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A very nice form of motorsports is the kart Racing going on all over the country these days. Kids from age three up thru twenty one and higher, can go racing on four wheel karts, almost as often as anyone would like. The Karts are small open wheeled vehicles powered by small engines, briggs and Stratton, as well as many of the motorcycle engines.

As a rule most of the tracks that you visit are going to have some sort of sanction body and have rules set up for several different age groups. The rules are set up mostly by using the horsepower to weight rules.

You will find as many as 6 to 7 different classes, with most using what s known as a restrictor plate, same as in NASCAR. Usually the novice class will be boys and girls in the age 7 to age 10, the 5 HP briggs and Stratton engine is usually the engine of choice in the south eastern US, the novice class will have a minimum weight of 160 lbs, driver included, and the competitors must run what is called the purple plate.

Next class up runs the blue plate, then the Gold plate up to the open class. If they have at least a few little kids ages 3 to 6, there usually will be a peewee class. In the upper range classes a lot of the karts can and do exceed 100 mph on the straightaway.

Usually where there are large crowds of competitors, there will be 2 or 3 classes of the Kawasaki and Yamaha engines, in some places these are called the weed whackers. Most of these are very, very fast indeed. However the weight restrictions are also much different on these.

Most of the hardware for the kart racers is a good bit more simple than that with other forms of motorsports. The engines are fairly simple and some not so simple, in the lower classes the Purple, Blue and Gold classes are a good bit more simple than the higher class and faster karts, but most are quickly becoming more sophisticated and more costly to run than just a short 4 or 5 years ago.

The chassis is of tube steel, most are chrome moly steel and the setup to hold the engine and drivetrain in place also serves as the suspension . Since karts do not have springs, nor dampers to put the power to the ground.

There are several chassis manufactures around the country as well as many all across Europe and Australia. Most chassis are designed to where they are adjustable as each racer will have a different feel he wants to get adjusted into the cart.

Many of these Kart races are held on small dirt oval tracks, and many are held on road race type asphalt tracks, there are many of each spread all around in most states and most parts of the country. Very few pay money as prizes, most give pretty nice trophies for winners and they are spread around quite fluently in order to keep the kids digging for that big trophy.

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“I want to see some schmuck with his hair on fire running around punching his own head trying to put it out! I want to see the pits explode! I want to see a car doing a 200MPH cartwheel!” shouted comedian George Carlin as to the only reasons to watch motorsports. For many people, not the spirit of competition or the advancement of automobile technology, but accidents and explosions are the raison d’etre of motorsports. On the contrary and unbeknownst to them, there are many heart pounding and jaw dropping reasons to follow the action on the race track other than only when things go wrong.

#1 The Locations

For global auto racing series like Formula 1, each race is held in a different country – 19 countries total, from Monte Carlo to Malaysia. Every few weeks, the teams, drivers, cars, crews, and other equipment move and reassemble to take on a new location. In contrast to basketball where the action takes place on the same wooden flooring in the same featureless stadiums, the circuits of F1 tracks are all different and present drivers new challenges and fans the opportunity to see the same sport in a new light each race.

#2 Transfer of Automobile Technology

The majority of teams who build the cars that race in Formula 1 also build the cars that regular people drive to work, home, school, or the store every day. Companies like BMW, Lotus, Renault, Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren build race cars as well as consumer cars. Ceramic brakes, engine management electronics, and direct fuel injection are just some of the advances made in motorsports that have carried over to everyday cars.

#3 The Fans

Their endurance and dedication to catch the thrill of the race is unwavering. Whether waking up in the wee hours of the night to watch a Formula 1 race live on the other side of the world, to holding 24-hour parties to view the 24 Hours of LeMans race, to the subculture of NASCAR fans, motorsport enthusiasts are a passionate bunch.

While accidents and explosions are inherent in the pursuit of winning and fast driving, the real thrill of auto racing comes from the variety and challenges of its locations, the transfer of automobile technology and above all, the fans.

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Martinsville Speedway opened in 1947 with only 750 seats. Today the track holds over 70,000 race fans and is continually improving the facilities. The track itself is one of the smallest in NASCAR at just over a half mile, but its considered one of the biggest in action with two 800-foot straights and only a 12-degree bank it is said to feel like running on two drag strips with a turn-a-round on each end. The layout of the short track provides drivers plenty of opportunities to push and shove one another giving spectators with plenty of excitement.

The Speedway’s race calendar includes NASCAR, Nextel Cup Series, Late Model Stocks, Craftsman Truck Series and much more. Tickets for most events start at $20.00 for a one-day race pass. They offer several package options for multi-day tickets or packages that include hotel rooms. For RV’s and campers there are several options to choose from. Three of the RV camp sites require a season ticket purchase. The other two camp sites are general admission with the cost starting at $100 for the race weekend.

