Indoor Kart Racing

Locally we have K1 Speed which has grown to 13 locations throughout the USA. They use electric karts which offer great torque and the advantage of being a " green " form of Racing.

From the consumer's perspective, K-1 offers a great motorsports inspired theme / atmosphere.

To me indoor Karting should be electric only, due to the noise level and fumes associated with the Karts.

From personal experience, I can attest to the success of including " high end " simulators to a Karting Center.

Our involvement with Gene Karting in Barcelona has allowed us to " test " trends within the kart user community and direct correlation with open wheel type racing.

Snack Bar and arcade also a must !
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Nope , I do not represent K-1 , but very familiar with their growth over the last couple of years.

We have been working with them to provide F-1 style simulators at their new San Francisco Location.

Nevertheless, they have a top notch operation, worthwhile looking at.

 

Interesting that everybody thinks electric immediately implies green .... where does that electricity come from guys? And if a nuclear power station is the answer then not green IMO. Solar or hydro powerstations are the only green ones.

And sorry simulator racing is not real racing. There is no danger and without it you are not testing yourself.
Pete

 

I own a sim center in Santa Monica using CXC machines. targeted at the upper end of the high end...most of my clients right now are professional or serious amateur (ALMS, GT3 Cup, etc) racers. had a number of clients at LeMans this year, etc. I'm now branching out (down?) into club events, corporate parties, etc.

as for the "it's not real racing"....no, it's not. neither are 5 horsepower electric indoor karts. but guess which one my clients utilize more effectively? good simulation is a very powerful tool for learning to go fast, or hone your race craft, develop setups, etc. ignore it at your own peril. there's a reason F1 teams are spending millions on simulator programs and not go-kart programs

I agree with Anxpert, K1 is probably the best run karting center out there, give them a look. F1 Boston is another one to benchmark. maybe Victory Lane in Charlotte and GPNY as well. the business model is somewhat established, it's just a matter of understanding your immediate market, pricing, etc.

 

For somebody that has never raced they need to do real racing before simulation. That is my point, ie. You cannot start learning how to race via a simulator.

BTW: Nearly ALL F1 drivers have a strong karting background. It is where they learnt how to race. Simulators are used to get to know tracks and to test car upgrades cheaply, not to learn race craft.
Pete

 

disagree all around. google Sean Johnston, as an example.

have you used a professional level racing sim?

 

...back to the topic !

Our involvement with Gene Karting was / is in fact as a revenue generating addition to the karting experience,

There was a some concern on the impact the simulators would have competing with the disposable income from the visitors to the karting center and taking away from the Karts.

After 16 months of operation , we have found the simulators to be complimentary to the karts, with willing participants spending additional funds. From our surveys, we ascertained that the " customer " considered the simulators as an extension of an arcade.

In addition and as GuyIncognito stated , high end simulators do attract aspiring and professional drivers due to the complexity and challenge of the virtual scenarios.

In a business model, such individuals ultimately can account for " X " percentage of sales.

 

do you know what K1 is doing on that end? i.e. are they managing it themselves, catering, contracting to an outside vendor, etc.

 

I'll be at the K1 in Torrance in a few weeks for a group event, if there's something you want me to pay attention to/take pics of/etc let me know.

btw there's an Fchatter that works/used to work at GPNY, hopefully he'll chime in.

 

Your title says indoor kart racing, then the thread is hardly about racing at all, but about the accessories.

The only thing my local kart track misses is good food they can cook on site.

The racing action is very good at my local facility(Victory Lane Karting), we'll have 6-8 racers within just a few hundreths on qualifying for league, and considering how hard it is to keep karts equal, that is pretty amazing.

They also do 12hr, and 24hr racing. GPNY did a 12hr a few years back, good place for it, but $$$.

The biggest key, is a friendly attitude from management/employees, running an indoor track is about getting local businesses and people to be involved, and they don't feel treated right, they won't be back. On the flip side, you also have to recognize bad(expensive) behavior, and put a stop to it. Some customers are simply going to lose you money.

My local track is unique, in that it puts the kart racing first. I haven't really seen this from any other indoor track I've been to. The owner is very passionate about good racing, so it shows. There is also quite the trophy abundance laying around stolen from events at other tracks.

 

As for gas Vs electric.

Electric has shorter run times, gas can run for hours. For endurance racing, like a 24hour race, electric just is NOT a good choice at the moment. Electrics are also heavier, so they hit harder when they crash. However, you need a harder tire compound to keep the tire from deforming under the extra weight, so this tends to keep cornering speeds lower, so you don't crash as hard. Electrics can also be "tuneable".

Electric also means that you aren't making exhaust gases inside your building. If you run gas karts, forget air conditioned coolness, you've got to keep venting inside air out, and outside air in.

I like long endurance runs, so its gas for me. I can understand electrics though. I used to race eletric RC monster trucks.

 

Man I wish we had one of those here in Houston, very cool.

 

exactly

for every customer like you, who wants to do 12/24 hour races, leagues, etc there are 20-50-100 customers that are there for an amusement park experience....and they want food, drink, memorabilia, a picture of them in a racing kart, etc etc.

the karts and/or racing are secondary to "experience".

 

To me it smells like the OP is doing some weak "market research".

 

I love the gas powered indoor carts. Sound, smell is all apart of the experience, when I go to a race track I don't want to have a Congress man campaigning outside the pit lane. I wish I could race in ALMS and other series but karting is as close as I can get. Simulation is pretty darn close to the real deal I support it!

Have you been to SEMA? Your company would be a big hit there.