Karting in Germany

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Hey all, it’s been a long time coming and I’m finally moving overseas! I’m wondering if anyone on here is from Germany or knows someone who could give me a few pointers. In particular I’d like to figure out how people store and work on their karts over there. I’m assuming that I’ll end up in a small apartment (in Munich by the way) and that I won’t have a garage. Is kart storage/garage rental at tracks a thing? Is it possible to own a small trailer and rent a storage spot for it and work on it discretely there? If nobody knows, does anyone know of some European/German based forums to ask these types of questions on?

On a side note I’m looking forward to documenting the different experiences I have karting over there vs the US. I will probably start a thread for that or maybe I can just add to this one! I’m going to be here in the Detroit area for 4 more months and then once the season is drawing down in September I’ll be moving. I’m excited for the move but also a little worried about what this will mean for my “racing life”. :racing_car:

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Oh man, karting is going to take on a whole new meaning for you.

First of all, karting (like most of motorsport in europe) is regulated by an ASN in Germany.

http://www.dmsb.de/

I can’t read German, but if its like the UK. They’ll want you to get a license and that may involve a competency test.

But I have raced at a track about an hour east of Munich, Kartbahn Ampfing.

image

That place has garages which you may be able to rent and store your kart, fortunately they have a website.
http://www.kartshop-ampfing.de/

Good luck!

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I hope that’s a new meaning in a good way :joy:

Thanks for the reply! It looks like they do rent out garages, and it’s relatively inexpensive! I’m currently buried in other moving prep but I will try to figure out the licensing requirements in the meantime. I’d love to be able to get going over there in the 2019 season right away. Is the licensing like a yearly membership with driving skill requirements? I have a WKA Enduro Class 2 shifter license here in the States so maybe that will count for something?

The other interesting thing is it looks like my best option is to sell my 2 karts here and kindof start over on that side rather than move them. This is based on some quick classified searches and it appears that chassis are cheaper over there, especially used ones. Hmm maybe I should check UK kart prices too… at least cars are much cheaper there than Germany!* I’ll just keep all of my tools/gear so at least it’s not a complete re-buy.

*When I spent 5 years over there before (pre karting life) I bought 3 cars in the UK and brought them back to Germany and was able to sell them for a profit even after years of additional use, even with them being right hand drive!

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If Germans kart like they queue up for ski lifts, you are in for a shock.

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This?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/students-brawl-with-germans-on-ski-lift-at-austrian-resort-xsw9rm5ms

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I’m not sure what the license requirements will be (of if they’ll take into account any foreign racing) and they may have two types of karting, one ASN supported with a license and one not ASN supported without (that how its been going in the UK). It’ll likely be an annual license.

And i suspect it’d cheaper to sell and buy karts then ship your current karts over. Plus there’s a good chance whatever engines you run just aren’t raced over there. Shifter wise, they probably only race KZ with an over and under 30 group.

In terms of prices, I would hope so, they are all built there (Europe) and karting is massively more popular.

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Hahaha I am too familiar with this! I’ve had to get pretty pushy to defend my space and push my way on to lifts, plus they don’t really like us snowboarders as much. Crazy since they are pretty civilized in other settings, ha!

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Indeed! I noticed straight away that my engines (Stock Honda and LO206) are not over there, not surprising. When I drive from Michigan to Ohio the popular engines/classes change so I can imagine crossing an ocean changes things just a bit… I’m already eyeing X30 or some sort of locally popular class (planning to visit Ampfing on a race day and see for myself). Can’t wait to get started, just got my official work contract yesterday!

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Europe has reasonably common classes, you don’t often get new (but short lived classes). So likely you will have Rotax, X30, and KZ. The might have a 4 stroke class running Honda GX160’s or B&S World Formula. LO206 is starting to infiltrate Europe but they can get a little anti 4stroke and (sorry to say this) anti US.

