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Improving Your Experience

Don’t miss out on some of our biggest news stories and find out what TeamSport are working on right now!

Bruce's Blog Motorsport News

Have you ever wondered what we are working on at TeamSport? Whether that’s new tracks, new countries, electric plans or our community efforts… this is the place to come and get the low down!

Be sure to check out our blog every month for the latest – and don’t miss out on some of our biggest news stories!

Planning a children’s go-karting party involves many steps, and we are here to help organise the best karting party for your child and their friends.

How to Plan a Kid’s Go-Karting Party | TeamSport

Planning a child’s birthday party means considering the activity, the guest list, the party bags and most importantly, creating the most fun for everyone invited, including the birthday person. 

As we’ve run many karting children’s parties, we understand how to organise a memorable experience and plan a day everyone will enjoy. Whether it’s a big birthday or your child wants to do a new activity, we’re on board to help with planning.

We know that a kid’s party means endless hours of entertainment, big smiles and making memories with family and friends. When planning the party, the first step is to write a list of everything you need to do, such as a guest list and organising the date.


Plan the date, time,  guest list and activity

The first part of any party planning process is the logistics,  the party date and the guests. Planning the date can help ensure everyone on your guest list is available and fits alongside other party plans for your child. 

Now it’s time for the activity, and a kid’s party means leaning into their favourite hobbies and passions, and if that’s go-karting, you’re in the right place. You can choose various types of karting parties or decide on other suitable activities, such as laser tag. Whatever the activity, knowing your decision can help work out your budget and time frame.

Choosing the go-karting venue is down to what the nearest indoor and outdoor track to you is and ensuring the location offers everything you’re after, from catering for the age-appropriate karts. We have venues across the UK, offering various packages suitable for every type of racer and birthday party.

The invitations are an opportunity to get creative, adding personality to each note. This can be a fun activity for kids, as they can paint or use stencils to make the invitations as unique as possible. When you're happy with the invites, send them out with enough notice for people to reply if they can attend.

Consider the party food and birthday cake

The best thing about every birthday party is the cake. We know kids love to blow out the candles and sing a ‘happy birthday’ song to the birthday person and eat all the sugar possible at parties. Kids are bound to work up an appetite, and you should consider the level of catering you’d like to provide, from a small lunchtime meal to picky foods where the children can choose what they want to eat. With many party packages, we include catering, and you’ll want to see if they match the food you’re looking to offer.

Plan the party bags and any extras on the day

Every child loves to walk away with a little gift after a party, and that’s why party bags are still a tradition many parties love to have. Planning the party bags doesn’t have to be a massive ordeal; just a couple of things the kids can take away, such as sweets, a mini toy, a slice of cake and a balloon. Other extras to consider on the day are if you need to pack the decorations or cater to someone with allergies.

Confirm all the last-minute party details

Before the party can begin, in the week leading up to it, it’s time to check all the details, such as timings, following up on those who haven’t RSVP, and the details are in place. Being organised means everything should go smoothly on the day.

Party day is here! On the day, all you need to think about is packing the party bags and decorating the venue with personalised items, such as balloons and banners - and then let the chaos begin!

Fear not - planning a go-karting party for your child doesn’t only fall on you; we’re here to help with our karting and party-planning expertise. 

At TeamSport, our team can help plan the dream party your kid will never forget. We’ll help choose a suitable track, organise the catering, perform the safety briefings and check everything is in place for the party.

Ultimate race experience for kids and families

Find out who the fastest racer is in the group between the birthday person and their families with the Ultimate Race Experience. 

Before your go karting birthday party begins, our team will give each racer a full safety briefing and suit them up in the racing gear before heading onto the track. 

These mixed sessions mean parents and older and younger siblings can celebrate and race together, from beginners to advanced levels, channelling their inner competitiveness. The game aims to get as many laps as possible to set your fastest lap. 

When the time is up, all karters return to the pits for a break and receive their lap times via our app or email and a list of tips and tricks when you’re next on the track.

Up to 30 minutes worth of karting (2 x 15 minutes worth of race time)

Personalised lap times via email or our free app

We’ve created the ultimate private go-karting birthday party package for ten drivers aged 8-12. 

If your child loves the thrill of karting and a group of friends to celebrate their birthday with, this package has all the action-packed fun with only your group on the track. 

You can race each other, see who is the fastest racer and enjoy the unique experience of karting together. Every pre-teen will fall in love with karting!

To refuel, when the children have stepped off the track, they can enjoy the kid party food bundle. For £9pp, kids can choose any dish on our children’s menu, including one of our delicious waffles.

