We all know karting is very expensive…

Especially if you want to do it professionally at the highest levels in the world, you will have to spend even up to 10,000 euros per race, which will add up to 250,000 to 300,000 euros per year if you wanted to do the full season.

But there’s also options to start karting, especially professional kart racing, on a shoestring, cheaply, in a way that you are going to stretch your budget for more seasons before you will have to actually start looking for sponsors, which, by the way, I suggest always to start looking for sponsors as early as possible, so that local companies or international brands are going to get to know you soon and will want to get you to promote and become the face of their brand on social media, etc.

So what are the major ways to save up and still manage to do professional karting without an unlimited budget, as the case of Lance Stroll?

What is the absolute lowest budget path into kart racing?

Well, if you want to get started and just do some club level races,

and get really good at those before transitioning into professional international karting with a full season at the likes of WSK & CIK FIA races, the best way is to probably start in as a club level races, buying a super high performing kart, brand new go kart that’s going to get To about 2500 3000 euros just for the kart, then, well actually, just for the chassis, then you have to get a rented engine, professional race engine, rented, so you can always save by buying your own engine. But I think that is not a good decision, because you’ll have to, anyways, maintain it, and the performance will not good enough. So I’d rather spend more on a professional race engine that’s going to give you Alpha horsepower or one more horsepower, rather than saving up on that and then having to feel like a sitting duck on the straight as Fernando Alessio team radio with McLaren GP two engine.

So I feel that you would you would have to sign up to these club races with really good engine and a really good chassis at the beginning of the season, but then be aware that you still have to spend quite a lot of money on maintenance, on tires, entry fees, etc. But you could get yourself started by doing two club races per month at about 500 euros per race, plus about 500 per engine rental, so about 1000 euros per race. So two races per month is going to be 2000 per month for a full year, is going to be 24,000 a year. That’s an entry level just for the races. But then I would add up about 150 days of testing if you want to become extremely good, extremely, extremely fast, and that’s just a goal for you, to spend as little as possible, of course, if you have a limited budget for testing days, because, I mean, at the end of the day, you don’t really care about setting a track record in Testing Day, all you carry is to just drive laps and you become faster, become a machine, to build the muscle memory, to learn tracks, to learn the driving techniques, etc, so to shape you really your talent. And the less you spend for that, the better. So you will not need a mechanic for that. You can always need that. But if you want to really save up, and if you have a very limited budget, you can just save the money from a mechanic, save money for new tires, save money from a professional engine. You can just go with your own engine, ideally an X 30 or a row tax. So that’s actually the maintenance cost is going to be super low. You can do so many hours of mileage without having to replace the engine and just driving, paying for the entry ticket fee for the track as well as the fuel. And once you have those two expenses covered, you just meet. As used, one used set of tires per day, which is going to be like 50 euros per day on that or even less, if you can find some, some, you can find some tires in the garbage. But just of course, at the end of day is also important to drive with new tires. That’s also important, but that is not mandatory, and that it’s not the best use of money. Of course, somebody has a limited budget, I would recommend to do more days with a, you know, less performing tires than doing less day with more performing tires. If you know what I mean. Of course, it’s better to drive in tracks if you’re able to drive in tracks with much more grip. That is also a thing, you know, if you drive in a track where there’s no grip, and then you have to race in tracks with a lot of grip, that’s quite silly, because you’re not going to learn that skill, because there’s a skill on his own in driving within the really high grip conditions. So I highly suggest to drive in the same grip level that you’re going to race at. So yeah, you can get yourself to spend only 100 euros per day, just or even on under 20 for testing days. And if you can do 150 of those per year, basically driving almost every day. Yes, school is going to be a thing. But if you can get yourself to to drive a lot like I used to live. I still do 20 minutes away from Lona to South Carolina. And as soon as I finished school at midday, 1212, 12:30pm, I would then literally go to the track. And I would do the four or five sessions in the afternoon. And I would do about 7080 laps per day for really, five, six months like that. And I really became a machine, I believe. So, if you could do something like that, that would be awesome, of course. And if you could spend those 150 euros a day, I said, with very limited, you know, without spending just, literally you’re going to the track, or even leaving the car to the track with a tent and just driving, going there with your car arriving, and just putting your helmet on and driving, driving, driving, driving, changing a set of tires every day, just putting A used set of tire and, you know, just refilling the fuel tank and driving, driving, driving, I’m sure that if you spend those 150 days, so if you multiply them, it’s going to be

about 15 to 30,000

euros per per month. That is going to really be a good return investment. I believe you can get yourself to become very, very fast with those limited money. I believe so.

What are the best championships for beginners, financially?

