Huge new go-kart track for Devon

A HUGE new outdoor go-kart race track is opening near Exeter.

Owner Mark Best says the 750m-long course will be one of the biggest of its kind in the county when it opens in May.

Exeter Karting will be located at Escot Park near Ottery St Mary, run as a separate business to the other activity centre on site – Devon Country Pursuits.

Mark said: “The karting side is a new thing for us, our business has been here for a long time doing quad biking, clay shooting, Segways and all of that but we’re just expanding really. With Covid, we had a lot of downtime and decided that rather than sitting here worrying we’d crack on and progress with it.”

Mark continued: “We thought about doing it for a long time but never got around to doing it when the centre was open and people were around. We knew that we’d be closed at Christmas for a while so thought ‘let’s get on with it!

“We’re still working on it at the moment and it won’t be ready until May. It’s a five-month project.”

Mark said he is keen to encourage youngsters into kart racing – the route that F1 champion Lewis Hamilton took into motorsport.

The track will be running specific junior sessions for people aged 11 to 13 and will have the karts running at a slower pace. Parents will still be able to partake in the junior sessions so mums and dads can race the kids.

Prices start from £25 and go up to £50. A number of other activities they run from Devon Country Pursuits will be opening again on March 29.