Two 12-minute sessions in our specially designed Cadet Karts

Awards for best driver and fasts with medals and podium 

Personalised lap times via email or our free app.


A reserved table area for your party group

Our team provides support and supervision

Contact our team today to book a go-karting party or if you need some assistance with party planning ideas.

How to plan a kid’s go-karting party

We’ve put together a guide sharing the definition of a hairpin bend in karting and the karting hairpin techniques to help you nail that turn.

How to take a Hairpin bend in Karting | TeamSport

Whether you’re new to the track or a whiz, go karting is all about the thrills and beating your personal best. Part of the fun is learning how to take corners so that you can overtake in your go kart and take pole position.. 

If you want to put the pedal to the metal and become a champion, you need to know how to ace a hairpin bend. This is where we come in! We’ve put together a guide sharing the definition of a hairpin bend in karting and the techniques to help you nail that bend and take you from a beginner's level to excelling on the track.

A ‘hairpin turn’, also known as a ‘hairpin bend’, is one of the most common types of motorsport corners. It’s a ‘U-shaped bend’ that looks like an arch and is a long, continuous curve without a straight bit of track in the middle.

A hairpin turn can make or break lap time, and as a bend with a very acute inner angle, an oncoming vehicle must turn about 180° to continue on the road. The hairpin turn can slightly alter for outdoor and indoor karting tracks due to thinner tracks and less space indoors.

This bend is typically slow, yet for some circuits, a larger radius means the kart can carry more speed into the corner. Go kart drivers can take different approaches for hairpins using a late apex or middle apex, which can affect the outcome.

Hairpins are also the best track corner to overtake as there’s more opportunity to brake later and complete a pass successfully, leading you to victory.

Whether you’re celebrating a stag do or heading out for a day of fierce family fun, don’t let losing drive you round the bend! Use our tried and tested go karting hairpin technique and leave your competitors in the dust.

The techniques to tackle hairpin bends depend on the type and size of the go-karting track. Drivers tend to take a late apex for hairpins with a tight and small radius. A geometric apex is more appropriate for medium-speed hairpins with a larger radius, encouraging as much speech as possible for flowing corners.

To nail a hairpin bend, you should use the concept of ‘out, in, out’, which can vary for indoor and outdoor tracks.

Step one - Use the full width of the track on entry to the corner, making the radius larger.

Step two - Press the brakes forcefully in a straight line, slowing your go-kart as fast as possible.

Step three - It’s recommended to delay your turning to go deep in the corner and initiate a sharp, late turning.

Step four - Target a late apex because your objective is to increase your exit speed, and a late apex allows for that.

Step five - Use the full width of the track to your advantage on the corner exit.

As indoor tracks can be smaller and tighter, it’s even more important to use the full width of the track to your advantage.

Step one - Make the track as wide as possible, right up to the barrier on the right-hand side.

Step two - Press the brakes forcefully in a straight line and initiate a sharp, late turn-in.

Step three - Target a late apex, accelerate through the corner, open up the steering wheel and head back out wide to the outside edge again.

Step four - These actions can ensure you’ve maximised your exit speed.

Generally speaking, you’ll have a long straight after a hairpin bend so maximising your exit speed can help you improve your lap time and accelerate on the straight. 

You should use the concept of ‘slow in, fast out’, which requires you to sacrifice time on the corner entry (early braking) to get the best acceleration when you come out of that corner. This process works for maximum efficiency on the track and supports you to increase lap time.

Tips and tricks for nailing your go karting hairpin technique

If you’ve got more experience on the track, you can use other techniques and tricks to nail that hairpin bend. One of those tricks to succeeding with a hairpin is braking late, turning and getting the car around the apex as quickly and tightly as possible, and maintaining enough speed for a fast lap time. 

You can approach the hairpin from the opposite side of the track to the apex, reducing the angle of the corner and allowing for more room for the kart to turn while travelling fast.

You’ll travel slower through the hairpin, and the exit point arrives sooner than expected. 

The braking point is another key to mastering a hairpin turn, and where a reference point can help if this is your first time speeding around one of our go karting or e-karting tracks. When using a reference point, start by braking early and once you build up confidence, start braking slightly later and later.

Slow in, fast out always wins on a hairpin turn! Or, if you’re feeling brave, you can attempt the other karting hairpin technique of braking later.

All that’s left to do is put your newfound hairpin skills to the test by competing in a high-octane race for the podium. If you’re interested in booking a karting session, contact us today for our various karting packages available and take a look at our FAQs to learn more information.