Well, the best championships are, I would say, club racers that are just one two days long. Normally, the club races start on a Sunday, but the testing is on Saturday, so just a two days race, the level is not super high. Everybody is driving quite affordably, so you’re not really competing against the drivers throughout spending much more than you. But of course, even at Club races, the level is getting quite high, so you need to expect to to be fully performant on your kart to to have a chance at winning. Of course, you cannot show up with a broken kart and a faulty engine and expect to win, even if you’re Ayrton Senna. You need everything. You need the proper chassis. You need a proper engine. You need the proper driver to win the race. But yeah, the local races, club races, that’s definitely what I would go for if you really want to just get started and not break the bank.

Used kart versus new kart. What should beginners do?

Well, if you’re really caring about getting started, used karts are the first choice, in my opinion, if you just plan to just do some practice days and not expecting to race, then used karts are the best decision, because you will spend 50% or less than the mark like new karts. So of course, instead of spending like 5000 euros for a full kart, including engine, you will spend even like 22,000 so it’s going to be like about 50% less. So you can get get you started with much less commitment, and you can get your initial taste of of kart racing, owner kart racing.

But of course, you know…

New karts are going to be the choice when you will go into into Race mode, I suggest to buy a new kart at the beginning of a new season, and then you will use it for the whole season. And really, when you get when you get serious about it, you will need to spend the money on that, because, as I said, there’s going to be an advantage having a new kart, new chassis. It’s going to have a new frame, new components, and of course, that’s going to give more grip overall to your kart. And I feel that you will need it if you want to achieve better performance overall. So yeah, you can start with the used one. But then, of course, if you want to go into proper races, or even the club races, I at least guarantee suggested you get a brand new kart at the beginning of the season. I know it’s going to be next to expense, but if you want to get the results, that’s what you have to spend, and otherwise you can just stick to what you have, but don’t expect the results.

How can drivers get track time cheaply?

Well, the best way to get track time cheaply is simply by doing a lot of testing, days with your own go kart and without a mechanic, without new tires, without a engine rental fee, so just showing up bleacher with your kart, just paying for the entry ticket of about 60 euros, paying for the fuel for a full day of 100 laps, which is going to be about 50 euros. And then you’ll have to spend for about, yeah, just like 40 years, 3050 euros or something for a used set of tires, or you can even take some tires from the garbage, but that for sure, you can get with with just 150 euros, you can get yourself a day of driving the local karting track, and that is definitely a good way to Do it as much truck time as possible, because truck time is key. You only get good by driving more every day you are not driving, you’re getting worse. Actually, think about if you’re not driving for 100 days, you’re not going to stay at the same level as you left. You be worse. So, yeah, definitely need to double down on your on your training days, and if you are really strapped on on cash and your budget is very limited, I encourage you to do less races and more testing days and spend less on your testing days. You do not need a race engine. You do not need, necessarily, new tires. Of course, the major thing you have to build is your muscle memory, and build your your and build your your skills. Of course, you’ll also want to have very good equipment for the races, or at least good equipment to like I would buy a new kart, a very good kart, and I would then just use that. And of course, if you drive with a crappy kart, that’s not good, but it’s better to drive with a new kart and spend quite a lot up front than to save up on a kart and buy a shitty truck, a kart and then hoping to make it up with new tires or a race engine. There’s no point for that. You know, it’s better to buy a very good kart and then save up some money with the with the rate new tires, by just using used tires and saving up with the engine, by just using your own engine instead of paying for a rent, rental engine. There’s just literally no point in a testing day.

You know how important is private testing early on?

Well, it’s extremely important. I already mentioned it, as in any sport, the more repetition, the more skills you build. It’s all about the muscle memory. And as well as a tennis player needs to practice four or five hours a day, a racing drivers needs to also practice a lot. And if you just expect to win by practicing once a month. It’s just complete fullness. And yeah, it’s not going to be possible. So the level is getting higher and higher every year. So it will require from you to be extremely, extremely committed. And, yeah, you will need to spend time, allocate time. And I know with school or other commitments, it’s not going to be easy, but if you really want to do this seriously, you need to invest time into that, and that’s going to give you the best ROI on your money, I would say, into testing. Track time better spend more time testing, more days, testing in a cheap way than more races. Because in the race days, you in a testing day, you do actually about 150 days. Sorry, you do about 150 laps per day, whereas in a race day, you just do about like 4050 laps per day. So you understand how a. Much of a difference there is between a practice day and a race day.

What equipment can be safely bought secondhand?

