Any great ideas for a karting track in town?

One of the challenges faced by karting promoters is bringing in the crowd of spectators. Getting the average joe to go all the way to places like Sepang and Elite (Shah Alam stadium is not too bad) is a difficult task unless you get a significant bunch of petrol heads.

So, why don't we bring the races to where the crowd is... ie, right smack in town... KL, PJ, Shah Alam, Klang etc. Create an atmosphere like Monaco and the likes. If any of you watched the A1GP race at Durban South Africa, you'd see the crowds were pretty packed... and the Durban race is a street race (with a beach, no less).

So anyway, I'd like to start a discussion of some good track suggestions in the heart of town. Some features:

  • The "lap" should be around 0.8 to 1.5km long
  • must have sufficient spectator space (and perhaps space to put some temporary stands)
  • sufficient turns for a kart race
  • sufficient space for advertising boards

All this is on the assumption that we can get the likes of DBKL etc to close some roads for one day.

So please post your ideas.

edwynlow | TheFazz wrote:alfagta

edwynlow's picture

TheFazz wrote:
alfagta wrote:

What about sri hartamas area?
This one I might can help out....
anyone can deisgn the track?

how can you help out here? the main challenge for me are twofold:

1/ council approvals
2/ funding

Maybe after the mykart MME 2008, I will look into this matter. By then, I should have answers from the councils and etc.. things to prepare and etc..

TheFazz | alfagta wrote:What about sri

TheFazz's picture

alfagta wrote:

What about sri hartamas area?
This one I might can help out....
anyone can deisgn the track?

how can you help out here? the main challenge for me are twofold:

1/ council approvals
2/ funding

alfagta | What about sri hartamas

alfagta's picture

What about sri hartamas area?
This one I might can help out....
anyone can deisgn the track?

Tarmizi | des_k wrote:I always liked

Tarmizi's picture

des_k wrote:

I always liked the idea of having the race in Melaka Town ..
in and out of jonker streeettt.. whizzing thru historical buildings !!! wahhh...
what say u guys ?

this is nice!

hanifcd | saa73 wrote:hanifcd wrote:I

hanifcd's picture

saa73 wrote:
hanifcd wrote:

I would really love to see a karting track near The Curve, IKEA and Ikano area. There are a couple of open lands well suited for a karting track but then again the land would be expensive. Imagine how much the crowd would be and how many potential new 'addicts' will come Eye . I think its a great place to put a track.

Interestingly, when I bought a condo unit near the Curve from Sunway Bhd, the sales mgr mentioned to me that the big piece of land next to Dataran Sunway in Kota Damansara (not too far from Original Kayu where we had the 2008 AGM) was going to be the new location of Sunway Extreme Park, which includes a kart track among other things, and also a petting zoo.

Not sure what happened to the idea, if it is still planning stage, or shelved altogether.

This would be a great location...next to a huge commercial area (one of the largest in the country encompassing Dataran Sunway, The Strand, Giant Hypermarket) and within the Kota Damansara/Tropicana area where many karters including yours truly live..so large buying area to tap...plus it's very close to Sri KDU and SEGI college....

Anyway, let me check with someone in Sunway on this....

Yes do check again, maybe we could build another track for two-wheelers so they won't race illegaly Sticking out tongue

timmsm | saa73 wrote:plus it's very

timmsm's picture

saa73 wrote:

plus it's very close to Sri KDU and SEGI college....

Yeah, and have you seen how the Formula 1 mothers race around the roads surrounding the school Eye

saa73 | hanifcd wrote:I would really

saa73's picture

hanifcd wrote:

I would really love to see a karting track near The Curve, IKEA and Ikano area. There are a couple of open lands well suited for a karting track but then again the land would be expensive. Imagine how much the crowd would be and how many potential new 'addicts' will come Eye . I think its a great place to put a track.

Interestingly, when I bought a condo unit near the Curve from Sunway Bhd, the sales mgr mentioned to me that the big piece of land next to Dataran Sunway in Kota Damansara (not too far from Original Kayu where we had the 2008 AGM) was going to be the new location of Sunway Extreme Park, which includes a kart track among other things, and also a petting zoo.

