FAQs

MY SON/DAUGHTER really wants to compete in motorsport AND WE WOULD LIKE TO GET GOING?

If you are serious about starting a career in motorsport stating with karting, it all starts with getting an Intro Course in a full FIA spec race kart. One-off drives really teach the youngsters or you as a parent very little. Ideally it is a four week (every Tuesday) intensive training and driving course with expert Trainers to start their step into the amazing sport of karting…. This is done on Tuesdays at Killarney (day especially for newcomers and novices) and is only reserved for those who are serious about starting a karting career. The four weeks is as much about you as a parent learning as it is your child.

The driver must wear closed shoes (trainers), long pants and long sleeves and the team will supply all the safety gear. Expert trainers take care of you with full briefings and guidance throughout the 4 week experience as they get to drive the circuit in a fully race-spec kart for 3 x 8 minute sessions per Tuesday. 5 - 7 year olds start in the Tillotson Cadet karts, 8-12 year olds in the MiniRok kart and then 13+ run in either the Junior or Senior Max karts. You can usually allow 2.5 hours start to finish on each (Tuesday) training day and expect 3 x 8 minute on-track sessions (which they will sleep for hours afterwards!) with full training, feedback and briefings in between. To arrange a 4 week Novice Intro course simply send us an email HERE and we will try our best to arrange this for your budding Champion. (Limited spaces avaiable)

If you want to jump to main circuit racing from karting (14yo+) or start your career there (16+), you are welcome to get hold of us for a chat and we can talk you through your next steps and give you the very best impartial advice. We have been working hard to bring the ANGRiRacing Academy to Circuit racing in Cape Town and alongside BTX your future Champion can get the best focussed training in karting or on the main circuit. We can also guide you on all the race gear from the best global motorsport brands that is in stock at ANGRi HQ.

how old (OR YOUNG) do you need to be to race?

You can start kart racing from the year you turn 5 (This is when most of our expert trainers started), however you are never too old to take up karting and compete on the National and International stage. Whilst 20 years old might be slightly too late to progress to F1…. the possibility of Karting World Finals and National or even Internationals titles can become a reality. If you just want to race for the pure enjoyment, then as long as you can hang onto the steering wheel… you will be ok. However, we have to focus our time and resources on building Champions for South Africa, so If you want to be the best, ideally you should be aged between 4 and 15 years old where an Academy would be glad to have you and push your skills to the limit. If you are older, then get in touch and we will happily advise you accordingly. Karting gives a great grounding for any aspiring driver, but if you are starting out late and approaching 16yo it may well be a better idea to talk to us about starting in Main Circuit racing instead.

so how does it work, what is the process to start karting?

Before investing in any equipment, organise a 4 week Intro course at the for your budding Champion first… This will get the driver up to safer practice speeds by building confidence and skills, and by the end of the course they will not only be very sure they want to do it (and the parent become more comfortable with their potential next investment), they will already have some awesome driver training behind them and ready for their next step. The course is just as important for the parent as it is the young driver as you will have a lot of time to chat to the team and experience the work going into prepping karts and drivers over the 4 weeks and realise what it takes to become a karting Mum or Dad. It will be more effort, costs and time consuming than running to soccer practice.

Then it is crunch time… it’s time to buy your kart and equipment, club membership, race license and safety gear (we will of course guide and help you with that and we stock a massive range at our Racing HQ in Killarney Gardens) or you pack your bags and go home and buy some new soccer boots or a hockey stick.

Choosing the correct series and equipment is vital, and we will guide you on what is perfect for your young driver. If you have not just won the lottery, there is a healthy market of good second hand kart and safety equipment available in SA, but we will guide you in what will be best for your driver, and we also stock most of the best karting safety-gear brands should you need it. It is essential to have the RIGHT (and legal) equipment suited to your driver, and also to pay the right amount for it. Also, don’t be fooled by ads or salesman wanting to sell you a kart… just ask us for advice first as it is essential for it to be legal to be raced (homologated), up to 2025 spec and of course there needs to be plentiful spares available at your home track on race day (things do break and accidents happen).

There is no escaping the fact that 2-stroke karting is infinitely more expensive than any traditional sport search as Rugby, Hockey and Netball. Setup costs (your kart, engine, trolley and equipment) will easily cost IRO R60-R150,000.00 to be competitive and have all the safety gear you need. If you go ‘new’ it’s at least 50% on top of that. It’s not for the feint hearted or the faint walleted, but the wonderful human beings that this sport generates is priceless.

