School on Weekdays and Karting on Weekends

School on weekdays and karting on weekends "I also won a gold medal at an international competition."

Karts are small cars similar to the popular game 'Kart Rider'.

Teenagers dreaming of becoming future Formula One players train hard.

Jeungpyeong racetrack is crowded with youth drivers on weekends.

Karts like bullets, a magnificent exhaust sound that makes your eardrums burst. 카지노

At the 'Belforet International Moto Arena' in Jeungpyeong, Korea's first internationally certified kart rink, teenagers dreaming of becoming 'Formula 1 (F1)' drivers were racing around the circuit in karts.

Kim Min-jae (10, Shim Seok-cho, Horse Racing), a regular customer of Jeungpyeong Circuit, participated in the KART Sprint Race Cadet Class (8 to 12 years old category) at the ‘Asia Pacific Motorsports Championship’, an international competition held in Malaysia on the 10th.

He is a future Formula One driver who won a gold medal.

He is the first Korean to become the youngest kart champion in an official international competition of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

Minjae Kim and his friends visited the 'Belforet International Moto Arena' every weekend to pursue their dreams.

Here, children with an average age of 14.8 drive carts that are unfamiliar even to adults.

To some, a loud exhaust sound sounds like an 'exciting sound' to others.

A total of 41 youths participated in the 2023 Korea Automobile Racing Association (KARA) KKC/KIC competition, and in addition to Minjae Kim, many youths were treating karts as a hobby or as a job.

I met and talked to children who go to school and study on weekdays and work as kart players under the supervision of their teams on weekends.

Kart, which is familiar in Korea from the popular game ‘Kart Rider’, can be said to be the smallest and most basic type of vehicle.

Simply put, it is a single-seater vehicle with a low body and no ceiling.

Although it is about the size of a children's toy car, the performance of the engine and brakes is at a level that cannot be ignored.

Because there is no ceiling and the body of the car is low, the perceived speed is two to three times higher than the speed on the instrument panel.

Karting is also known as the introductory course for car racers participating in Formula 1 (F1), the most prestigious international professional car racing competition.

That's why some spectators call kart racing 'little formula'.

To get into racing karts, you need to find your own team.

According to the Korea Automobile Racing Association, there are a total of 10 kart teams nationwide.

You can join by receiving an offer from a scout, or you can find a team yourself and apply to join.

An official from the Korea Automobile Racing Association explained, “A total of 10 kart teams are providing targeted training on their own and are also participating in competitions.”

Of course, it's okay if you don't belong to the team.

However, in order to manage the cart and improve your skills, it is much easier to receive training provided by a team than to do it individually.

Minjae Kim was introduced to natural srekat through his father from the age of 8, when he was in the first grade of elementary school.

Kim Min-jae said, “My dad was a racer, so I went to watch a race, and I fell in love when I saw some of my older brothers riding a ‘Formula (racing car).’”

He added, “I wanted to ride a Formula, but to ride a Formula, you have to start with a kart.

“I learned karting because I liked it,” he said.

Kim Eun-ho (15, Tangjeong Middle School, Impact Racing), who took the podium in the 'Junior Max Class' category of this year's 'Korean Automobile Racing Association (KARA) Karting Korea Championship', has been riding a racing kart for three years.

Eun-ho Kim explained, “I have loved cars since I was a baby, so I told my parents that I wanted to go to kart school, so I tried karting for the first time at a kart rink located in Jamsil, Seoul, and it was so much fun.”

Training also lasts about 15 minutes, similar to a game.

There is a perception that motorsports, including karts, are 'dangerous.'

In fact, there are cases where car racers who participated in F1 died due to accidents that occurred during the race.

Kim Min-jae's father, Kim Seong-hyeon (49), said, "I sometimes wish my son wouldn't ride a cart," and added, "It's a job where you can't get hurt, so I can't help but feel more worried."

In fact, on the day of the coverage, Minjae Kim bumped into another athlete during a practice run and the steering wheel broke, injuring his wrist.

When asked, ‘Do you regret going karting every time you get hurt?’ he answered, “It hurts, but I’ve never regretted going karting.”

Jong-in Lee (19, Shinseo High School, Impact Racing) had his lungs crushed last year when his cart overturned.

He expressed his love for karting, saying, "After the overturning accident, my parents were against me going karting, and even I had a moment where I was scared of karting, but I got over it well.

Now that my stress has been relieved, I feel like I can't be happy without it."

Child athletes wear neck protectors, chest protectors, and rib protectors for safety.

Helmets, gloves, suits, and shoes must be worn not only during competitions but also during training.

These are devices that minimize injuries even if an accident occurs.

These are pieces of equipment that must be worn for safety reasons, but they are expensive and can be a burden to players.

Kim Hae-chan (16, Woojeon Middle School, JM Cart) said, “There are times when I feel sorry to my parents because it costs so much money.

I know that a cart usually costs about 14 million won, but I don’t bother asking other friends about it because of the high initial cost.

“I don’t recommend carts,” he said.

As Kim Hae-chan said, if you buy necessities for driving such as the chassis (frame of the cart), engine, and data logger (built-in device for recording and measuring), consumables such as brake pads and tires, and safety equipment such as helmets and suits, the cost is at least 10 million won.

Even though it must have been a tiring schedule as they had to study on weekdays and travel to other areas to ride karts on the weekends, the smiles did not leave the faces of the ‘kids riding karts’.

All of the youth kart players I met in Jeungpyeong said that they never once regretted going karting.

Danwoo Kim (15, SSI International School, F5-Monster) said, “Once you reach a certain level, it is no longer easy to reduce your record, so although there were times when it was difficult, I have never regretted it.”

As you step on the engine, it outputs at the same speed and you can feel the cool breeze that comes with it.

This is why children ride karts.

Minjae Kim has had fun every day since he started riding karts.

He expressed his love for karting, saying, “I think I did a good job of going karting once a day.

It’s fun, and I’m really excited when I get good records.”

Eun-ho Kim said, “I really like the sense of speed I feel when riding a kart,” and “Having my own hobby and doing something in a far away place like Jeungpyeong not only gives me a sense of accomplishment, but it’s also really fun.”

All of the youth players said they wanted to become ‘professional players.’

Kim Hae-chan said, “I want to become the person who has won the most championships in F1,” and added, “To that end, I am riding karts with the goal of winning all of this season.”

Jang Seok-ho (14, Jin Young-jung, JM Kart) said, “ “I don’t know when that will happen, but I want to become champions in each kart class,” they said of their respective aspirations.