How to take a Hairpin Bend in Karting

How to take a Hairpin in Karting

Wondering how to become a Formula 1 driver? Learn how you can build vital racing skills and work to kick-start an F1 career with go karting!

Journey from Karting to F1 Driver | TeamSport

Does your child live and breathe racing, and are they desperate to know how to become an F1 driver? Supporting that dream is so exciting and rewarding as a parent, but you might feel conflicted - how easy could it be to get into Formula 1, and where would you even start? 

With indoor go-karting venues across the UK, and go karting birthday parties becoming a more and more popular race with children, children are getting more opportunities than ever to understand what it feels like to be behind the wheel. 

As we explain in our blog on why go karting is the best school holiday activity for families, go-karting has many advantages for kids, such as building hand-eye coordination, increasing reaction times and learning to control a vehicle at speed. Most importantly, go-karting is an endlessly fun, exhilarating activity many children or young people can do with friends or family! 

While there isn’t a predefined route for how to become a Formula 1 driver, many of the most famous F1 drivers started with karting! By joining indoor and outdoor go-karting racing as kids, legendary F1 racers found their need for speed and set the foundations to become the racing superstars we know today.

Read on to learn which F1 drivers started their careers with go-karting, and how to become an F1 driver.


F1 Drivers and Go-Karting: How have famous F1 drivers benefited from go-karting?

The passion for racing for many F1 drivers began at a young age as they tried go-karting for the first time. Each racer has had their own journey from the karting track to the F1 racing circuit, and we’ve shared some incredible examples of racers who have experienced that journey.

One of the world’s most famous racers, Lewis Hamilton, began with go-karting if you can believe it! At five, he got a radio-controlled car and began competing in championships with some success. His go-karting career began at age 8, the minimum age for kids to go karting. 

How did he get into Formula 1 from there? At age 13, after winning multiple karting championships, he was noticed by the Mclaren team and signed up for the Mclaren Driver Development Programme.

As you already know, Hamilton took the Formula 1 world by storm, braking records and becoming renowned as the highest-paid driver on the grid. Without starting on the go-kart track as a child, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to refine his talent early on and achieve F1 success.

Michael Schumacher (7 World Championships)

Go-karting was a part of Michael Schumacher's life from a very young age as his dad, Rolf Schumacher, built him a kart at just 4 years old. As an engineering enthusiast, Rolf modified his son’s pedal kart with a motorcycle engine - Michael would eventually use this incredible kart on a go-karting track! At 6, he became the youngest racer to join the Kerpen-Horrem karting club and win his first-ever championship.

Michael got involved in more and more karting competitions, proving his remarkable gift for racing. At 12, he went to Luxembourg to get his karting license, as the minimum age was 14 in his home country of Germany. 

By age 20, Michael signed with the Formula 3 team, winning the title the next year and gaining a reputation as the one to beat. By 1990, he won the World Sportscar Championship, and entered Formula One the following year.

Sebastian Vettel fell in love with go-karting at just 3 years old! By the age of 8, that passion was thriving, and he was racing go-karts in competitions and winning first place in many. 

When he was 11, the Red Bull Junior Team spotted his talent, and there he developed into the successful racer he is today. Vettel had a natural racing skill from a young age, and that commitment to go karting helped him develop his craft.

Max Verstappen (2021, 2022, 2023 World Champion)

Son of the former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen was practically destined for the race track from the moment he was born. 

He began racing at 4 years old, had a karting career in Belgium, and won numerous championships. Winning in the Dutch Minimax competition in 2007 at age 10 is what set him up for success; his go-karting career continued until 2013 when he switched to cars, and today is known as a fierce driver on the track.

Considering his success after success in 2014, he raced in the Formula 3 European championship and a year later became the youngest-ever Formula 1 driver.

Ayrton Senna’s love for go-karting began when, as a toddler, his dad built his first go-kart using a lawnmower and taught Senna How to operate it. He used to play with his neighbours in this kart, sometimes racing up to 60kph. 

Even though he figured out how to become an F1 driver and achieved incredible success, Senna described go-karting as ‘the purest driving experience’. He succeeded in many racing championships, but to him, his love of go-karting is everything and the heart of his racing career.


Many children and young adults come through our doors, asking us how to become a Formula 1 driver. Now you know that many of the greatest racers of this century found their start on the go-karting tracks, using the sport to build essential skills like overtaking, cornering, defending, and more.

With the expertise of the racing experts at TeamSport on your side, the path to getting into Formula 1 will be clear.