Well, one of the equipment that can be bought secondhand, safely and not really hurt performance, is a ray protector, a helmet. Those are the two things, of course, a race suit, I would suggest you to get a proper race suit that is custom made with your own size, so that you are not going to be too tight or too wide into the into the suit. The suit actually makes a big difference in terms of aerodynamics. So you do not want to get an oversized suit, because then it’s gonna make you actually slow down on the straights, or if it’s too tight, you’re actually gonna feel like you cannot move properly in the kart. So the suit should be definitely a good investment, as well as your gloves and boots. If you have no good feeling when you drive, there’s no way to be fast, you know, you there’s no point to waste Alpha second in your shoes or boots, sorry, shoes or gloves. If, you know, if just, just get a set of shoes and gloves, professional ones, and then just use them for for a long time, but I will. I if you want to save up, you can save up on a second hand helmet and a second helmet, second hand rip protector. You can save up about 500 600 euros from an helmet and about 200 for rip protector. There’s going to be a lot of people we’re going to sell, sell their own one

what expenses should never be cheaped out on

I believe that you should never, ever, ever be cheap on your kart purchase. What I mean is that you should get a professional go kart at the beginning of the season, instead of trying to save up for a used kart. Reason Why is you’d never know how much laps the used kart has done, whether he has some some micro cracks in the tubes. And at the same time, I feel that you want to get all the materials and tools, basically all the accessories in the karts to be new, like stub axles, axles, rims, bearings, all the things that are going to deal with the friction of the kart. Because, remember, the friction is going to be a big factor when, when the performance is is, is going to be high and the competition is high. So I think you should not be cheap on the kart that you actually buy if you want to, just like club races, of course, if you want to go for a proper team, they are going to provide everything. You will not have to buy anything. But if you have your own kart. I would not be cheap on a kart. I would get the best chassis for the specific category you’re on, if you know, if you’re in in shifters, I would get the best shifter kart. If you’re in 60 minutes, we’ll get the best 60 mini kart. For example, it’s parallel in 60 mini in shifters is SoDI in juniors, is probably OTK, so you want to get the best kart for the category and also get a new and I would get a really good engine just for the testing, like buy it just for the testing. But then if you go for a race, I would just use a rented engine, a proper one from a proper engine tuner. So I would not be cheap on these things.

What are the biggest waste of money beginners make?

I feel that the biggest waste of money the drivers have are, what are the biggest waste of money beginners make? I feel the biggest waste of money is actually spending too little for your own kart, in a way that you try to save maybe, like 50% on your like, on your own kart, but then you actually

are going to lose so much performance down the road. So I would spend actually a bit more for your kart when you big purchase it at the beginning of the season, and that is going to give you a much better return on your performance than buying a cheap kart, broken kart, a second hand kart, that’s maybe going to just require you and actually way more maintenance costs and at the end of the day you you ironically end to end up paying more from a used beated up kart than just buying a brand new kart at a discount somewhere on somebody, maybe just reselling it somewhere you can find it the cheaper deal, but still brand new. So I think that’s one of the biggest, actual ironical thing, trying to save money on your. Or race kart at the end of the day, you actually end up spending more with maintenance. And then I feel like new tires are overpriced for beginners. They don’t need to get new tires or even race engines just for test days. You don’t need race engines for test days. You just need practice engines. So I think it’s a bit overpriced for just a set testing purposes. For beginners, you just need to drive, drive, drive. And when you go to the races, yes, sure, get a proper race engine rented. But for testing days, there’s no need. So I think that’s a bit of a waste of money to spend like 500 years for rented engine, just for a day if you actually just need to learn how to drive that track.

And the big question how to progress with outreach parents or unlimited budgets?

Well, that’s the thing in racing. You know, it’s hard to to make it work unless you have large pockets. The way to get sponsored and make it through in racing is by getting sponsors, so becoming a proper brand, building influence online and, yeah, just getting social media follows, and really getting a lot of influence outside the track, so that once You go and talk to brands and you know, pitch your pitch your budget requirements, they are going to much more likely give you some sponsorship. And that’s going to fuel as pure per oxygen your your career. So I do believe that becoming marketable and becoming a brand early on in your career, it’s going to give you much higher chance of becoming a race driver by obviously fueling your your dreams, and of course, progressing through through the ranks by getting sponsors. But you should double down on social media, shoot videos, create content, become likable personality, and you’ll see that with or without results, you can get yourself sponsored. It is which is exactly what you need to then have better equipment, better teams, better results, and ultimately a higher chance of becoming for OneDrive. So with all these tips, I believe this guide is going to be very, very helpful. And I wish it is, by the way, invaluable for you to get an idea of all the cheap ways to get you started in karting and save up money hurting so that you can become a proper racing driver without having to break the bank. And I really look forward to hearing from you. I hope you’re gonna have a blast and that you’re gonna able to fuel your dreams if you want to get some remote coaching online and feel like getting faster. Well, sign up to our onboard video analysis remote coaching program, as well as our six months membership online course where we’re going to take you from zero to hero and well, remember at the end of the day, everything you need is just more track time, better coaching, and with enough practice and enough coaching, you’re gonna get good enough to win and progress through the career.

Hope to see you soon. Remember just senndit! 😉