3 tracks in Essex run stag and hen events. Karting works for these groups because everyone can do it and nobody needs to be good at it.
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood Karting runs an 825-metre floodlit outdoor circuit at Warley Gap, about fifteen minutes' walk from Brentwood station and half an hour from central London. It holds the International Rental Karting Award for Best Customer Experience.
Price not published
Purfleet, Essex
Lakeside Karting sits on the A1306 Arterial Road at Purfleet, about half an hour from central London and a few minutes from Lakeside Shopping Centre. It holds the International Rental Karting Award for Best Customer Experience, and is run by Lets Go Active, who also operate Brentwood Karting.
Price not published
Basildon, Essex
TeamSport's Basildon track is in Unit 3 on Festival Way, Basildon. The indoor circuit is about 500 metres long with 12 corners and ramps linking its levels, and up to 16 karts run in a session.
Price not published
The thing that catches groups out. Below the minimum you either pay for absent drivers or book an open session instead.
Ipswich, Suffolk
Anglia Indoor Karting has operated for over 30 years from an industrial unit on Farthing Road, on the western side of Ipswich. The building holds two separate multi-level circuits, each with flyover sections, plus a laser maze.
Price not published
St Albans, Hertfordshire
BattleKart London St Albans is an indoor electric karting venue at Brick Knoll Park on the eastern side of St Albans. Rather than a fixed track, ceiling-mounted projectors display circuits and game arenas on the floor of the hall.
Ellough, near Beccles, Suffolk
Ellough Park near Beccles bills itself as East Anglia's premier outdoor kart circuit and has been running for over twenty years. It uses 390cc Sodi SR5 karts, the same machinery raced in the Sodi World Series, with an adjustable pedal system that alters both distance and height.
Cromer, Norfolk
Karttrak Cromer is an outdoor kart circuit on Hall Road in Cromer, on the north Norfolk coast. The 550-metre tarmac track was resurfaced in 2022 and runs 160cc cadet karts and 200cc junior and adult karts.
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.