seat. It seemed to me like something out of a nature film, perhaps the birth of a baby giraffe.

He was going to do a couple of laps to warm up the wheels before I tried to go fast but time was getting away from us and the kart was getting a bit temperamental so he decided to send me back out again.

This time I tried hard to lift the speed and I was somewhat successful, getting to maybe 40 or 45 kilometres an hour on the straight but whenever I got close to that speed I would hit the brakes a bit and almost stall the kart.

At first I was hell-bent on hitting a high speed but that rush of blood lasted about two seconds as I entered a turn at speed. Some braking and half a stall later I was back on the straight at about 25kmh; it was too scary to hit the corners at speed. Mark holds his speed right through the back end of the course and into the straight; he said it was all confidence in the kart and the brakes.

When I was in the kart I lacked confidence in one thing - the driver.

After five or six laps we wrapped it up. By that I mean I stalled it just before the entrance to the pit lane and forced Mark to carry the kart in, after he yanked me out of the kart.

Kart racing was great fun and I had a blast.

If your 7 to 70+ and you want to give kart racing a try register your interest by contacting one of the club committee members for information on how you can get started - www.wimmerakartclub.com.au

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