Ondangwa falls in love with karting
30 October 2019 | Sports
A 37-year-old Ondangwa taxi driver, Johannes Kweyo, says there is nothing more fun and relaxing than the go-kart racing he has been enjoying for the past three weekends.
The Ondangwa town council has leased part of the town's showgrounds to Windhoek Go-Karting, which had proven to be a great hit at this year's Ondangwa Trade and Industrial Exhibition (OTIE).
“I participated in go-karting for the first time during the OTIE 2019. It was such fun and I could not get enough of it. It made me feel like I am part of the Formula One racing that I enjoy watching,” Kweyo says.
“Every Saturday I go to the karting track just to de-stress from the crisis of lack of customers in the taxi industry.”
Go-kart racing, or karting, usually takes place on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are held on full-size motorsport circuits.
Windhoek Go-Karting manager Rik Jan Kraak says since they started operating at Ondangwa at the beginning of this month, the track has been buzzing every weekend.
He says on average they get up to 100 customers every day and the sport is even attracting people from other towns.
“This is the third week we are in operation and the support from the people of Oshana and far-away places is surprisingly good. We operate during the weekend and the only challenge is that due to the hot weather we only start with the racing after 17:00, however due to the good atmosphere at night we go until 22:00,” says Kraak.
“Local people are getting to know this fun activity and many are willing to learn, while those in the area who already know about the racing from Windhoek and Swakopmund are also coming to have fun.”
Kraak says safety is their main priority and there has been no serious injuries in the 12 years they have been offering karting in Windhoek.
He said the Windhoek Go-Karting track has 20 Rimo karts from Germany, of which four are custom-made junior karts with special safety features for children from 1.2 metres to 1.4 metres tall. The track itself is based on the European indoor track concept, but this is an outdoor track which can easily be re-assembled into different layouts. The company's venue in Windhoek also offers Laser Tag gaming, which is played in a maze resembling a battlefield, with infra-red guns imported from the United States.
The technology is super safe, even for young children.
The establishment is also very popular for team-building events and can host up to 150 people at a time. There is a bar on site and professional catering.
Kraak said at Ondangwa they only have senior karts at the moment, but junior karts will be brought in.
“The facilities at Ondangwa are still temporally and are not well equipped. We are still working on the new venue, which will be fully equipped with all karting fun activities,” he said.
ILENI NANDJATO
The Ondangwa town council has leased part of the town's showgrounds to Windhoek Go-Karting, which had proven to be a great hit at this year's Ondangwa Trade and Industrial Exhibition (OTIE).
“I participated in go-karting for the first time during the OTIE 2019. It was such fun and I could not get enough of it. It made me feel like I am part of the Formula One racing that I enjoy watching,” Kweyo says.
“Every Saturday I go to the karting track just to de-stress from the crisis of lack of customers in the taxi industry.”
Go-kart racing, or karting, usually takes place on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are held on full-size motorsport circuits.
Windhoek Go-Karting manager Rik Jan Kraak says since they started operating at Ondangwa at the beginning of this month, the track has been buzzing every weekend.
He says on average they get up to 100 customers every day and the sport is even attracting people from other towns.
“This is the third week we are in operation and the support from the people of Oshana and far-away places is surprisingly good. We operate during the weekend and the only challenge is that due to the hot weather we only start with the racing after 17:00, however due to the good atmosphere at night we go until 22:00,” says Kraak.
“Local people are getting to know this fun activity and many are willing to learn, while those in the area who already know about the racing from Windhoek and Swakopmund are also coming to have fun.”
Kraak says safety is their main priority and there has been no serious injuries in the 12 years they have been offering karting in Windhoek.
He said the Windhoek Go-Karting track has 20 Rimo karts from Germany, of which four are custom-made junior karts with special safety features for children from 1.2 metres to 1.4 metres tall. The track itself is based on the European indoor track concept, but this is an outdoor track which can easily be re-assembled into different layouts. The company's venue in Windhoek also offers Laser Tag gaming, which is played in a maze resembling a battlefield, with infra-red guns imported from the United States.
The technology is super safe, even for young children.
The establishment is also very popular for team-building events and can host up to 150 people at a time. There is a bar on site and professional catering.
Kraak said at Ondangwa they only have senior karts at the moment, but junior karts will be brought in.
“The facilities at Ondangwa are still temporally and are not well equipped. We are still working on the new venue, which will be fully equipped with all karting fun activities,” he said.
ILENI NANDJATO
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