Karting: The best springboard into motorsports

I ran my first kart race back in October 1984. It’s already been 25 years. The machines have evolved dramatically over the last quarter of a century. Steel made way for chromium-molybdenum (oh, my!), plastic trumped sheet metal, aluminium replaced metal, and then came bodyworks, water radiators, hollow 50-mm axles mounted on three bearings, the Alfano mini-dash board, perforated and ventilated brake discs, and the list goes on.

In 1984, karts where shod in extra-hard tires that lasted an entire season. The machines slid all over the place and had to be finessed.


Today, the compounds offer much higher performance and incredible grip. Final races must be tackled with a fresh set of tires, or there’s just no point in running. Driving techniques have changed enormously as well. You can’t throw you kart around anymore, something I have a lot of trouble with.

What’s more, adjusting the machine is now an extremely complex endeavour. Just because a kart looks primitive doesn’t mean it can’t be adjusted. In fact, everything, or just about, can be tweaked: seat and steering wheel position, tire pressure, stiffness and position of seat struts, track width, castor angle and alignment, ground clearance, ballast height, carburettor settings, gear size, bolt tightness, etc.

It’s become so complicated that hiring a professional tuner is almost indispensable. Especially when a good kart reacts so readily to every minor adjustment. There’s no room for mistakes.


You can buy your own kart, but you can also rent racing models from the major importers in Quebec. Simply contact the outdoor karting centres and ask for their arrive and drive packages. Then, you show up at the track with your safety gear and racing licence, and the team takes care of the rest so you can concentrate on driving.