17 Karting
Buckmore Park, Kent
Enjoyment - 65%
Success - 20%
Will try again - Yes
First timer’s recommendation – Choose a race where you know the other drivers, and take a seatbelt-style GoPro mount if you want to film as headmounts are no longer allowed post-Schumacher.
The first venture into the world of motorsport, and maybe the last unless I can persuade someone to let me have a go at Speedway. My best petrolheaded friend Dicky was the obvious choice as he knows as much about cars as I do about trains, and knows how to race them too, as the grass verge on the Eltham Road will testify. We picked a good day for it, but the wrong group of people to race against, which should have been clear by the Top Gear style chat in the locker room.
Buckmore Park celebrated its 53rd anniversary this year, and it’s easy to see why it remains popular, with a really professional set up and an experience which is as close as you can get to feeling like you’re in a grand prix for less than the price of going to one.
We did a half hour session which was about ten minutes too long and my hands felt like I’d just mowed Wembley Stadium, with an old strimmer. Despite coming a disgraceful 15th out of 16, drivers, looking at the lap times for the next three groups, it became clear that we’d raced against regulars, and I certainly would have been more at home with a hungover stag group or the Office Depot work trip that followed us.
Dicky was excellent though, with a best lap time only a second or so behind the race winner, and was improving with every lap. Karting seems to be about having instinct, no fear, and knowing the circuit - when to break, accelerate and what racing line to take. I didn’t really have any of those on the day, and wasn’t helped by nursing my own hangover from the night before, but no exuses, it’s definitely not my sport.