To help your child on their racing journey we’ve created our Race Academy, which operates across all of our indoor circuits on Sundays and Mondays.

Once you’ve committed, they will receive expert tuition and tons of opportunities to practice their skills. From the fundamentals of track safety to the racing line, they’ll discover How to Drive Like a Pro and discover how to turn their favourite hobby into their future! Starting with go-karting can help your children follow in the footsteps of the most remarkable F1 drivers in history.

If this isn’t right for your family, we offer an array of racing types and sessions for beginners to those more experienced in our 40+ indoor go karting tracks across the UK. Contact us today and book a session suitable for you.

How to become an F1 Driver

Journey from karting to f1 driver

Want to protect your position in a race? Discover with TeamSport how to defend in indoor go karting, stop others from overtaking, and secure a win!

Defending Your Position in Karting | TeamSport

Have you ever been in the thick of an intense indoor go karting race, and just as you think you’ve secured a lead, someone suddenly zips past you? 

This is always frustrating - even if you’re great at overtaking, it takes a totally different set of skills to stop others from overtaking you. 

In this blog, you’ll learn how to defend your position in karting. We will answer questions like:

When is it worth using defensive tactics?

Are there instances where you shouldn’t defend your position?

To start, let’s make sure you know the absolute basics of how to overtake - knowing this will not only help you get ahead, but help you recognise when your competitors are trying to pass you. 

Here is how you can overtake perfectly in just four steps:

Drive directly behind the car in front for as long as possible - this will ensure you’re in the slipstream, where there is less wind resistance and you can drive faster.

It’s easiest to overtake around corners, on the inside of the lane, so keep your eye out for the best opportunities.

Brake as late as possible - whichever of you brakes the latest around this corner has the best chance of getting ahead.

Slip past them on the inside; slow in, fast out.

Race Academy Hub: Ask Your Instructor: Overtaking

Of course, there are more scenarios and techniques to consider after you feel confident with this - for a more detailed guide, read our blog on How to Overtake in Go Karting. 

We’ve taught you how to overtake - now you need to stop others from overtaking. The key to perfecting your defence strategy is awareness.

Firstly, be aware of your competitors’ patterns. At TeamSport, you’ll get a practice lap before the race starts in earnest - use this chance to observe the other drivers. You might be able to spot patterns in how they drive. For example, do they tend to stick to the inside of the lane? Do they slow down quite a lot before they go around corners? Noticing little things like this might give you an edge once the real competition starts!

Secondly, be aware of what’s going on behind you. A couple of glances over your shoulder (when it’s safe to do so) will go a long way in a go karting race. Periodically check to see if there’s anyone close behind you, and if so, are they looking for an opportunity to overtake you?

Thirdly, and most crucially for defending your position in go karting, be aware of what’s going on in front of you. Be on the lookout for what’s coming up on the track. Looking ahead to the next braking point, corner apex or exit is crucial to maintaining your spot in the race because these are all opportunities for someone to overtake you (or for you to overtake someone else).

When should you defend your position in karting?

At what point do you start defending your position instead of actively trying to push forward? Some may say that the only position worth defending is the first place, but that’s not true - we would say that once you’re in one of the top three positions, that’s when you start protecting your place. 

Of course, if you’re happy with 4th or 6th or 13th place, that’s fine too! But if you think you have a chance to get ahead, it makes sense to prioritise overtaking instead of defending. 

Once you’re aware of everything happening around you, and who you’re up against, your job is simple: Stay in the Racing Line. As we explain in our blog on Understanding the Racing Line, there is an ideal path to take through a racing track to drive around it as quickly as possible. 

Think of a hairpin, for instance - if you stuck to the outside of the lane, you’d be taking a much longer pathway around that corner than people on the inside. But you don’t want to stick too closely to the inside either. The turn would be much tighter, which would make steering difficult and probably slow you down. 

For cornering in a go-kart, you want to approach the corner from the outside, hit the apex in the middle of the lane, and exit on the outside again. For more information, read our guide on How to Improve Cornering.

So what does this mean when you’re defending your position in go karting?

Don’t be bullied out of the racing line. Every time you leave the inside of a corner open, or let a pushy driver nudge you away from it, it’s an opportunity for someone on your tail to slip past you. Defend yourself by forcing them outside the racing line and ensuring that the fastest course around the track belongs to you.

When should you not defend your position?

When it comes to indoor go karting, the lanes are quite narrow. This makes it more of a challenge to overtake sometimes, but also makes it difficult for others to overtake you. 

Eager or aggressive drivers might try to overtake you when there isn’t enough room, causing them to bump into you. This can be dangerous, so these situations, ask yourself whether it makes more sense to just let them pass. 

