bagodoosh

today our company had a celebration at checkered flag indoor kart racing in haverhill, ma. i searched the archives and found 1 related post, but it didn't seem like anyone had been there; so i've decided to give my review.

<a href="http://www.checkeredflagindoorkarting.com/images2/track_lg.jpg">the track</a> is almost identical to KarTrack in CT if anyone remembers that. lanes are wider but it doesn't seem to help much in way of passing.

karts are electric. they have quite a bit of torque and instantaneous response compared to gas powered karts. they seem more forgiving to mistakes. the electric engines also cut down on noise and emissions, so standing around and watching a race is a lot more pleasant for an indoor track.

every car can be stopped or slowed remotely. in the event of yellow or red flag, this can be more accommodating when racing with novices.

there can be a max of 6 people on the track at the same time. race time is 6 minutes, which comes to about 25 laps.

although we rented the track privately for an hour, a regular race is $10 with $5 license fee (anual? daily?).

they said breaking the 13.00 lap time is good. i say 12.5 seconds is a good time to aim for the first time.

if it matters, they declare winner by fastest lap time, which IMO is a better format than the conventional race position.

the entire track requires no braking. the karts seem to reach max speed fairly quickly. the g-forces did not seem to be that high. tires felt pretty grippy. that combination seems to cap driver skill which makes it harder to distinguish faster drivers.

although on a positive note, because of the above, i seemed to be able to do about 4 sessions before being exhausted - compared to the usual 2 at other places.

another problem from my perspective is that slower drivers get lapped quickly but are much harder to pass. someone that drives 2 seconds slower will be lapped in say 7 laps. passing someone slower by 2 seconds can be challenging, especially if they take up the inside lane. you can be aggressive and pump them, but risk driving them into the wall and getting a yellow, wasting valuable time - the clock is still counting under yellow.

i don't know how busy they are in the evening and weekends. not having a filled race could eliminate some of the problems i've mentioned.

overall a fun experience. very cheap compared to any other place i've been to. i will most likely go a few more times but as of rite now have a hard time imagining being a regular.

<a href="http://www.checkeredflagindoorkarting.com/directions.htm">link to directions</a> for anyone interested.

JimmyC83

sounds much better than F1 Baahstin

JeffW

i went there a few months ago and had a blast. Much better experience than F1 boston. They're way less uptight about bumps :-)

bagodoosh

i wasn't sure if it was due to it being a private event.

it seemed like it would be cheaper and more fun for a group event. perhaps we could setup a meet there.

JeffW

let's do a late-fall meetup there!

bagodoosh

it's $500 to rent the track for 1 hour. in that time we'd get about 9 or 10 races. so we'd need 5 or 6 people to make even. exclusive track time would make it well worth it as well.

fussball.biturbo

Just went- carts are too slow and the track isn't that exciting. But its a lot cheaper then F1-BOS!

bagodoosh

but they have been tuned down. i think there have been a few crashes. the soft barriers are taking a beating, and the general walk-in crowd seems to think the karts are an extension of bumper-cars and don't really go that fast anyway. i think safety is also a concern. it's disappointing.

their pace-car is tuned faster, but supposedly still not at full capacity. i've been told those carts can reach 40mph on the straitaway.

they are contemplating removing the junior track and extending the track a bit. i think it'll help a bit, but ultimately they need the karts to go faster for the track to pose any challenge.

my goal is consistent &lt;12.5sec laps and then i think i'll lose my enthusiasm.

what were your lap times?

fussball.biturbo

That said, my time was the fastest of the day by a good margin, though the others in my group were mid 13.2s. All the others were in the 13.5 range.

The karts all felt like they were moving really really slow, though.

bagodoosh

rather than setting the fastest lap.

i'm not entirely convinced the karts are the same. last time we were there i was passing a coworker on the strait whom had set a faster time than me previously. his kart was clearly slower this time.

even if the karts are within 5% of each other (which i think is what f1boston promises) at a 13sec average, it still gives a variance of 12.675 - 13.325 seconds. that's pretty huge.

it would be cool if we could get the same kart multiple times thruout the day.

they've modified the track again - extended the U turn, so the track is a bit slower even. i haven't broken the 12.5 second myself.

one of the workers there says he can go consistent 12.3/.4 - i'll ask him to take lead next time so i can see what he's doing.