Not sure what happened to the idea, if it is still planning stage, or shelved altogether.

This would be a great location...next to a huge commercial area (one of the largest in the country encompassing Dataran Sunway, The Strand, Giant Hypermarket) and within the Kota Damansara/Tropicana area where many karters including yours truly live..so large buying area to tap...plus it's very close to Sri KDU and SEGI college....

Anyway, let me check with someone in Sunway on this....

Tarmizi | around bangsar is nice..LOl

Tarmizi's picture

around bangsar is nice..LOl

the curve area should be cool...

dinesh | i agree with STUART....plaza

i agree with STUART....plaza damas will be a good place

TheFazz | i think the first step is to

TheFazz's picture

i think the first step is to talk to the various municipalities. the proposition is being a crowd puller - which i think is always a great thing for town councils in general. let's discuss this at saturday's FOUNDATION meeting.

hanifcd | I would really love to see a

hanifcd's picture

I would really love to see a karting track near The Curve, IKEA and Ikano area. There are a couple of open lands well suited for a karting track but then again the land would be expensive. Imagine how much the crowd would be and how many potential new 'addicts' will come Eye . I think its a great place to put a track.

timmsm | presumably it would be MBPJ

timmsm's picture

presumably it would be MBPJ or DBKL (in conjunction with PDRM?) who is the authority we need approval from. But to hel facilitate the red tape, perhaps we could approach a body like MAM?

edwynlow | To me, I reckon making a

edwynlow's picture

To me, I reckon making a track from any place in KL is easy. The most important thing is planning, and authority. How shall we start off? Who shall we look for or to discuss with; if we are to do something like this? All these questions have to be answered first, before we planned a track layout..

karter_stuart | Hey Guys I think that this

karter_stuart's picture

Hey Guys

I think that this is a very interesting idea so i decided to make up a track of my own around the road in Plaza Damas. It has an up hill and a down hill as well as a drive through an carpark. only down side is that there are curbs and the track out side the carpark isnt flat its like textured if u know what i mean. The track can be seen at;

http://club.my-kart.org/node/2882

dennisHo | hey guys! more new ideas

hey guys!

more new ideas from me. i think large car parks should be targetted. its like a blank canvas and u can design almost any track u want.

http://club.my-kart.org/node/2873[/url]

http://club.my-kart.org/node/2872[/url]

http://club.my-kart.org/node/2871

http://club.my-kart.org/node/2870

willy | What a great idea Fazz, this

willy's picture

What a great idea Fazz, this is surely going to boost the name of My-Kart. I can imagine the hectic work to get it done, you are the man!!

As for which track, IMHO I think it pretty much depends on the main purpose behind as well as the deal with local authority.

Make it KL town if you want to gain public attention but try to make it in the afternoon instead. Most people will either be working or sleeping at 8.30am of Sat.

Else if you just want to have a street racing event, or try out something new rather than CK/Elite/Sepang then try out those lake gardens mentioned. Count the lake garden beside 1-Utama new wing in as well, and use its car park entrance as main straight Smiling

It is really a great idea. Bravo!!

Nohad | Below is my 200VND worth

Nohad's picture

Below is my 200VND worth point of view :

Technology Park Malaysia
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2844

Won't be much an impact by attracting spectators as it is away from the crowd. Sad

Lake Garden - Only guessing the layout because of the trees
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2843

Nice choice but the track is bumpy as reported.
The location didn't attract as much crowd as expected in 1996 when Malaysian rally held a SS there. (Even with Colin McRae + the other world class drivers)
Sad Cry

Kota Raya
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2842

You will having 1/2 of Klang Valley folks cursing you for the traffic chaos caused by closures of the main roads (eg. Jln Tun Perak). Take Tour of Langkawi as example but that has the national backing.

Jln Alor
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2841

Good choice! Thumbs up but the route need to be changed to avoid closure of Jln Sultan Ismail & causing 1/2 the Klang Valley folks cursing at you.

I would suggest using the Jln Alor, turn right into (what's the name of the road?) and come back thru Jln Tung Shin.

