Riccardo GO KART!!!

Full throttle down the second straight! 40m, 30m, 20m, 10m... I position to the extreme left side of the tarmac like any professional racer will and applied full brakes two the puny wheels. With eagle instinct, turning right into the same apex the 5th time. Suddenly I sense the rear wheel spinning and slipping wildly to the left. With that same eagle instinct I attempt to counter-steer like Takumi in his AE86 down Akina mountain. Its seems to be chicken instinct this time, the rear slipped even more violently sending the vehicle into a corkscrew before slamming into the tyre barrier. "Damn it", I grumbled, I should have know well not to step on the accelerator too much while entering a turn.

Welcome to the world of Go Karting, where the rubber meet the tarmac and every senses in you is stimulated to tackle the tight turns and wild acceleration amid the hot sunny weather of KartWorld, Jurong.

I thought its gonna be another boring saturday for me window shopping aimlessly at Sim Lim Square or Taka or burying myself in books at the National Library. Thats when I decided that every weekend, I gonna do something new above the routine. Thus time for my first Go Kart Session at KartWorld, Jurong www.kartworld.com.sg

Head down to Corporation Road (thats where its located) with my Honda Wave and it almost took a bloody 30mins for me to reach Kartworld. I can attest to how remotely located it is. Alas the place don't look as fantastic in my opinion as the fancy website. Just 3 Container (those use at PSA Port) as office and storage, a grandstand like those found in African country a small parking lots for the Go Karts and of course the winding track.

I just go to the manager and ask for the rates. S$25 for kids and a Junior kart, S$35 for adult and a Single Engine 4 stroke kart and S$40 for adult and a Twin Engine 4 Stroke kart. I choose the S$35 package, saving the S$5 for lunch and of course is apprenhensive of my experience with racing. The manager gave me a ticket which I use to exchange with the track assistant for a Go Kart to drive on. Some how I was expecting Sports bucket seats, Honda Mugen pedals and F1 style tyres but was presented with a pretty "kampong" (run-down look) style Go Kart...no fanciful stuff, just 4 wheels, an engine, a plastic chair looking like those we sat on in Secondary school with out the legs, a steering wheel and two stick that was suppose to be the pedals. Was offered the company's helmet for use but I rejected and decided to use my own... you guys really have to check out the condition of the helmet there, worst that SSDC. Better bring your own or wear a plastic bag first before donning their helmets.

Nothing too difficult with the race track, I went through the first five laps with not much of an effort, just like playing computer games but with the G Force in every turn. I do like to mention that although it may seems slow to a third person view point, as a driver I felt like I am accelerating and chewing up the tarmac at more than 80km/hr!!!

I was not alone on the track. There is two ang mo kids in full racing suit, full face helmet and beautiful looking, privately owned Go Karts zipping past me numerous time. This kids must be training to be the future F1 racers, most of them started with Go Karting. No wonder F1 race are dominated by Ang Mos, can't even see single Asian face on the track today except mine and I am too old to be the next F1 racer. This kids are fast, real fast! I felt like an African Elephant been chase by two cheetahs. Don't mind been overlapped by this two kids so many times since I knew how underpowered my go kart are compare to theirs. We are talking 12HP vs 25HP.

10mins seems short but appear length when you are actually racing on the track. It was overall a pretty nice experience for me, a first timer in Go Karting. I would recommend this activity as a company corporate events or chill out session but not really for individuals. Maybe for the first timers, its good to try it out for the fun and refreshing challenge it provide. The rate are just too high compare to what our neighbours in Johore and Batam is providing not to mention the duration.