One thing I have noticed (other forums, not here) is a negative streak that can be seen pretty often. Basically, you get voices out there saying “don’t bother, it’s pointless unless you are wealthy”.
These voices are almost universally European.
Karting isn’t expensive
Trying to get to F1 is.
That’s how I hit back at those comments.
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Good response! I suppose your more defined ladder system dominates there.
The dirt oval guys in jeans here are like, “What are you spending money on?”.
I’m sure the EU VAT & other taxes mark up the costs a fair amount for the avg consumer over there. As it is, the cost of living in W. Europe is generally higher than the US. It’s got to be a pretty significant killjoy factor.
That isn’t really the root of complaints about cost. It’s more a comment on parents spending small fortunes on their kids and pricing out the competition. It’s not really a comment on karting, but as I said trying to get to F1. We kinda need a separation of church and state on that one. 
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I get it. European culture really embraces - specifically - road course driving/racing & F1, which is why karting is so relatively popular & more mainstream there. It’s actually pretty great that F1 views karting with such a high regard & seeks talent from its ranks, but that will inevitably motivate fierce competition on & off the track for the few coveted driver development slots.
So I guess it may be a case of a double-edged sword phenomenon in that regard over there. But that said, why not just engage in kart racing for fun & disregard keeping up with the Johanses? Or is that approach too proletariat/pedestrian?
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If you want to market karting properly it’s a hugely complex process. It’s easier to go “look Lewis Hamilton” and be done with it despite all the negative side-effects that brings. We’ve seen a shift away from senior racers towards a more cadet/junior sport. Motorsport UK karting in the UK is now 70% cadet and junior. I don’t think it’s been great at all for karting to embed itself in F1 culture.
We have seen a counter movement with IKR (independent kart racing) though which has been fantastic and little pockets of success. Karting in general is the most affordable form of motorsport, but we let the wrong people act as spokespeople (F1 folks)
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Agreed with Alan here.
In my opinion, way too many people focus on karting a stepping stone to being a paid professional driver, without understanding that the absolute reality of those seats are super few and far between.
In my opinion, karting should be a place of fun, and a place to develop your real world driving skills as affordably as possible. If you want to race other cars, and etc, more power to you, but I wish more people in karting spoke up for the sport on it’s own.
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It’s a sad situation that karting can’t be taken as it’s own thing, equivalent to MX or UTV racing, instead of just being on the path to another destination. I don’t know if it’s simply natural perception or marketing, but more probably a combination thereof.
It’s particularly curious that it’s seen this way in the EU, where dedicated factory KZ drivers are a thing, which I would think would motivate a more “evolved” perception. But guess not…
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Well, my personal opinion on that is because the majority of karting manufacturers are based in Europe, that’s why you’ll see more ‘factory’ drivers there. That’s where the factories are.
I think the closest that you’ll get as a ‘factory’ driver here in the States would be a top driver for one of the national teams that race SKUSA and etc. Honestly, the majority of those teams will have customers drivers who will hold those spots because they afford to get the seat time etc.
But there isn’t really an appeal for it here, because the infrastructure isn’t setup for it.
How do people find out about karting? Ive been into motorsports my entire life and I only found out about karting 4 years ago. Had no idea it even existed before than. I only found out after research on how to become a professional driver (F1). it was introduced to me as a ladder to F1. Only now that I race am I exposed to karting content online, so I think finding out about it may be one of the hardest things in this sport. this may be whats keeping it down. How have you guys found out? I think Clubs or local teams should invest in online advertising, as clearly “karting” pops up a lot. If it werent for my friend who races I wouldnt know of any teams or clubs or anything of that sort
I figured out about karting a similar as you did. There was a small period of time when I was time, dang, I want to be a race car driver, so I googled online on how I could get started. I kind of went down the ladder, from looking at GT3 cars, then SCCA, then Skip Barber, and I kept going down the ladder until I found karting. And honestly, karting is a good stepping stone, but it’s so much more than that. But most people don’t know that until someone actually shows them a video of it or something like that. There’s many stereotypes around karting, like karting is for kids, karting is just a stepping stone to F1, etc. I feel like a way many people learn about karting is that if they’re really interested in motorsport and begin looking for ways to get involved and drive, karting will pop up.
The advertising does seem like an interesting idea, and even if karting is advertised just in the rental-sense, it may introduce them to karting as a whole and may open a door for them.
But in the case of esports racers advertising karting, there’s few that really do it, SuperGT is biggest one that comes to mind. Jimmy Broadbent also did it. But even when F1 drivers do it, people may say oh my gosh, I want to go karting now, but they do not know how to get started and they’re plagued with all these negative karting stereotypes that they do not act on it. But also, F1 drivers aren’t gonna go in detail and explain the details of karting and how to get started. I think people who do esports can definitely advertise karting, it’s just a matter whether they want to, because they have an audience who could be interested in it
Local clubs building a social media presence - Man, over the last 5 or 6 years working on Kartpulse, I ran out of breath talking to people about the importance of social media/content creation when it comes to karting. I ran into three big challenges.