We all go go karting to have fun, and drivers should be respectful and leave each other enough space. If someone isn’t leaving you enough space - whether that’s because they’re misjudging the width of the gap beside you, or bumping into you on purpose -  you may need to be the bigger person and move for everyone’s safety. 

Build Essential Go Karting Skills at TeamSport

Let’s wrap everything up! In summary, if you want to block others from overtaking you and defend your position in karting, you need to have a keen awareness of what’s going on around you and a good understanding of the racing line. 

Ready to put your new knowledge into practice? Why not head down to TeamSport!
We have over 40 locations across the UK and a host of other activities to enjoy after your Grand Prix, including (depending on location) crazy golf, laser combat and VR! Most importantly, our staff are always on hand to support you and provide tips and pointers to take your karting to the next level.

Visit your local TeamSport venue to see what we have in store for you, find your nearest track here!

How to Defend Your Position in Karting

Defending your position in go-karting

Are you obsessed with drifting and looking to give it a try? Read our blog to learn if you can drift a go-kart at your local track. 

Can You Drift in a Go-Kart? | Drifting a Go-Kart | TeamSport

Can You Drift in a Go-Kart? | Drifting a Go-Kart  | TeamSport

If you were born and raised on The Fast and the Furious, the first thing you might want to try when you go racing for the first time is drifting. 

Can you drift a go-kart? The short answer is yes. While drifting is more common in cars that go at speeds of over 40mph, it is possible to drift in a go-kart. However, this is not usually recommended - while drifting can be fun to learn and put into action, it’s more risk than reward. 

This blog will cover how to drift in a go-kart, and also whether you should.

Drifting is technically a method of cornering - it involves the driver purposely oversteering until the rear wheels lose traction and the car “drifts” through the turn. If you do this right, you should save some time on the corner, and look stylish while doing it. 

While drifting, the car essentially goes sideways through the corner - less steering is required, so it’s easier to get back up to speed. The driver can also keep good control of the car, so as long as they perform it at a safe distance from their competitors, it isn’t dangerous to attempt.

Professional racers might use this technique to help manoeuvre around difficult corners (tight hairpins, for example) and there are even entire race formats dedicated to drifting, like Formula Drift!


Lately a lot of people have been asking us if it’s possible to drift in an electric go-kart, as we’ve been introducing them across many of our venues. The answer is yes, you can! It’s a very similar experience to drifting in a petrol kart and you can use the same basic technique for both. 

Whether it’s an e-kart or petrol kart, we suggest taking a couple of extra practice laps when you’re using a kart you aren’t used to before competing seriously so you can get to know the feel of it.

While you absolutely can try drifting a go kart, the question remains of whether you should. 

The best reason to try drifting a go-kart is a simple one - it’s a really fun skill to learn! Practice makes perfect, and with plenty of practice, this is a seriously rewarding technique to master. 

It’s extra fun with indoor go-karting! The tracks are smoother, which means drifting might even be easier to do because there’s less traction between the back wheels and the track. Read our Indoor vs Outdoor Karting blog for more honest comparisons of the benefits of each.

On the other hand, drifting a go-kart is the quickest way to wear down the wheels. This is especially true with outdoor go-karting, where the track surfaces are rougher. If you have your own kart, this is fine - you know the risks, and you can replace the wheels yourself if they are too worn down. If you’re renting a go-kart, however, drifting might be frowned upon because the cost of replacing the wheels will fall on the venue.
It’s also important to note that, if you really hone and master your cornering technique, it isn’t any faster to drift around corners. Learning how to drift a go-kart is definitely fun, but it won’t always give you that competitive edge.


If you were wondering “Can you drift a go-kart?”, the only thing to do now is learn how! 

The technique for drifting is quite simple. As you approach the corner, brake gently. Then:

Lean towards the corner as you start to turn.

Steer rapidly - the front wheels shouldn’t move too much, while the rear of the car should fly around the corner.

To correct yourself, countersteer out of the corner and straighten your wheels.

Accelerate gently as you exit the corner.


To brush up on your go-karting techniques, visit TeamSport. We have 40+ indoor go-karting venues across the UK and racing events suitable for everyone from kids (8+) and adults (13+) to corporate parties and stag or hen dos! 

BRUCE'S BLOG MOTORSPORT NEWS

ON THE BLOG

How to plan a kid’s go-karting party

How to take a Hairpin in Karting

Journey from karting to f1 driver

Defending your position in go-karting

Drifting a go-kart