Why volunteer?
Grampian Kart Club is a not-for-profit kart club that is run by volunteers to provide an affordable facility for owner kart drivers and competitors across Scotland. The reality is without volunteers the club and circuit wouldn’t even exist!
For most people that volunteer there is a social aspect to the club as well as an interest in motorsport. By taking on a role you get closer to the action and can even take it further through the Motorsport UK. Some of the officials that visit us have attended the Silverstone Grand Prix in an official capacity. GKC will happily support enthuastic volunteers looking to train in Motorsport UK roles.
What positions are there?
In order to host a typical club race meeting the club require in the region of a dozen people to do the following jobs:
- 7 Track marshals
- 1 Grid marshal
- 2 or 3 Time keepers
- 1 or 2 Scurtineers
- 1 Clerk of the course
- 1 Assistant clerk/driving standards
Cadets
The long life engines are very low-cost but have to conform to a technical specification which is on the www.abkc.org.uk website.
Mini Max
- Age: 11-14 years old
- Engine: Rotax 125cc restricted
- Weight: 135 kg (driver min 39 kg)
- Dry Tyres: Mojo Slick D2
- Wet Tyres: Mojo Wets W5
- Avg lap time: 40sec
- Top Speed: 60mph
The 2 stroke 125cc water-cooled Rotax Max TAG (Touch and Go – electric start) categories are now the most popular classes in the UK. The engines have proven to be incredibly reliable. Sealed to prevent unapproved tuning.
Junior Max
- Age: 13-16 years old
- Engine: Rotax 125cc
- Weight: 148 kg (driver min 42.5 kg)
- Dry Tyres: Mojo Slick D2
- Wet Tyres: Mojo Wets W5
- Avg laptime: 38sec
- Top Speed: 65mph
By removing the restrictor from a Mini Max you now have a Junior Max. Sealed to prevent unapproved tuning.
Senior Max
- Age: 16+ years old
- Engine: Rotax 125cc with power valve
- Weight: 162kgs (177kgs Heavy class, driver min 80 kg)
- Dry Tyres: Mojo slicks D5
- Wet Tyres: Mojo wets W5
- Avg lap time: 36sec
- Top speed: 85 mph
The most popular senior class in the country is Rotax Max.
Rotax Max the senior equivalent of Junior Max, with a very powerful 125cc TAG engine. Sealed to prevent unapproved tuning. There is a higher weight variant called Rotax 177 for the heavier driver.
KZ2UK Gearbox
- Age Range: 16+ years old
- Engine: 125cc 6 speed gearbox with 30 mm carb
- Weight: 180kgs
- Dry Tyres: Le Cont slicks LP
- Wet Tyres: Le Cont wets LW
- Avg lap time: 32sec
- Top speed: 100 mph
The karts are very similar to the direct drive karts except for the four wheel brakes. They have a hand clutch mounted next to the steering wheel, which is only used to move off from a standstill. At most circuits a standing start is used, as opposed to the rolling formation start that direct drive karts have. Although a little more expensive than a direct drive class, they can be surprisingly economical to run. The 125cc water-cooled engines have six gears, sequentially operated like motorcycle using a gear-lever mounted next to the steering wheel. 0-60mph times are less than 4 seconds, top speed is 90mph on short circuit, 110 – 120mph on long circuit.
Going Racing
Open, IKR and Motorsport UK (formerly MSA) – what’s the difference?
Open / IKR racing was introduced around 15 years ago to provide an easier and more affordable route into kart racing. As years have gone by the success of this has grown and all the kart tracks in Scotland offer this as an alternative to the more serious Motorsport UK governed kart racing. The rules are a little more flexible which allows for older homologated equipment that is no longer eligible to complete at Motorsport UK events to be raced. The fees to race are subsequently cheaper.
Motorsport UK events are governed by Motorsport UK officials and not the club. At these event you will have to hold a valid Motorsport UK Racing licence and so does the Clerk of the Course, Scrutineers and Steward. The event is run to the Motorsport UK rule book and run to a stricter standard than your typical open/IKR race meeting.
What should I buy?
If you’re asking that question the best advice we can give you is come to a race meeting and speak with other racers.
Time and time again we see people buy karts off eBay or Gumtree with little research to find that what they’ve bought isn’t suitable. If you intend to race then you want to make sure the kart you purchase fits within the classes that have grids. The karting community is a helpful one, so just ask!
Try before you buy
We run a ‘Let’s go Karting’ campaign where we can try you out in a kart to see if you enjoy it before committing.
12 and under
For the 6-8 year old we have a Bambino kart and 8-12 a Honda Cadet which we can give a short introduction to karting with. These sessions are no more than 30mins long and are often run at the end of a race meeting. These sessions are for those seriously looking at purchasing a kart.
13-15 year old
The kart we’d recommend for this age group is a Rotax Max which the club doesn’t have for giving introduction shots. However for this age group we use our hire karts – whilst not as quick it gets them on a larger outdoor circuit.
15years+
We recommend taking part in our ‘Open Challenge’ using our hire karts. This will get you into the same race format as the owner drivers but in the comfort of other arrive and driver participants.