How it all began.....
History has it that sometime in 1956 Art Ingels welded up some scrap tubing, installed a seat and steering wheel, bolted on a West Bend lawn mower engine, put the whole mess on four tiny wheels and promptly invented the go-kart. At the time Ingels was working for Frank Kurtis, builder of the Kurtis Champ Car Roadsters for the Indy 500. The little engine was lying in a corner of the shop, and Ingels figured he could put it to use by building a little motorized cart that would help him get around the pits and garage area.
What he ended up with was a small racer that could reach 30 miles per hour on only 2 1/2 horsepower while zipping around corners like a mechanical rabbit at a dog racing track. Everyone who tried the contraption came away amazed at how much fun scooting around with your butt 2 inches off the ground and your nervous system plugged directly into the steering gear could be. And since most of these people were motorsport enthusiasts and tinkerers, it wasn't long before Ingels had company racing around the empty Penzoil cans in the back parking lot.
From there things just snowballed, and karting was born. From a curiosity, it evolved into a bona fide racing machine. The karting kraze spread quickly across North America as the California based car magazines like Car Craft, Rod & Custom and Hot Rod started featuring kart coverage. Karters in BC got together and started racing at shopping center parking lots in places like Newton and formed the BC Go Kart Association. They built their first track on Fell Avenue in Burnaby just north of Hastings Street. A few years later the Westwood Karting Association was formed with a new track and eventually replaced the BCGCA when the Fell Avenue track was closed in 1963.
Soon enough karting crossed the Atlantic to Europe where devotion to the sport now borders on fanaticism. In most countries karting has become a recognized and important part of the auto racing hierarchy, often the first step in the building of a successful racing career. It has its own tracks, world championships, factory drivers and big time sponsors.
Kart Racing today is unarguably the least expensive form of motorsport, but don't let the size of the vehicle or the smaller price tag fool you, racing karts have the gut wrenching, nail biting excitement of full size open wheel racing. Adrenaline is a key component of kart racing, get into a kart and you will get your share.
Although scaled down in terms of speed and complexity, karting compares favorably with Formula 1 and CART racing in terms of on-track feel. Because kart racing is similar to F1 or CART, many F1 and CART drivers get their start in karts. Drivers such as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Alex Zanardi, Scott Pruett, Kevin Harvick, Fernando Alonzo and Rubens Barrichello all got their start as karting champions and many race karts in the off season to keep their skills sharp.
Almost anyone 8 years or older can race karts, it's common to see entire families racing on a weekend. There are a variety of classes based on age, weight of kart and driver combined, type of motor and experience.
Karts indeed have a lot going for them; they are relatively inexpensive, mechanically simple, easily stored and transported and are readily adapted to drivers of different ages, driving abilities, sexes and visions of grandeur. Kart racing enjoys a very enviable reputation for safety and is widely recognized as a driver's sport, with intense battles and heated dicing throughout the pack more the norm than the exception. It offers more pure, down to earth driving fun for the dollar than any other form of racing.
What about the machines?
Just as in Formula and other types of racing, there are many different types of karts, with different racing classes to accommodate them. In Canada the national organizing body "ASN Canada FIA" sets standards for race classes that member clubs follow. Individual clubs may also offer their own "local option" classes to suit their membership, but the backbone is usually made up of the following classes.
Junior one (from 8 to 12 years old) offering class options of two or four stroke. Junior one has an affordable price tag utilizing reliable low stressed motors and clutches (5 to 7 hp). These karts provide 8 to 12 year olds the opportunity to learn what racing is all about.
Junior two (from 12 to 15 years old), again with the two or four stroke option. Junior two rules permit moderate performance engines (7 to 10 hp). Expenditure will vary between the two and four stroke karts. This class provides an opportunity to develop racing skills in a higher performance kart with speeds approaching those in the senior classes.
Two cycle Seniors (16 and up), and Masters (over 40) rules permit moderate to high performance engines (15 to 20 hp) and tire options. Expenditure depends on the degree of seriousness with which you approach the sport.