Now you own a kart (and trolley and a lap timer) and have bought all of your quality kart clothing and safety gear (helmet, gloves, boots, suit and rib protector) from ANGRiRacing HQ you are officially a karter. You then join the WPMC (which also has excellent benefits linked to it - by simply emailing Terri HERE), pay your annual pit (approx R1800) and track access fees (approx R4235) to WPMC by emailing The Club Secretary HERE and then you practice practice practice, or you join the Academy that not only will push your skills very quickly, we will take care of all the oily stuff for you as well, and properly set your kart up so you can just turn up and be great!

Now you have had your basic coaching and building skills, you are getting pretty quick and it’s time to start entering some races. Grab your Racing License from MSA ( CLICK HERE to see how), Register your Race Number (CLICK HERE to see how) and then line up on the grid. If you are serious about things, then you can hook up with BTX for some one on one expert training and development programmes and be sure to organise a nice big shelf at home for all the trophies that will be coming your way!

If you are an established Karter with winning trophies and aged 14yo+, it’s time to ditch the kart and come to main circuit… so call us. If you have never karted before and you are at least 16yo… then don’t waste your time on the kart circuit and start your racing career on main circuit in real race cars.

how much racing is there in sa?

We have a very healthy and exciting professional 2-stroke kart calendar in SA. We also have a great range of classes which we will help you make the right decisions to get you or your child into the right one. We have approx 9 Western province Championship race weekends here at Killarney every year where kids from as young as 5 can compete to earn their ‘Champion’ status and Western Province Colours for Motorport! Nationally we have two types of 4-event National Championships where you get to compete on other amazing SA circuits such as Idube (Pietermaritzburg), Port Elizabeth, Zwartkops (Pretoria), V-Town (Vereeniging) and Formula-K (Benoni). Here you can become an SA Champion, earn your Country’s Protea colours and also win a ticket to race against the rest of the world in the Rotax and Rok World Finals.

This all sounds a logistical nightmare and quite daunting, but being in a quality team makes it so much easier with our support on all tracks (and pre-run practice at National Circuits to get you faster than the locals in preparation for Championship races). But getting to Nationals can be expensive, so arm yourself with the best skills and mindset through one on one driver coaching with BTX.

For the older and less serious ‘hobbyist’ drivers, WPMC has a Clubmans class that allows you to run older (and therefore cheaper) race equipment. Whilst still expensive compared to buying a football kit and football boots, it is a fair bit more affordable than the Rotax/Rok Championship 2-stroke racing done in Cape Town and Nationally. Unfortunately we cant help you with that, but will happily point you in the right direction.

For main circuit racing, we have so much going on in SA…. but our initial focus is on the correct path married to the aspirations of our drivers and to make every season count in their progression to their goals. The choice starts with ‘Open wheeler’ (F1 style cars) or ‘Saloon’ (DTM, LeMans closed roof cars). From their we start their journey across a range of race series available in SA including MSA4 (open wheeler) or the saloons including Polo Cup, SupaCup, Gti Challenge and BMW Series to name but a few before moving into Europe and Asia with F4, F3, Nova Prototypes, Porsche Cup and similar developmental series.

i have seen / done indoor karting… is this the same?

Absolutely not and nowhere near. This is not ‘Leisure’ or ‘Corporate’ Rental karting and this is not available to just come and have a one-off fun drive in unfortunately. Professional 2 stroke karting is where all of the current F1 stars grew up competitively racing in top-spec powerful karts, racing under FIA rules. You will also find them on the kart tracks in between F1 races training, sharpening their skills and keeping race fit. Kart equipment is expensive precision equipment (not unlike Formula 1 cars) and a good race setup is critical. The speeds of these karts can reach upwards of 130kph down the straight at Killarney over a 1km track and is very much a professional sport where great skill and driver training is needed to succeed. (As opposed to a shopping centre based indoor kart tracks of 200m using 40kph 4-stroke karts). The price difference is also frightening.

when do i need ACADEMY TRAINING?

