Rides Available On New Two-Seater Kart
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Karting fans can enjoy a driver’s perspective while reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour by riding aboard a custom-built two-seater shifter kart.
Piloted by Scott Barnes, the island’s top driver, the high-octane experience will be available to the public at the Rubis Southside Raceway in St David’s.
A two-year project starting during the Covid-19 lockdown, the two-seater was built by Barnes with the help of mechanic Antoine Smith and local drivers Ed Cook and Brian Bulhoes.
It was test-driven at Southside last weekend by Barnes, who piloted Bulhoes, and then junior driver Lucas Flood.
“I was surprised by how well it handled for its first drive,” Barnes told Bernews.
“When Lucas, one of our Tag Juniors, got out of the kart, he had a big smile on his face, and his eyes were wide open!”
The two-seater shifter is the first to be built in Bermuda. It involved welding two chassis together and fitting the kart with a more powerful 175cc engine to accommodate the extra weight of the two-seater, which is two feet longer than a standard shifter.
“I’d seen a double-seater years ago in the US, someone had made one, and it was always in the back of my mind as something to do,” said Barnes, who races at the Skusa SuperNationals in Las Vegas – the biggest karting race in the United States – next month.
“I had two old chassis lying around, doing nothing, so I was like, let’s make a double-seater.
“We got most of it done in the first couple of months of lockdown, put it to one side for a while when things got back to normal, and did a bit here and there.
“It was tougher than I thought. We had to throw some steel rebar into the frame to stop it from bending too much in the middle.”
Barnes plans to offer the two-seater experience to adults and children at the Southside track for a small fee, depending on the number of laps.
“The idea was to give people who would never otherwise experience a shifter the feeling of its power and to have some fun,” he added.
“It will probably do 60 to 65mph. Normal shifters can get up to 80 mph on our track.
“If I’m taking kids out, I’ll start slowly, and if I’m going too fast, they can tap me on the shoulder, and I’ll slow down.
“Once David Barbosa’s rental karts are operational again, I’ll go to the track on those days and see if anyone wants a ride.”
For more details, contact Barnes on Instagram @skitchybarnes_9.
