Karting: Kart-O-Mania celebrates its 10th anniversary

The Kart-O-Mania indoor karting centre celebrated its 10th anniversary on Wednesday night. A crowd of some one hundred persons made of guests of honour, VIPs, drivers and members of the medias gathered to celebrate.

"We opened the first centre on St-Michel Street here in Montreal during the summer of 1997," told us Thomas Schuler, owner of Kart-O-Mania.

Thomas Schuler and Nadia Foti.

"This was when Jacques Villeneuve was fighting for the Formula 1 world title with team Williams. The timing was perfect and the public responded very well. People wanted a place to go karting all year long. With the help of my family, we grew rapidly and we always wanted to offer the best indoor karting place in the Montreal region with karts that were well maintained and fast. A few years ago, we moved this our new premises here on De la Savanne".

We asked how many people came to drive over the 10-year period. "Phew... I don't know. I'd say... many, many people!"

Visitors included several Formula 1 drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Tonio Liuzzi, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Justin Wilson. The walls of the VIP room are covered with photos and autographs of some of the best racers in the world.

At the end of the evening, Thomas Schuler had a toast to 10 more years of great indoor karting.