AATISH MISHRA

Aatish has been contemplating getting his own go-kart. Genius or stupid?

I am seriously considering it. The idea of my own kart does make me a little giddy

THE OTHER DAY, I WAS OUT KARTING WITH the guys from the office and it was an incredibly frustrating experience. On the first run out, I was getting used to the new track, getting familiar with the corners, with where the grip was and what the best lines were. Over the session, I managed to pick up speed and improve my times, while also realising how unfit I was. I was more interested in my second session — because this was where I would push. However, I just couldn’t. Since these were rentals, I found myself in a different kart for the second session. It took me a lap to recalibrate to when the brakes where locking up and how much grip there was at each end. And then just when I started picking up speed, the car started bogging down on left-handers. At first I thought I was doing something silly with my inputs. Then I realised it was the tyres. I pulled into the pits, got air filled in the rear right and it improved things. For a whole lap and a half. Then it happened again. The tyre was clearly losing air while I was driving. My big takeaway was — I need to get my own kart.

I picked up the phone and called up Rayo — multiple-time national racing champ who also runs a karting school and a couple of tracks around the country. No better person to ask, really! People do get their own karts, is what he tells me. Apparently, a lot of people in Mumbai are doing this now, particularly the ones that regularly practice and race. So clearly I’m not the only one to have this little brainwave. “If you’re going to be doing a lot of karting, it does make sense,” he tells me. Well, who wouldn’t want to do a lot of karting? I ask him the numbers. A standard four-stroke kart can be bought new from approximately `1.5 lakh upwards. Phew, not cheap then. My next thought went straight to the second-hand market — can you get a used kart? North of `80k, is what Rayo tells me. Okay, that’s a lot more doable. But then it hit me — I also need somewhere to store the kart. I would need to maintain it. Oh, and I would obviously still need to rent out the track to drive on it, no? All sort-out-able, says Rayo. His track, IndiKarting in Mumbai, does give out the track to private kart owners though rental customers get preference. This obviously makes it more practical for a private kart owner to visit on a weekday when the crowds are thin. However, if there are more than a couple of private owners around, you can get two to three sessions per hour, which is reasonable. As for how much it costs, Rayo charges `3,800 per day to use the track for an unlimited amount of time.

As for service and storage, the track does undertake upkeep of the karts for a fee. You’re obviously going to be paying for parts and tyres. All of this adds up — the initial cost of acquiring the kart and then keeping it running through the year, while paying for track rent every time you do go there. But there are upsides. Your kart is your kart. You can get familiar with how it drives, where its limits are. It won’t get banged around as much, because let’s be real, no matter how well a track takes care of its rental karts, they are always going to be a little rough around the edges. And you have complete control over its upkeep — you can maintain it to a higher standard and thus derive more joy.

Does it makes sense though? Well, in my mind, it certainly does, especially in a city like Mumbai. Rayo regularly hosts proper races — some six to eight times a year — for fellow karting and racing enthusiasts, and getting your own kart is a ticket into this club. Plus, you get to enjoy this sport to a higher degree. You get to draw out the inherent advantages of karting more effectively. Karting is the foundation of racing and honing your skills on a karting track will most certainly make you a better driver of bigger, heavier machinery on full blown circuits. And at the end of the day — it is a proper, affordable way into motorsport. Maybe not as a career, it’s much too late for that. But as a hobby? Why not!

I am seriously considering it. The idea of my own kart does make me a little giddy. Oh, and I am also expecting a call from my mother after she reads this. I can already hear her screech, “Do you really need another ridiculously expensive hobby???” ⌧