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Mark Fattore20 Dec 2014
NEWS

Carsales karting shootout

The Carsales editorial team hit Phillip Island en masse to test out the new SODI karts from France, and there was just a little bit of pride on the line

The Carsales editorial team has tried all the standard end-of-year celebrations, but I think we’ve just found the ultimate: karting.

Recently, we made our way down to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit to try out the new fleet of French-made, Honda-powered Sodi RT8 karts, which were only commissioned in September this year at $8000 a pop. The total exercise cost the circuit $230,000.

Since the inauguration, we’d heard plenty of positive feedback about the karts so, naturally, we were obliged to try them out for ourselves.

After a few last-minute withdrawals, which took out the boat, truck and caravan scribes at Carsales, it boiled down to a battle between the motorcycle (me) and car journos, and we were also joined by our slick-steering production editor, video editing guru and a few other support staff. All up, there were 11 of us.

The whole registration process is simple and, if you’re a Facebooker, you can log in via that medium and your results will be automatically uploaded onto your page. Otherwise, you’ll be handed a print out of times and results when you leave.

Participants can race the clock or one another. Of course, we deferred to the group racing option, which normally follows a standard ‘big track’ format: practice, qualifying, race. But we massaged that into one qualifier and two races, all 10 minutes apiece.

If you set a reasonable pace and don’t lose the plot, a 10-minute session equates to about 11 laps of the 760m karting track. Times that by three and it’s more than a decent workout.

Qualifying had a few hair-raising moments, but we all got through unscathed before lining up on the grid for race one. There was some inevitable ego-driven argy-bargy – I was given a warning for a little too much exuberance and put on notice for race two – with Feann Torr coming out on top from Mike Sinclair, Matt Brogan, Garry Hoover and Fergus Sinclair.

Race two was high-octane, with some turn four carnage turning the race on its head, while Ken Gratton speared off the track soon after in a cloud of dust. The wily veteran rallied, but his off-track excursion left him out of race-winning calculations.

It’s probably an apt time to mention that all-round rubber protection surrounds each kart, preventing wheel-to-wheel contact. In the event of a collision, the rubber-surround compresses to absorb any impact and quickly resumes its race-ready shape.

I won race two from Fergus Sinclair, Torr, Hoover and David Jones, with Torr the overall winner on 48 points ahead of a tie for second between me and Fergus (45). And the fastest lap of the whole day was a Hoover special: 48.290 seconds, ahead of Fergus (48.710) – the only drivers to dip into the 48-second bracket. The lap record is 46.8 – now that’s humming.

Benchmarks or not, the Phillip Island Grand Prix Sodi karts are brilliant fun for the whole family and, with adjustable ergonomics, all shapes and sizes are accommodated. The karts allow for a minimum rider height of 140cm -- 13cm less than the previous karts.

Open seven days a week, the kart track is adjoined to the visitor centre, situated above Southern Loop and overlooking Bass Straight.

No bookings are required for each on track session. All drivers are given a thorough briefing in safety and racecraft before putting their driving skill to the test, and the staff is courteous and helpful during the whole process.

For more information, including pricing, visit http://phillipislandgokarts.com.au/go-karts-home.

Same time next year, fellas?

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Written byMark Fattore
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