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I appreciate the summary! I’ve been mostly relying on race result sheets to get an idea of what’s being run and what is popular. At least some of them even show the age of the racers too so that helps to gauge if I’m going to get slaughtered by a bunch of 15-16 year olds on their way to F1 :joy:

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11

Hi Albert,

I lived and raced karts in the Munich area for 3 years, 2000-2003. It has been a few years and the landscape has changed but here are a couple of tips:

Kart Club Muenchen - was the place for karting in Munich but they closed recently. I understand they are looking for a new location.

Kart Shop near Munich - they are pretty big. You should do well starting here.
AK-Racing e.K.
Robert-Bosch-Str. 19
85748 Garching

Ampfing will be your closest track. Awesome track.

I would suggest that you buy your stuff in Germany. I shipped my kart and engines to Germany, my company paid the shipping, but I would recommend working with the local shop as you will need help. If you are thinking X30, I could be wrong, but you may not be able to race a USA x30 motor in Germany. Check this out before deciding to bring an engine over. KZ will not be an issue. I brought 2 ICA motors and it was no issue.

Kart Driver License - you will definitely need one to compete in the regional series (below). To compete in club races, you do not. To get a DSMB license, your local club president must sign off on your ability, they required that I compete 1 year at the club level before signing off on me for regional racing. You must also get a release from the WKA I believe. It was a long process and I don’t remember the exact details but I definitely needed to get a release from the USA. You also need a physical exam from a doctor. I believe you need to get this annually.

The regional series in South Germany is the SAKC. Check out their website, www.sakc.de and you will get the lay of the land. Classes are:

  1. OK
  2. X30
  3. KZ
  4. KZ gentlemen

Not sure of your level, but this is what I raced. I was in my mid 30s at the time and raced ICA. It was all teenagers and me + one other 30something. Very competitive - I would say like a WKA or USPKS race in terms of quality of driving. All tracks within 2-3 hrs though.

Check out the results – ergebnisse.

A lower level of competition is the Weiss Blau Trophy – basically the Bavarian Championship. It looks to be a good place for KZ racing and they have two big classes – Over 30 and G. Not sure what G stands for.
http://www.ktwb.de/home/TERMINE-ERGEBNISSE.html

A higher level than the SAKC is https://www.adac-motorsport.de/adac-kart-masters/. I would put this as possibly close to SKUSA stuff…maybe a notch or two lower. At this level, the kids are driving 3-4 times a week. When I lived in Munich, many of the kids drove 1-2 days during the week and another 1-2 days on the weekend. Adrian Sutil was a local club member, he drove 4-5 days a week.

I had a garage at the track. I think this is what most people do. I had a garage at my apt building and worked on the kart a few times there but it is near impossible as German garages are on light timers. So every 2-3 minutes you need to click the light switch to turn the lights back on.

There were no 4 stroke classes when I lived in Germany and there still do not appear to be any. Stock Honda, well the Germans are kinda rule focused, so if you turned up with a stock Honda and wanted to run in the KZ class, my guess is that they would not allow it. They would let you practice with it.

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Hi Paul,

This is amazing info, thanks! It’s always great to hear I’m not the only one crazy enough to make this kind of move. Basically I’d be looking for the lowest club level for now to be competitive but I plan to work at it and move up. I’ve got 7-8 years of track/performance driving experience but only 2 years so far in karting. I’m mid pack in most races in either my shifter or the 206 but all club level stuff like OVKA (Ohio) and CES (Road racing). I know I have much to learn and am looking forward to the challenge!

I remember the timed lights! Haha I was fortunate to not have that in my garage in Stuttgart when I lived in Germany before but it was an older place. This time around I’ll probably have no garage at all. I don’t really like the idea of having to drive an hour (to Ampfing) to work on my kart but maybe with better planning I can make it work. I’ve been spoiled with just walking out to my garage whenever I have a few minutes to work on something.

As for the karts, I’ll be listing them “turn key” and cheap for a quick sale at the end of July and see what happens, my company is also paying for moving so maybe not the end of the world if one of the chassis somehow end up in the shipment, I’ll just ditch the engines in the US for sure.

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