First race was held there, it’s not open to public yet but it looks pretty close to be ready to open.
I have my own opinions on what I like and dislike about the track, but it’s going to be a great addition for sure
Don’t tease us! Let’s hear it!
Someone mentioned that the asphalt is different, more eco friendly… what’s the upsides and downsides?
They probably used 100% recycled asphalt. Not sure how that effects a racing circuit but that is probably the green or eco they are talking about.
1 Like
One thing that caught my attention is his close the light posts are to the track. I’m sure they meet certain safety standards of course, but still a little close for my personal comfort.
1 Like
I suggested he talk to factory and give it a go for himself! It is a nice refreshing view he has. He was pretty close with his speed estimate of the karts whizzing by, too! Gotta say the facility looks very plush.
I find it strange that they just had their first significant sized event, with 300+ entries over two days, and they have no videos, no photos, nothing to promote their facility. I think that K1 has a vision about what K1 Circuit will become, that is not aligned with the actual marketplace. I think their e-kart model and rental business is not going to be enough to justify their investment. But if they embrace and promote traditional karting, together with their rental model, they could be very successful. I think what seems like their reluctance to embrace traditional karting is a serious mistake and misjudgment. Time will tell…
1 Like
I’m not so sure about that. Supercharged runs 5 bays of 7 ekarts more or less nonstop on 2 tracks. They have the last heat recharging while the next heat goes out. They are never slow. Edison, NJ, so close to NYC and draws from urban and suburban crowd.
Its an assembly line of 6min sessions and its basically full from open to close.
They have a bar and restaurant as well as other stuff like arcade and axe throwing (which doesn’t seem very popular).
I don’t know that area of CA but I imagine it’s not far from LA. The facility is very nice and I certainly would frequent it.
K1 also has a well thought out league with a national flavor in that there’s a big final race for all the states/markets that are K1. That’s a pretty cool brass ring, imho.
Isn’t that an indoor kart track? Apples and Oranges.
I’d counter that the marketplace leans heavily towards rental operations. That includes outdoors too.
If it’s anything like other karting tracks, I imagine the rental operations will be of order of magnitude more sustainable than the competition side. I’d expect the rental side to be their focus. The link between rental and competition mostly serves the competition side, so there’s not a lot of incentive for rental facilities to promote that either. While this cross promotion certainly happens at some places… those are really outliers.
If you imagine most tracks attract say 250 owner driver entries on a weekend (Optimistic) vs as much as 500, 700 or even 1000+ rental “tickets” the picture becomes clearer.
1 Like
I also thought it was quite weird that there was essentially no media online about the event. SKUSA posted one post about it after the race was over and the photos were all close-ups of drivers and nothing really of the track. It almost feels like an intentional media blackout.
1 Like
Yes it is. But I’m not sure that it really is all that different. It almost never rains in SoCal, from what I remember, and it’s lit up.
What I don’t understand is how gas karting fits in, skusa stuff etc. That’s gotta be way less profitable than just running endless rental sessions.
Maybe it’s meant to be their marquee property and showcase.
It is in Winchester. Have you driven in LA traffic? I think the location is going to be much more of an impediment than people think.
3 Likes
Asphalt was weird. Very smooth felt like it was sanded down, with very little porosity. However, when the rubber was down, it got grippy really fast.
Pluses: modern layout, amenities, good food, the bar is also awesome in its own right. Lots of features that justify the $100/day price tag and the drive (through or around the mountains for me)
Minuses: in certain areas, it’s too narrow for my linking, especially for shifters. I think the track could also use more barriers (poles and second rows) but I’ll definitely give them a pass, this was the first race and things are still being worked out. There was a big shunt in shifters in a bad spot but nothing happened, barriers and fence did their job. The two separated pit areas are a little bit of a pain especially because walk is on a grade so you have to roll karts uphill on a stand… I suspect it has to do with water drainage requirements, nothing much they could have done differently I believe
3 Likes
People who get into real karting often stay with it for years and years. A common run through the sport might span 5-8 years…from starting…going club racing…getting really serious, then getting burned out. Are people going to keep coming back to a rental kart league for 5-8 years? I doubt it. I think there is a significant income stream to be made not just from events, but also from open track days.
One downside I see is that night karting will likely not be feasible for gas karts, due to noise. If the track was isolated enough to have open track nights and race events for traditional karts, under the lights, that could REALLY take off. I could see a Sat night club series being really successful.
Not really. I used to visit Jim Hall in Oxnard and you’d have to get there from LAX. It didn’t seem a lot worse than our traffic here in NJ/NY/Philly but I’m sure it can be brutal.
Did track get pulled up / torn up anywhere? That was my concern.
not at all, it looked flawless
1 Like
You are going to compare a tiny school kart track to this? The issue with K1 is going to be cash flow. The owner will need to make a return to keep it going. I dont see how you personally being willing to drive to Oxnard has any bearing at all on K1 generating the sort of long term customer visits that will be required to create large cash flows.