After watching my first F1 race at Silverstone (2019 British Grand Prix), I was starting to get into knowing more about the sport. And the closest form of activity that resembles F1 is go-karting.
As a student in London, fortunately, there are many go-kart places for my friends and me to visit. Teamsport Go-kart West London (Acton) is the place for us. It is the closest go-kart facility for us; however, it is also the smallest go-kart place that we had been. The best time I had gotten in that place was 25.634 seconds, which was one of the fastest lap time of the month! According to the website, the average lap time is 27 seconds.
The layout is relatively straightforward – 2 mid-speed corners, 2 slopes, 1 hairpin, 1 slow corner, and 2 straights. Nevertheless, it was still pretty fun for all of us.
One tip I can give you to maximise your speed within this circuit is to brake as late as possible (you should able to see a long metal bar on the floor, brake there!) before going into the first slow corner. You might drift/oversteer a bit (maybe 0.5-1 second) as it is a concrete floor (very smooth) but immediately go full throttle as soon as you see a decent line into the straight.
The second karting area we went to is the legendary Rye House Karting. It is located at Stevenage, and it took us 45 minutes to get there. This place is where Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton started their career. A good mixture of different corners with some straights, perfect for young drivers to polish their skills before taking it to the next level. I remembered my very first race here, and it was raining heavily and let me tell you – it is no fun driving a kart around a wet circuit. Oh my god, I literally can not feel any grip even though I tried to use the wet racing line.
The third karting place is Teamsport’s London Bridge karting arena. It is in Zone 2 of London, which is very far from us (by tube). I only raced here once, so I do not have any vivid memories of this place. I only remembered that this place is pretty big.
I wish there is a karting place here in my hometown, but unfortunately, there is none. It is funny how Petronas is willing to sponsor Mercedes AMG F1, which is one of the most dominant teams in the history of F1. Yet, they do not try to promote the sport here, which is a huge shame. I honestly do not understand why.
Malaysia has a place in the history of F1. Sepang International Circuit is one of the likeable F1 circuits in history, with Petronas as the primary sponsor. One of the most memorable races here was the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix, also known as one of the wettest Grand Prix ever.
I wish the Malaysian government would do something to promote the sports (or do anything positive for once) and find talents here instead of sitting on their fat arse stealing money from the people.