One track in Teesside runs stag and hen events. Karting works for these groups because everyone can do it and nobody needs to be good at it.
Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Karting North East is an outdoor kart circuit at the Warden Law Motorsports Centre, off Hangman's Lane on the southern edge of Sunderland, a few minutes from the A19. The main track is 1,200 metres long and has been in use since the 1990s. There is also a smaller junior training circuit on site.
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
TeamSport Newcastle is an indoor electric karting venue at Armstrong Works on Scotswood Road, about two miles west of the city centre. It has two tracks: a 500-metre multi-level main circuit with 12 corners and a 200-metre starter track.
Price not published
Durham
TopGear Karting is a small indoor kart track on Renny's Lane Industrial Estate at Gilesgate Moor, on the eastern side of Durham. The circuit is about 200 metres long, with laps of around 20 seconds and up to eight karts on track at once.
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.