Firstly, everyone these days is now calling themselves an ‘Academy’. An Academy is only as good as the experience of the driver trainers there and the driver trainers need to be young and active and successful on circuits in order to properly connect with, and inspire the young drivers, practicing what they are preaching. Anyone can ‘run’ and maintain your kart for you, but training your driver to have the winning mentality and skillset is a completely different kettle of fish. Whilst Academies offer the basics of getting to pace, alongside your Academy training (and if you want to be the very best), you really need focussed one on one driver development alongside nutition, wellness and mindset straining from experts such as BTX. These are true Champions training our future Champions.

There are generally three types of karters (or kart parents)…..
The first is the ‘Racing just for Fun’ which is where many start off. This Father/Mother and Son/Daughter team is the essence of what karting is about and many a fun hour can be spent at the track on a low budget together doing laps with the parents taking care of all the mechanics, cleaning and oily bits. Even at this relaxed stage, Academy training can accelerate progress to the podium by as much as a year and even if it is for fun, you still want to be competitive so should be a strong consideration. Racing in the mid-pack is only fun for a short while and can end up false economy with constant race damage to the kart. ‘Racing just for fun’ is a fantastic notion and for some (due to budget restraints) is where it regrettably has to stay as it gets more expensive the further up the field you get. However, with training, inevetibily your youngster is starting to get quicker and the podium is beckoning and so might a potential race career which leads us to the second type of karter….

… Which is the potential ‘Race Career ‘ and ‘Competitive’ approach which is no less fun, but starts to be a little more expensive as more competitive (newer) equipment and Academy Support and focussed one on one BTX Coaching and Development is absolutely essential. Skill development takes time and commitment as it will be the driver extracting the best out of the better, more expensive equipment and not the other way round. Many parents make the mistake of buying the expensive equipment many months before the driver is able to extract the best out of it, so invest in basic training for your driver first and we will tell you as soon as you might need to invest further and step the equipment and training quality up a notch.

There is also a massive difference between companies or teams that ‘run’ your child and kart (all too often called ‘Academies’) as opposed to ANGRiRacing and BTX full time one-on-one driver coaching from actual Champions with true data driven driver development alongside the ‘running the kart’ part serviced by your ‘Academy’. Yes it may cost a little bit more, but your driver is your greatest asset and it is he or she that will benefit greatly from personal coaching where all data, footage and learnings are drilled down on. With this training and driver development you are now stepping onto the podium fighting for the top step…. which leads us to the last type…

… The Future World Champion! Driver training , learning, fitness and development never stops and it is important to understand ‘benchmarks’. To win the Nationals and represent SA against the rest of the world (or follow a Motorsport career into Europe) means that you actually need to be streets ahead of your closest rival in South Africa because odds are he or she is not the second best in the world! When karting (or any motorsport discipline), in order to develop World Champions it is important to understand these benchmarks, and if you are winning every week in Cape Town, or around SA that is not where you stop pushing and learning to better your skills. Focussed training ensures that every day, there are more techniques to hone, and that extra 1/10 of a second to find in order to get closer to becoming the Karting World Champion or Formula racer you want to be. The network across Europe and the Middle East also provides the opportunity to regularly race and measure our drivers against the very best in the world.

Every karter benefits massively from one on one focussed training (such as BTX) and the accompanying race support from their Academy and whilst it unavoidably adds to the karting monthly bills and unfortunately not everyone can afford it, it is the best investment you can make in the success of your child’s karting career and is almost false economy not to. Alongside BTX’s Champion training philosophy, Nutritionalists, Driver Psychology and specialist fitness trainers there is an awful lot of moving parts in getting to the top but without them you wont get there (as your competitors have them).

i know nothing about karts and anything technical?

That’s no problem, structured our training programmes usually include full mechanical support and service programmes where you just sit back and relax whilst the teams take care of everything. Parental time is stretched and yet kart practice during the week or Saturday is critical when you start getting closer to the podiums. On proper full service programmes you are able to simply drop off your young driver with the team for the afternoon and they take care of everything. For those teams that dont have that, then teh focussed one and one training along side this may solve your problems and also have a driver fighting for the top step a lot quicker. This also extends to full logistics of equipment around the country and Worldwide. Many of our own International drivers travel only with their team (and personal trainer) whilst the parent’s carry on their work duties and commitments back at home.

WHERE DO I BUY MY KARTS, ENGINES AND SAFETY GEAR?

