Hey there, newbie here. My interest in karting started just this year despite me being into motorsports for as long as I could remember. My only experience with go karts is with a 6.5 horsepower Manco Dingo that I bought about two months ago because I was bored and wanted to have some dumb fun with something just fast enough to get hurt with. Now karting has sort of developed into a genuine interest. My father used to race street stocks on a dirt oval, which is definitely cool (I also used to run quarter midgets when I was 7-8), but I was always more into circuit-style racing. And as you can imagine, I don’t exactly have deep pockets nor extensive mechanical experience considering my age. So naturally, karts seemed like the best option, as they are both cheap (in relative terms) and simplistic (again, in relative terms).
Cutting to the chase, I have a few questions about getting into competition karting, mainly in regards to the average age of competitors. They always say that karting is a “rookie class”, and that it’s used to teach beginners how to race. But could karting the “destination” class rather than a stepping stone? Am I too old to get into karting? Do many adults/elders compete? I don’t want to show up to the track and see nothing but 12 year olds (and then subsequently get my ass handed to me by said 12 year olds). I’d be perfectly content racing nothing but karts, so long as I’m not too old. I know some of those shifter karts and rattlesnake e-karts reach speeds of over 100mph, so I have a hard time believing that karts are just for kids.
Thanks in advance!