- All of the go-karts look the same, so to a car enthusiast, there isn’t anything unique about the different chassis, etc. You have to be interested in the sport already, to care that someone is on a TonyKart or a Birel, etc.
That’s why it’s infinitely easier to make content about Gridlife, or drifting, because there “the car is the star.”
- The drivers only wanted to create content around their own race results, not tell stories about the culture of karting. Honestly, at the end of the day, most people don’t care how others do in races. The only person who probably remembers my race results a day after the race is over is my mother.
The sport of karting is really about the stories that go-untold, and very very few people want to put the overhead and effort into making content about it. The ROI is low.
- 99.9% of people involved in karting are volunteers. So they have other priorities that they would rather focus on, than marketing or creating content.
I did a whole podcast talking to NKA about this topic like a year ago.
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True, but then F1 has had a certain appeal in N America despite not having a factory footprint here until Haas came along in 2016.
Honestly, I’m thinking the relatively smaller physical scale of karts = “kids toy” to the uninitiated. I remember driving my shifter up at SIMA one weekend, trading track time with the rental customers who came in, & a couple of guys were just blown away by its performance. They just had no idea.
I think yours is probably the most common perception (F1 “tie-in”). Ultimately, commercialization drives awareness at the grass roots level, because after all, it essentially boils down to buying leisure racing toys. But a relatively dimunitive scale commercial presence is going to yield proportionally commensurate results.
Interesting. I was thinking of trying to actually make content this year around the OVRP series. Like actual content, not just race. It would be interesting to see if it “works” like it did for Kadler, Stahls, etc.
Yeah, no one cares how you do, that’s true. Exception maybe the pros.
Oddly my viewership and minutes watched keeps rising, however. Even not trying to make content and muddying the site with hours upon hours of streamed races, I still get viewers. (Not a ton but enough that it suggests that pure racing content isn’t a total loss) 80+ subbed and 2.2K views a month and climbing.
If I can produce an interesting race series story, I wonder how quickly that number grows.
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I race with a team, and one of the tracks I race at is next to some auto cross stuff, nascar stuff, etc, so I see a lot people coming in and asking what it all is. One time a guy came back and rented a shifter kart, despite being advised against it. His only experience was AX and rental karts. He didn’t finish a single session. He was completely blown away. I have a feeling Karting being tied into F1 is the only large scale broadcasting we will ever get. F1 is massive, and karting is just a few clicks away on the internet. The problem is with this being our best form of “advertising” karting is only looked at as a ladder to F1 for kids and teens. Without it being tied into F1 I would’ve never ears about it. There has to be other ways. One thing I saw done was a local team got a section at the New England auto show and showed of their karts. I believe that brought some people in.
Go for it. Who knows where it could go. I’ll keep it on repeat to get you up the algorithm if you ever do it. I’ve got quite a few ideas for what direction you could take it
In Europe the governing bodies really seem to be at war with senior karting. Senior OK weight limit means an adult male is pretty much excluded from competition. If you’re over 65kg you may as well not turn up. In addition the age limit for in Senior OK permits 14 year olds. In addition that’s the plan Motorsport UK are thinking about implementing here in the UK for all senior classes. (which takes it beyond just being an elite end thing)
Kart racing is competition to car racing. Car racing brings in more money via licence and track fees. All we’ve seen consistently over the last 30 years is new classes for young and younger drivers and a decimation of senior racing. It makes more sense to get them in younger and younger and then hopefully move them onto cars at 15/16 from a marketing and financial perspective than focusing on the senior end of the sport. as Davin as highlighted karting doesn’t quite offer the recognisable brands that you get with drifting etc…
So in terms of investment to promote karting in a way beyond the ladder to f1 is very hard. You don’t have the support of governing bodies or the general culture of karting currently. With the early days of F100 I was able to because it was a different era where drivers were a bit older and could tap into that. But we’re talking maybe 100 or so drivers here, nothing major. In terms of modern karting, wow, it’s tricky. Karting at the moment is a either a ladder to F1, or that novel training tool you might see in the odd car drivers blog. it’s weird to think karting, which is as old as any motorsport, is still a novelty, but there you go.
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Honestly, that’s the biggest area that I see karting being marketing for most of the “not-famous racing drivers” as a novel tool for car racers, more than anything else.
Personally, I also think that the karting community specifically lets the car community dictate what the value to karting actually is, rather than having true karting evangelists. (Or karting advocates to get into the car racing community to promote it.)
To most folks, bigger vehicles are better. “The car is the star.”
I think we need a few break out stars who have a bit more confidence about themselves really. I think Danny Keirle was a great interview, showed personality and is the 2017 World Karting Champion. Good looking young lad with huge potential. I just don’t think they themselves see it. But there’s there’s a shadow over a lot of karters who stay in karting and that’s “why are you not racing cars?”. I think some drivers are embarrassed to still race karts.
It isn’t just the fast guys either, it’s the entire scene. I am not sure really anyone really sees what we have. Sure we’re never going to match Supercross, but we aren’t even attempting to create a market. I’ve noticed the little sparkles of a few drivers trying stuff, which is fantastic by the way. I don’t want to be negative because I think things are changing, but it’s taking some time getting there.
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