It is important before you walk into a kart retailer (or look on Gumtree) to fully understand what you are potentially going to be racing, your future aspirations and also fully assessing race categories that are going to match up to these aspirations and help develop your skills alongside your training. We are not tied to a Chassis or Engine brand or race series unlike anyone else in SA and purely have your best interest at heart and will help and guide you all the way whether you join us or not.

We do try our best to snap up all of the best used karts and equipment we find to ensure that new karters are able to have access to extremely affordable quality equipment well below market price, but we never have enough. We will also happily assess any equipment you are considering as older equipment can be rendered useless which can’t be spotted by the untrained eye. Conversely, new equipment for a driver just starting out is usually overkill and you will be throwing away expensive equipment as they learn (as accidents do happen). We have great relationships with all of the Chassis and Engine importers in SA and once we have helped you decide on what is best for your racing career, we will point you to the the correct retailers and will gladly help you get the right deal (and the right kart!). As Rotax and Rok experts with zero sales bias, we will happily guide you perfectly all the way.

As motorsport helmets and safety equipment are always in such short supply in SA, ANGRi Racing HQ is the largest ARAI Motorsport distributor in Africa as well as having a full OMP and SPARCO Karting showroom where we always keep a large amount of race-ready karting (CK6 the CMR helmet essential for U16s and SK6 for 16+) and main circuit helmets (GP6/GP7) in stock as well as large range of Sparco CMR Helmets and race gear, JECKO and OMP race gear and Kart essentials from MYLAPS, EVS and UNIPRO. You can find everything in our SHOP SECTIONS on the top navigation or at out ANGRiRacing HQ in Killarney Gardens (just over the road from the track). If you dont find what you are looking for, just give us a call as we probably have it or know where to grab it immediately for you.

WHY is ANGRI RACING ACADEMY NOW moving focus to main circuit, WHO IS BTX AND WHO ARE WORR?

Sometimes… one plus one plus one can equal five! When you take three of the very best Motorsport, Karting and Driver development teams and bring them together, we created the most comprehensive team of experts and facilities to give our karting and main circuit drivers the very best training and equipment to compete at the top Worldwide . WORR Motosport were the perfect fit for taking over logistics at the ANGRi Racing KART Academy at Killarney. The vision, philosophy, skills, resources, network and opportunities this collaboration brings together for our drivers is unrivalled anywhere in the world. Whilst ANGRi’s main focus is to get drivers to world class standards from karting through to the highest level of circuit racing, we at ANGRiRacing are fully committed to growing the sport and WORR plays a leading role in facilitating new young karting talent to access and join our sport across the country. These youngsters then grow into main circuit racing with ANGRi Racing in South Africa and into Europe. BTX then sit above all of that for the drivers wanting to make rapid progress and are fully invested in their development and rise to the top (and staying at the top). With focussed one and one driver training from actual Champions in their own disiciplines, mental training alongside nutrition and fitness plans to ensure excellence on the race tracks around the world.

ANGRi Racing’s ‘Academy’ now expands into main circuit racing and the progression for our younger SA drivers moving up from karting or starting out from the age of 14yo as well as providing extensive retail motorsport and karting safety gear and equipment from ANGRi HQ in Killarney Gardens, Cape Town. Our huge workshop facilities also means that your race cars will be built and maintained from our HQ and alongside our partners at LTR (Lee Thompson Racing), our drivers will have a National support and logistics footprint in MSA4, Polo Cup and SupaCup National race series (Extreme Festival).

Our ANGRi Esports division is also pushing our karting and main circuit drivers to the top of their respective league tables from the comfort of their home-based racing simulators.

These FAQs are of course written for people new to the sport, and if you want to be a karter then after some great advice from us, we will direct you towards ANGRi/WORR for your child’s karting intro course and take it from there. For main circuit racing you will stay with us.

how do we get hold of you FOR A CHAT?

It’s really easy. This website cannot give you all of the information you need to get going and it’s always best to give any of us a call or pop down to HQ to have a good chat. We are all extremely passionate about Motorsport and would love the opportunity to talk to you about yours or your child’s specific needs. We are a passionate team of ‘parents of drivers’ as well as drivers and have already walked the walk. BTX’s expert driver training facilities are also based at our HQ at Killarney, so if you are a racing driver wanting to find the special edge and focus you need, then give us a call and arrange on 021 180 4990

You can use our CONTACT PAGE or pop down and see us at 28 Mansell Road, Killarney Gardens, Cape Town, we are always here!