1,2,3, go... karting!
For all those Formula-1 enthusiasts, here is Kingfisher Speedzone, the first Go-Karting facility in Bangalore.It was set up about a year ago at Whitefield. The 330 m cement track is 22 ft wide and can accommodate six karts at a time.
This exciting sport of Go-Karting, which has come to Bangalore in a great way after becoming popular in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai is pulling not only youngsters but people of all ages. "The response is quite good. We have families and college students coming here. We are planning to set up professional tracks in the near future to give that extra thrill of car racing," says N.Kumar, Manager.

Go-Karting is a popular sport in the west. Michael Schumacher, Jean Alessi and Damaon Hill started their careers in Go-Karting and now they are Formula-1 champions. Fifty years ago, Art Ingals of US invented the first Go-Kart. He bolted together a gizmo with four wheels, rope steering and lawn mower engine.

The 150 cc karts are proto-types of Formula-1 cars, but are much smaller. They run on Honda gensets (which use unleaded petrol). They have an accelerator, brake and steering wheel. There are tyre barriers at the side of the track and if you slam into the sides of the track, the kart rebounds. "We have two special cars, which are fixed with Kinetic Pride's motor. They are faster than the other cars.

" There is separate track for kids below ten years of age. There are four battery-operated cars. The children will really enjoy the driving experience of a car. "This track is just for the young ones. They have a nice time…"

The participants are requested to avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing to minimise risks. How safe are the cars? "Absolutely safe. The vehicles are good. There has been no major accident as such. And of course there are helmets. No problem at all."

This place also provides other kinds of amusement as well. There is a Golf Driving Range, pool table and a beverage-cum-snack counter (which even supplies Beer).

Address: Shantiniketan, Sadarmangala, Whitefield, Mahadevapura P.O., Bangalore 560 048.

J.Vinay

|