Anybody do K1 racing electric kart leagues or just go to race them ?? My 12 year old grandson is doing it in Canton Ohio he’s on there teen league… And If he places in top 3 in state this year . He hopes to go to the Champ course in California… He hopes to do L206 Racing in 2025 at Thompson Kart Raceway Thompson Ohio. Video of 70 MPH electric pro track. IS THIS THE FUTURE OF KART RACING ??? ANY THOUGHTS ??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0y3uNd6ccM another video of race for final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fadRBomSNI8&t=580s
Electric is part of the present and no doubt will be a part of the future too.
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There’s an outfit in UK that used to be called total karting zero, now they’re called “Global Karting League” pioneered by a lesser known chap called Rob Smedley, slowly expanding internationally. His karts look awesome.
Or rent a gas kart race is getting big around here… Which I am going to do for this year a couple of races to see how he likes it… And is he committed to it… Thats what the electric teen league is to see if he can stay interested and committed … Before Grandpa spends his retirement money on new gas L206 Kart. He already has some free test L206 sessions. With a raceway here from a great person who runs local track… An dhe might sell me a new one if that happens…
It would appear that rental-lo206-wherever that leads you is a pretty affordable/logical way to go. Lo206 is like race karts with rental engines almost. It’s pretty cool how a little 9hp engine can have such fun racing.
That kind of hyperbole “96% cheaper” bothers me. Though that was probably Top Gear that said that.
Yeah but here’s the context
"Let’s unpick that figure. Smedley explains that once kids have been kitted out with a chassis, an engine, tyres, spare parts and something to tow everything around in, they’re looking at a bill of £20k. Billionaire pocket money.
And that’s if you’re doing it on a shoestring. Those with deep enough pockets could fork out three times that, and so grassroots talent is filtered not by speed but by how much their parents can spend. Get to a national championship and you’ll need a six-figure budget. At European level? A quarter-mil, at least. And getting on for £3 million by the time a young driver is knocking on the door of F1."
So yes. Going with karting to f1 narrative again.
20k euro setup costs is hardly shoestring…
Same as it ever was, and ever will be. 
“And at that point we can actually support that top percentile of talent that we’ve got coming through GKL. It’s part of why we’re doing this. So that by the time they get to the top of our system, they’re more than ready for cars and they can be super successful.”
It doesn’t say so in the article (and I"m sure they would if they were), but unless “we can actually support that top percentile of talent” actually means $upport, as in paying their way to move into the cars they are “more than ready to be super successful in”, then what is the point?
Maybe he’s onto something g in that E-cars will someday be more of a thing in top tier racing. But that feels at least a decade out. But then again the 10yr old today is Andre and Elias etc someday.
The future e-Lewis was born today. Or max (grr).
Maybe I’m just a cynical old man, but whether the cars are E or P, there will always be a ladder, and every rung on that ladder requires more and more $ to join. LH is LH because Mclaren paid for his trip to the ladder, which his skill obviously justified.
Maybe the intent of this program is to showcase drivers to try and get them similar opportunities, if so that supposes someone has the $ and desire to pick the driver up.
As David Hobbs would say “better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick”, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
I used to live next to a K1 Speed indoor facility, and went there a few times right when it opened. If your grandson is new to karting entirely then an indoor facility is a great way to dip your toe in the water. If it goes well then it will pretty quickly become apparent whether buying a package for outdoor karting makes sense or not.
The K1 experience is fine, but what drove me crazy is the battery power output would drop towards the end of each run if the kart wasn’t perfectly charged. For an experienced driver there’s nothing more maddening than an obvious equipment limitation of that nature, but for a new driver it might not make a difference 
The teen league at K1 Speed can be fun but doesn’t directly translate to LO206 racing in my experience. My kid who runs a 206 in Junior 2 has done a couple K1 league races and just gets frustrated. The tight track, full bumper and robustness of the karts reward divers who dive bomb into corners using the people in front of them as deflectors to make the corner.
In fact, the kids who are the fastest outside in 206 only finish mid-pack when racing for position at K1 despite qualifying fastest. Just a different type of racing more like Nascar than F1.
These places all run speed 3 outside of leagues too, now.
It’s fine for beginners and its fine for working on line and the like, but you need league speed to have some better racing/challenge.
Since the karts hit limited so quick, it’s also great for working on being on another kart through turns. You can learn good kart control since its so slow.
I would agree with this. Indoor electric is aggressive driving. Kind of has to be. No speed and tons of wraparound. You make the kart fit in the hole because there are not any easy passes. If you have a bunch of skilled rental racers, it can be excellent. However, the general rule is that rentals have newer drivers, too, so some of the chaos is related to that.
The outdoor stuff I do on the Honda engines is much more like lo racing. Indoors has tons of bottom end that disappears quickly. There is no draft in indoor electric and if it’s a good track for electrics, it will be twisty with no real straights of any significance. There are no draft trains, there is no point. The rear axle does not spin freely so the vacuum effect of draft does not work as the kart has energy regen that prevents the wheel spinning freely. Power is direct and linear.
In a league context the race director will say something and the other racers will return the favor. If you race dirty in rentals (happens for all sorts of reasons, including inexperience) you will have the favor returned, most likely (by the rest of the field). You also get to know which drivers are likely to do what, over time. But yeah, sometimes you have to say something to the race director if they aren’t catching it.
Well we did teen league race at K1 Canton Ohio last night . Its more of kids that are serious about racing. Some parents don’t have the money to do gas racing from what I talked to them about and its just $10.00 a race if your on there special program… And they can do it year around. Meet a lot of Gas drivers and they do it to keep sharp. THEY HAVE STRICK RULES at Canton OHIO K1 Speed . NO bumping / ETC. ETC… or you get placed at back of the field. Or taken out of race… The leagues are for more of the serious racers . A Lot drop out after first couple if there just there to play BUMPER CARS. And like me some parents and grandparents are there to see if they stick with it the whole year before they spend there money on a Gas Kart… And some people don’t have the weekends to travel to all the race tracks and still have there kids . Experience the fun of racing… You have to remember its too different kinds of racing… But its a step to go to Gas outdoor karts. If they want too… We need both to keep kids interested in something good like kart racing in any form. Then just hanging around with friends and getting in to trouble…
I’m not surprised they don’t tolerate banging about as their series is pretty elaborate!
Oh, yeah… make sure to ask about helmet cameras before you buy anything. K1 may have their own rules regarding that.
You had asked about my camera setup:
Chin mount is less goofy looking and is a great angle also.
Also, when you get a camera, make sure you have your driver sit in kart to figure out how to point it and then tighten it down. The way a helmet sits on a table is not how it sits on your head.
Once things warm up, also have him try the gas karts on the normal outdoors courses. Its more like lo karting that he might get into.
Ah yes I thought that was the case…
So you can rent theirs. This is why I avoided the series, alas. I’m strictly YouTube racing. The filming etc is part of the fun, for me. The editing and sharing is the fun part after the racing is done. (But it’s also a lot of work).
No footage = no participate, for me. But for you, never mind that and try their rent a camera once to see what it’s like. It’s useful to see what you did on track but not hugely important.
Tell Me more about this if you have any info