Spinning around on the world's top go-karts for a day

Britt Smith

30May07

IT was a beautiful day for a drive, but not the relaxing, sightseeing kind.

I was suited up _ boots and all _ at Victoria's premier karting racetrack at Beckley Park for some laps in a top-level go-kart. With a 32 horsepower engine at my disposal, I was worried. By comparison, an indoor kart is a five horsepower machine. .

``The track's quite slippery today, there's no grip, but you will be OK,'' Dominic Albanese, Geelong Karting Club's race secretary assured me.

The best kart racers can reach speeds of up to 130km/h on this track.

I imagined David Coulthard and Mark Webber, among other big Formula One names who started their careers here, as youngsters lining up their karts.

With a push start, I approached my first lap cautiously. I felt like I was flying. The kart was practically driving itself, with me simply steering it, I was told. Determined to feel the G-force that F1 drivers feel, I pushed my limits on the 150m straight stretch.

These karts are capable of 20,000 revolutions per minute, and top drivers, like Albanese, can pull into corners at 16,000 RPM. The boundary tyres that cushion crashes appear awfully close at high speed, so I did my best to steer clear of them. I topped 16,000 revs on the straight, pushing it to100km/h which was enough to feel the vibrations in the backside.

I enjoyed an incident-free progression to the finish line, with my fastest lap 56.66 seconds. My effort was poor. The club's youngest driver, a seven-year-old, has a fastest lap of 39.5 seconds, while top racers do the circuit in about 30 seconds.

``Imagine doing 130km out on the highway. It's quick,'' Albanese said.

A Fitness Industry Association study on motorsports found that open 100cc cars, like the one I was driving, was the second most physical to drive, next to Formula One cars which were the most demanding.

Not only is it quick, it's surprisingly hard work.

by :www.geelongadvertiser.com.au