2 tracks in Devon run stag and hen events. Karting works for these groups because everyone can do it and nobody needs to be good at it.
Dunkeswell, Devon
750 metres of smooth tarmac at Dunkeswell Aerodrome in east Devon, averaging eight metres wide: broad enough that overtaking is a real option rather than a hopeful lunge.
Woodbury Salterton, near Exeter, Devon
Raceworld is a 400 metre indoor circuit at Woodbury Salterton, a few miles outside Exeter, and it has been trading since 1994. The layout mixes fast straights with flowing and technical corners and includes a flyover bridge.
Price not published
The thing that catches groups out. Below the minimum you either pay for absent drivers or book an open session instead.
Bristol
An indoor circuit in east Bristol running Sodi GT5 karts, with a double-level layout for drivers tall enough to use it. Being under cover, it runs the same in February as in July: the obvious pick locally if you don't want a session called off for weather.
Price not published
Gloucester
JDR Karting is an indoor karting and activity centre on the Madleaze Trading Estate off Bristol Road in Gloucester, a few minutes' walk from Gloucester Quays. The main circuit is a 300-metre tarmac track with three banked corners, where laps take around 25 seconds. Senior drivers use Sodi SR4 karts with Honda 200cc engines.
Sparkford, near Yeovil, Somerset
A 400-metre outdoor circuit beside Haynes International Motor Museum, laid on the museum's own test track. Petrol karts on tarmac, and a layout with proper braking zones and room to overtake.
Chippenham, Wiltshire
M4 Karting is an indoor kart track inside Hangar 88 on the former Hullavington Airfield, north of Chippenham in Wiltshire. The circuit is 268 metres long with seven corners.
Ten on track at a time is common. A group of twenty means splitting into heats, which changes the shape of the day and usually the price.
Qualifying, heats and a final gives you a winner and a podium. Open sessions blur into one another and nobody remembers who won.
Most race formats need six or more. Below that you are booking arrive and drive whether you meant to or not.
A bar or restaurant on site keeps the group together. Without one the day ends in a car park.