Karting   Academy class re-launched |10 March 2022

Young boys and girls during Saturday’s ‘karting introduction’ session

Last Saturday, the Seychelles Karting Association re-launched its Academy class of 2022 after a break of over two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions with their ‘karting introduction’ session where a group of 18 new members ‒ boys and girls ‒ aged between 8 and 19 years took part.

In the past, the association took in 10 to 15 newcomers annually who would then go through the mandatory six-month training course before they sat for the proficiency test in order to gain their racing license which would then allow them to start competing in the lower categories such as the Cadet and Junior classes.

This year, a similar programme is being used, however the training committee has made some fine-tuning of their training schedule to make it livelier for the youngsters, as with the shortage of junior karts available, the young drivers had to sit and wait for a kart that they could fit in properly and which sometimes would have at least three or four others who would have to use the same kart.

This year with the larger number of newcomers joining, they have been split into two groups, each turning up on separate days where they would have full access to their preferred kart for the whole session. This, the association added, will keep them on track with standard operating procedures (SOPs) of not having too many people at each session.

Last Saturday at the Champions Park Raceway, Roche Caïman, the session began with the newcomers selecting their preferred karts, which included checking for seat size, pedals and steering reach and then given a brief rundown of the circuit directions, entry and exit points and explaining the first two of the 10 flags that they will use on any day. From there they were introduced to the karts where they were shown how to use the accelerator and brake pedals, and also how to hold the steering wheel in a proper and secure manner.

Once they had become accustomed to these, they were let loose for a session of slow laps around the circuit just to put into practice what they had been taught earlier, with the instructors watching eagerly for any mistakes being made and correcting them.

The excitement was evident, with most of them discussing with new found friends what they had experienced while others were eagerly waiting to get out on track for another run.

The SKA was overjoyed by the group’s first taste of karting as there was not a single person who either crashed into the barriers or slid off the track and onto the grass as what normally happened in all their past newcomer group introductions, and this has led them to believe that this year’s group will turn out to be one of the best groups of drivers ever.

Parents were all present to follow their siblings’ progress, many were from the same family, brothers and sisters, which keeps to the tradition of karting in Seychelles being a family friendly sport.

The SKA is also welcoming parents who want to assist in officiating or other duties to join up so as to make it a bigger family and to make it more enjoyable for not only the drivers but the parents too.

The day’s session ended in the late evening where the groups were fed with information of their next sessions and also to recap some of their mistakes they had made on the day.

Contributed