13yr old - new driver

[jhylton79]

My son is very interested in kart racing after spending a few years at roadracing mini motorcycles. He's 13yrs old, 95-100lbs. We've spent a number of hours at the local indoor kart facilities at Miramar and Carlsbad... which just fuel his interest. The question at the top of my list is how many classes he can race with a single kart? - we need to make the biggest bang for our bucks.. or more simply what kart/engine configuration can he get the most track time with?

Thanks,
Joe

[jorge]

at sdka they only run hpv-2 for his age. I have 2 karts that would work if you are interested.
-jorge

[Geary Launder]

Joe,

The outdoor version is quite a bit different than the indoor version. I'd suggest that before you invest in any equipment that you take your son to a track like Apex and either rent a kart and have him run some laps or enroll him in one of the driving classes there. The HPV2 class is very competitive. In some of the configurations we run at Qualcomm they will reach speeds aproaching 70mph on the longer staights. Dave DiMond at Perris Apex is great with the kids too.

Come watch us race too. I think you'll find that racing in one class will give you plenty of seat time. Between the practice sessions, qualifying, heats and main a karter will get between an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half of track time depending on the class he races in.

Geary

[Rich Pearlman]

Joe,

My son Jacob is turning 16 and has been karting for several years, both indoors (K1Speed in Carlsbad) and outdoors. Drop me an e-mail and I will be happy to share our experiences. I have nothing to sell you.

-Rich Pearlman
[e-mail]