Berjaya Times Square
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2840

Will be nice if could avoid Jln Pudu.

dennisHo | thanks as for the layout of

thanks as for the layout of the track, a divider might have to be placed.

ajak | good idea des. can get some

good idea des. can get some Babas and Nyonyas to participate in the race. Good .......I think Fazz will like it..

dennisHo | Hey guys!! i got a track for

Hey guys!! i got a track for you. Its the car park of the Desa Water Park
in Old Klang Road. It has ample space for equipment and the likes and the layout can see many overtaking opportunities available. If I'm not mistaken, they used to have a track there although its gone now and was a great crowd puller. So i think a permit to set up there isn't too much of a problem based on past events. hope you will like it. Its really near my place and i can join in to!!!!

edwynlow | Guys, I have helped Dennis

edwynlow's picture

Guys, I have helped Dennis upload a photo of an idea of the track at Tmn Desa. Do check it out!

http://club.my-kart.org/node/2863

TheFazz | some of these

TheFazz's picture

some of these recommendations are hard to imagine... would it be possible to highlight them using wikimapia - like what edwyn has done?

des_k | I always liked the idea of

des_k's picture

I always liked the idea of having the race in Melaka Town ..
in and out of jonker streeettt.. whizzing thru historical buildings !!! wahhh...
what say u guys ?

sabelt | dataran putrajaya

sabelt's picture

dataran putrajaya

bosozoku | how about around Pusat

bosozoku's picture

how about around Pusat Bandar Damansara?

1. Start/finish infront of Immigration Office/Lebuhraya Sprint (down hill parabolic)
2. Turn 1 (right hander) into Jalan Johar, uphill straight
3. Turn 2 (right hander) into Lebuhraya Sprint, downhill straight
4. Turn 3 (right hander) into Jalan Damansuria (towards PBD, Town Center)
5. Turn 4 (sharp left hander)along Jalan Damansuria
6. Turn 5 (sharp right turn) back to start/finish straight

euss72 | How about Taman Tasik

euss72's picture

How about Taman Tasik Titiwangsa? Puzzled there are a few roads there where we can design the track. Alternatively, we can look at Jln Tun Ahmad Fuad at TTDI near old IBM office Thumbs up . I used to work around there and must admin had dreamt of having my-kart street race there Eye Laughing out loud

OSFlanker | TheFazz wrote: looks good! i

OSFlanker's picture

TheFazz wrote:

looks good! i think lake garden would be excellent. although the surface
might not be right.

Lake Garden is my usual jogging venue and I would agree the surface won't be suitable. Even on running shoes some part of the track is slippery due to fungus, and some of the rubberised track have already disintegrated within months of the surface being laid.

Barriers would also be an issue as one lap around the gardens (not just the lake) is around 3km.

Lastly, half the park is currently under renovation so nobody can use it anyway.

Actually I think Shah Alam would make a good street circuit coz the traffic is light during the weekends around the UMNO building/Blue Wave Hotel/police station block. I used to run around that block and the distance is around 1.2km.

Another alternative to consider would be the Agricultural Park. The surface is smooth.

TheFazz | edwynlow wrote:I have check

TheFazz's picture

edwynlow wrote:

I have check out some places for the street circuit. Not sure if it is possible, but what the heck..

Technology Park Malaysia
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2844

Lake Garden - Only guessing the layout because of the trees
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2843

Kota Raya
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2842

Jln Alor
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2841

Berjaya Times Square
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2840

looks good! i think lake garden would be excellent. although the surface might not be right.

edwynlow | I have check out some places

edwynlow's picture

I have check out some places for the street circuit. Not sure if it is possible, but what the heck..

Technology Park Malaysia
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2844

Lake Garden - Only guessing the layout because of the trees
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2843

Kota Raya
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2842

Jln Alor
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2841

Berjaya Times Square
http://club.my-kart.org/node/2840

TheFazz | the subject of street races

TheFazz's picture

the subject of street races re-surfaced in the recent thread on racing in sepang. Rather than bring the other thread off topic, why don't we continue the discussion here.