The first thing is NOT to buy the equipment right now. You need to get the child out on a real track in a real kart with other drivers around him first.
So you can Look at "Lets Go Karting" at www.letsgokarting.net.
from Bristol there are four tracks within easy reach, Dunkeswell in Honiton,Clay Pigeon at Yeovil, Llandow beyond Cardiff and Forest Edge between Basingstoke and Andover.
Dunks, Llandow and Forest Edge are part of the Lets Go Karting scheme which gets teh child onto the track for £5.
The reason is that the average 'race kart' bears the same resemblance to a Hire and Drive kart as a race car does to its 'round the town' counterpart.
The next thing to do is go to at least one and preferably three race meetings to find out what's involved. It really isn't 'arrive and drive' unless you have a substantial budget, and there is nothing worse that spending several thousand pounds getting equipment and then finding that 'your' circuit doesn't do that or has only a small or unfriendly grid. (Unfriendly grids are rare, but sometimes you find a grid where the level of competitiveness is uncofortable.)
At the same time you can rent a kart to practice on and to get through the ARKS test, the licencing procedure necessary to be able to race. LetsGoKarting will introduce you to the process and you can also get practice time on circuits. Forest Edge and Dunks run 'pre ARKS' practice session on race saturdays so you can get the feel of a track with lots of other drivers without being driven off by experienced drivers anxious to get their kart set-up. There is little more disturbing than going into a corner as fast as you can. only to find someone slamming past you 20mph faster 4 inches away. All the tracks have other practice times to get the necessary experience.
Once you have the licence (see http://www.msauk.org/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=765) you are ready to go.
It's advisable to go to at least one meeting as a family group before taking up teh sport to know what you are getting into. Most of the effort of getting the kart to the track and into a race falls on the parents. Dad has a lot of spannering to do and there are Mums a-plenty who cannot watch their precious child hurtling round a track at up to 50 mph, intent on mayhem at the next corner with 25 other like minded maniacs.
On the other hand it's fun.
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Cadet Karting in the South West? by 'mistercvee' (23 Dec 2008 @ 0:22)
