A Love for Kart Racing

“It is the feeling that you are flying in a certain way,” said 13-year-old kart racer, Edie McLandsborough.

“Going fast and then braking really well into a corner or something… and sometimes it is even fun to crash, it is part of that learning experiences.”

Edie only took up the sport in the past year, but she has been around kart racing most of her life. Her father Greg and three brothers took up racing eight years ago, but it was only late last year that she caught the bug.

“I didn’t get interested in trying it out when I was younger and just went, no, I'm not really into it, but last year I tried it out again and it is just so fun!

“And it is not only the racing, it is the social aspect I really love. I’ve loved that ever since we started that's why I always used to come along with everyone to all our meets, but it's a great sport!”

Kart Racing was something Edie’s father Greg McLandsborough had always been interested in trying himself and once his children grew older, he found it to be a great way to spend time as a family.

“I've always just loved motorsport and racing a car, it is just something that's never going to be feasible for me whereas this — I can't think of a better way to spend time with my kids,” said Greg, who admits it is not the cheapest of sporting pursuits.

“Without a doubt! But all sport costs money and I think probably 50 per cent of my costs are in the travel, the getting there, feeding the kids while we are on the road, which is the same for any sport,” he said.

“And the costs of the Karts is relatively inexpensive… a kart can cost you anywhere from about $2000 to a brand spanking new one, like that one there, with a new engine, new chassis — the whole lot — and it’s about $8000.”

On the weekend, the Landsborough’s were among the 100 plus racers who descended on the Orange Kart Club Track for the Round 5 of the Southern Stars Series. The six-race series includes meets at Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Grenfell, Orange and Dubbo.

The country clubs have actually been growing said Greg, as newcomers join the sport and other competitors come back to grassroots racing.

“When you look at it; we're in the kart paddock for 48 hours most weekends for a two days race and we are on track for maybe hour of that, so a lot of it is social,” said Greg.

“And a lot of it is working on the karts! I've been trying to finish mine all week, because we broke it last weekend. I had to weld it back together this week and change the motor. So if you don't like working on them, don't do it!”

Watching children as young seven tear around the track might make some parents balk, but Greg insists it is relatively safe sport.

“I've seen one major incident in the eight years,” said Greg recalling a time he saw a child lost the brakes of his kart at the end of a straight.

But the end result was a broken arm.

“Most kids in eight years of playing rugby will break something and this was one kid out of everyone that we've raced that has ever had something broken,” he said.

“The karts are actually a really interesting little device, because they are so low it is almost impossible to roll over and are built to absorb impact, so they are very safe.”

Dan Currin and son Charlie (10) joined the Orange Kart Club just over a year ago and haven’t looked back.

“It is something I always wanted to do as a kid and Charlie was getting old enough so I thought we'd get him in to it,” said Dan.

“And Charlie loves it.”

Dan purchased a second-hand kart and got Charlie on the track racing for under $2000.

He said learning how to adjust and tweak the performance of the kart was a bit of a steep learning curve at first, but there are always people willing to help

“There is plenty of support and help, you just have to learn to ask people, but I love it.

The Orange Kart Club holds ‘Come and Try’ for anyone interested in the sport. Visit their website www.orangekartclub.com.au or follow them on Facebook for more details.