Racing runs deep in Virginia and the Martinsville Speedway isn’t the only track in the area. The Fork Mountain Raceway is an action packed dirt track located in nearby Bassett. Their events include; Late Models, VSS Alcohol Sprints, Modified Legends, Special U Car , Stock cars, Super Street and Mini Stock to name a few. Tickets start at $10.00 per person. Another local track is the New Boston Speedway in nearby South Boston is known as “America’s Hometown Speedway” and offers race fans a huge selection of events. Their calendar includes Late Model, Legends, Pure Stock, SV Modifieds, Legendary Flatheads, Grand Stock, T-Limited as well as several shows and fun nights. Adult tickets start at $10.00.

The Virginia International Raceway located in Danville is home to a variety of amateur and professional car and motorcycle events. They offer drive schools and their facilities include the VIR Motorsports Country Club. The club is a high performance driving venue that includes resort facilities. Their race events include; KART, Mazda Club, Code Superbike, Ferrari Club, BMW, CCS Motorcycle Road, Vintage Bikes, AMA Suzuki, Historic Sports car and much more. Several car clubs also meet at the facility on a regular basis. Tickets start at $20.00 with multi-day packages available.

One of the newest events at the VIR is their Camp Motorsport. The camp teaches safe driving techniques, racing facts and history, gear ratios, motor basics, training in a race car simulator and much more. Then you suit up, strap on a helmet and get behind the wheel. Whatever your race preference, you’ll find it at one of Virginia’s great tracks.

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Michelle Mouton, one of the most successful and best-known female rally drivers of all time, will open Race Retro at the International Historic Motorsports Show at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry on Saturday, March 24, 2007 and will make a rare visit to Britain next weekend to be reunited with her 1985 Pikes Peak Hillclimb winning Audi Sport Quattro.

The 55 year-old French lady driver still remains to be the only woman to win a round of the World Rally Championship, sweeping the Audi to a record time of 11 minutes 25.39 seconds in Colorado. The World Rally held in Colorado was a 12.42 mile course that featured over 150 corners and climbed almost 5,000 ft. in elevation.

According to Michelle Mouton, “I was very pleased to win the race for myself–it was the first outright victory ever scored by a woman – and proud for Audi as it was the first time a European manufacturer’s rally car had won–it was something very special to beat the Americans on their home ’soil’.”

The famous 1985 Pikes Peak near 500 bhp Audi Sport Quattro after 22 years was restored to its original glory not really by following the Volkswagen repair manuals that goes with the Quattro but through the relentless effort of the rally Quattro specialist John Hanlon. According to Hanlon, “The car has been stripped back to a bare metal body shell and fully rebuilt over the last nine weeks. Every component has been re-furbished to Audi Sport specification and we have imported the original BBS split rim wheels which the car competed on at Pikes Peak in 1985. The car will be in its authentic livery and technical specification at Stoneleigh. The fact that this actual car competed in the very last Group B WRC round (1986 Olympus Rally) is a huge factor of its appeal.”

Mouton said, “I was used to driving this Audi but the problem was the altitude. It starts at almost 9,500 ft above sea level ands we had to make adjustments to the electronic gearbox and turbocharger. The Hillclimb itself was very difficult as it’s very fast and quite narrow with no markers and sheer drops off the side–the event’s ‘Race to the Clouds’ title is very true–and I think it was probably the toughest challenge in my career.”

She also added, “There had been problems in testing which meant I wasn’t allowed to drive my car to the start, mechanics instead pushing me to the line, which made me mad and very determined. I really wanted to win, so I pushed very hard–sometimes almost too hard.”

It was in the year 1981 in Sweden that Hannu Mikkola scored Audi’s first World Rally Championship while Mouton won the San Remo Rally later that year and claim the first World Rally Championship for a lady driver. The Audi Quattro was also the first car with the four-wheel-drive and turbocharged engine to compete in the World Rally Championship.

A year after, in 1982, Mouton achieved an outright WRC wins in Portugal, Greece— wherein the Acropolis Rally was held– and also in Brazil where she was able to win a second place in the Driver’s WRC and contested 50 WRCs between 1974 to 1986. Audi won the Manufacturers’ World Championship in 1982 and 1984. Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist both win the Drivers’ titles with Audi for years 1983 and 1984 respectively.

John Hanlon purchased the Audi last March from a private collector in America, aside from Mouton the Audi Sport Quattro was also driven by Walter Rohrl for the 1985 Corsica WRC and afterwards was taken hold by John Buffum who has successfully campaigned in North America.

At present Audi is leading the way in creating the technology in diesel-engined sportscars in endurance racing and made history last year when it won the Le Mans 24 Hours with its diesel Audi R10 TDI.