Off Road NZ had their open day today in Rotorua which involved some nicely discounted rides on all their offerings. The weather was pretty miserable, with lots of overnight and early morning rain, but when I headed out there around 9:30am the sky was relatively clear.
The one thing I was most excited about trying was the new Raceline Karting which just opened in August 2010.
Raceline Karting is the newest and fastest outdoor Go-Karting in New Zealand available to anyone 14 years or older and 1.4 meters or taller.
Off Road NZ imported twenty 390cc SODI GT3 Karts from France which makes them the only place in New Zealand offering such a high quality rental kart.
They can reach speeds of up to 100kmh (62mph) on the newest and longest, brand new, A-rated karting track in New Zealand.
The track is 1.2km long, 8 metres wide and boasts eleven corners including six hairpins and a 150 metre long straight.
The first thing you notice when you hope into these karts is the quality, they are smart looking karts and they could cater for my large 6’3″ 100kg frame with ease.
The adjustable foot peddles are a nice touch as I’m sure some short legged people would benefit from being able to pull them closer, but for me a couple of extra centimetres longer would have been great.
They have great handling and acceleration even in the wet as you’ll see from my video below. If you’re ever in Rotorua and want to try your hand at New Zealand’s fastest, premier karting experience, then you’ll have to rock on out to Off Road NZ for some extreme kart racing at Raceline Karting!
Raceline Karting on-board Video
My lap times were as follows:
- 1.29.745
- 1.23.183
- 1.21.251
- 1.20.127
- 1.20.694
- 1.18.254
- 1.17.781
Average lap time was 1.21.576 and my best lap time was last full lap at 1:17.781 (average speed of 64.8kmh) which I’ve found out was the second best time for the day.
The rain held out and just as I was leaving, the heavens opened and the rain poured down again, lucky me! 😉
Another video from a separate day
This is a much shorter clip (only two laps) with a wipeout at the end of the second lap.
More info at racelinekarting.co.nz.