From there the usual steps up are the Reed / Rotary and Shifter classes (high performance reed or rotary valve engines which produce 22 to 27 hp at 18-20,000 rpm), and the 80 cc and 125 cc gearbox engine classes (liquid cooled two stroke, manual clutch, six speed gearbox) (20 to 30 hp for 80 cc and 30 to 45 hp for the 125 cc).
The total weight for a kart and driver will range from 225 lb to 285 lb for the junior and 310 to 320 lb for light senior classes with the heavier class groups ranging from 350 to 400 lb. The karts themselves usually weigh in at about 135 lb for a junior chassis and about 140 to 170 lb for senior chassis. Ballast (usually lead) may be used to optimize combined weight for specific classes.
The upper echelon in karting will vary depending on where you race. In this region of the world, the top of the line is the Intercontinental A (ICA) or the Intercontinental C (ICC) kart. These karts can deliver 0-100 km/h in well under 4 seconds, and are capable of an incredible 2.4g of cornering power along with top speeds over 160 km/h!
Four cycle Seniors...
Another popular option for sprint racers is the four cycle senior category. In BC, depending on the club, this may include several of the following classes, Light, Heavy, Sumo, and Ladies. All 4 cycle racing in western Canada uses Honda utility engines, 5.5hp for junior classes and 6.5hp for senior classes. The concept here is much the same as Art Ingels’ and other karting pioneers, that of providing a racing experience with the thrills, excitement, and intensity of wheel to wheel competition with a maximum of simplicity and at minimum cost. The racing is as close as any you'll find and the learning curve is flat enough that first year karters can challenge the veterans and see success.
As karting progressed from its infancy, racing as is its nature, began developing in two major areas, engines and tires. While engines progressed from utility models and converted chain saw engines to models configured for karting by companies like McCulloch and West Bend in the 1960’s, to engines designed exclusively for karts by Yamaha, IAME, and others in the 1970’s the costs steadily rose along with the horsepower. One attempt to create an economy class in the mid 60"s was the "Bushing" class. This class required the engine to have a plain bearing con rod and a retail price tag of $69.95US. At that time the Canadian Dollar was worth more than the US$. However it didn't last.
In the late 1970’s many clubs started racing 5 HP 4 cycle utility engines in junior and then in senior classes. The IKF and WKA then developed National classes around the 5 HP Briggs & Stratton engine. In Canada many of the kart clubs were using the 5 HP Honda (G200) engine. These engines offer low initial cost, relatively low maintenance to keep in competitive form and parts availability everywhere. The accessories required to convert these engines to race are also simpler and lower cost. Clutches are usually dry drum type as opposed to multi-disk oil bath, and exhaust headers are simple tubes with small mufflers instead of expansion chambers.
Racing costs are kept in check in the 4 cycle classes by limiting fuel to Regular Pump Gas and tires to long life "SL" rubber compounds. As tire manufacturers have developed higher grip tires, chassis builders have responded with more robust chassis to cope with the higher cornering forces. By limiting tire compounds for 4 cycle karts many of the older chassis that are no longer competitive in 2 cycle may still be very competitive in 4 cycle classes. Purpose built 4 cycle chassis are also available and are almost always a little cheaper than a comparable 2 cycle chassis.
Dollars and Sense. How much money are we talking about?...
Pre-owned karts: Between $2,800 and $4000 can get you a competitive two cycle kart. A shifter kart will cost about $5,000 to $8,000.
New karts: A two stroke kart will range from $6,500 to $7,500 depending on the chassis / engine combination. A shifter kart will cost about $10,000.
Approximate costs for competitive race ready 4 cycle karts are $2000 to $3000 used and $4500 to $5500 for new equipment.
Personal safety gear required (helmet, suit, rib protector, gloves and high to shoes) will run about $600 if you need it all.
Give it a try, you'll be hooked!
Revised September, 2002
[ back to home page]