Text, video/ Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Wei Chaoran
Last November, a major event occurred in the Chinese racing industry – Zhou Guanyu became the first official F1 (Formula 1) driver in Chinese history, which is very exciting news for other domestic drivers and even the majority of racing fans.
As the cradle of F1 drivers, karting has ushered in a climax of development in China in recent years, according to statistics, Shenzhen alone has added fourteen or five kart racing tracks. With its easy to drive, safe and passionate characteristics, go-karts quickly became popular and were loved by the general public. With the continuous improvement of the disposable income of mainland residents, this high-end niche movement that people used to see has gradually entered thousands of households.
8 minute experience "not short"
There is an international practice in the karting industry, which is also a "conventional" rule, that is, only 8 minutes at a time, the technical term is called "8 minutes a section". The Yangcheng Evening News reporter visited a number of karting racing tracks in Guangzhou, whether it is an indoor field or an outdoor field, whether it is a fuel car or a tram, without exception, it is a standard "8 minute section".
Don't underestimate this "short" 8 minutes, driving a speeding car, accelerating in straight lanes, overtaking, changing direction in corners, drifting, choosing the best angle to cut in and then drive out of the corners, but also to avoid crashes... 8 minutes may seem short, and there are many choices to be faced. "A decision has to be made in an instant, and such a response can happen 100 times in 8 minutes."
Veteran player Luo Dongji told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that the spirit should be highly concentrated during the racing process, and the time seems to be slowing down. Some novice players are unfamiliar with the racing track, poor operation or physical fatigue from manipulating the steering wheel, and even have the idea of "how is it not over" after playing for a few minutes.
Of course, the feeling of the vast majority of players is still moderate in intensity, and it is still unfinished, after all, "8 minutes" is the most preferred after a long time test. Located in Huadu District, Guangzhou Sunac Sports World Kart Racing Track, with the first large-scale three-dimensional track in Guangzhou, Citizen Mr. He told reporters that he has come here for the second time in a month to play karting, and the experience of playing twice is very good, and he will continue to play in the future.
Miss Zhou is another type of typical player, she is not a novice, ten years ago she "tasted fresh", but also did not pursue speed, achievements, is boring to play, "stimulate" themselves, to be happy: "Sometimes half a year does not play once, sometimes every other month to play once a month." "There are not a few players like Miss Zhou.
At the Somacher Karting Hall located in Haizhu Pazhou, the reporter saw many couples come to experience racing, most of which boys have played more than once, and girls are mostly experiencing it for the first time. "I'm a little scared when I bend." Miss Li, who played for the first time, said, "But overall it feels very interesting, and I will try it later when I have time." Miss Li's boyfriend, Mr. Wu, is an old player, and he does not pursue results, and the main purpose of this trip is to take photos for his girlfriend.
The reporter learned in the interview that the comprehensive operating costs, transportation, indoor and outdoor fields and other factors, the pricing of various racing tracks in Guangzhou is different, but most of them are around 100 yuan per 8 minutes. The vast majority of novice players or the occasional masses who come to play said in an interview that they can fully afford this price, "Sometimes two or three hundred yuan for a meal is gone, and it is less than a meal to experience."
For some regular customers and repeat customers who often come to play, merchants will also give multiple experience cards, group tickets, one-day tickets and other discounts. According to the record statistics of the Somacher Karting Hall, there are nearly 1,000 cumulative experiences of players, "the most obsessive time is almost every day", the venue staff described this player.
The "Driver's Dream" of Two Teenagers
Xu Xiaoxuan, a fourth-grader at a primary school in Haizhu District, wears a pair of glasses and looks handsome and Sven, but he has a "wild" dream that does not seem to match his appearance - to become a professional racing driver.
One beautiful afternoon, at the Panyu Circuit, the Yangcheng Evening News reporter met 9-year-old Xu Xiaoxuan, who was led by his mother that day and played racing with his 6 classmates. The reporter learned that panyu racing track is one of the few racing tracks in Guangzhou that allows children to play karting (the height of children needs to reach 1.3 meters), and has developed a "baby car" project for children, according to Xu Guanghui, the person in charge of Panyu Circuit, "baby car" is a tram, the speed is relatively slow, and the safety factor is much higher.
Since the final exam had just ended the day before, Xu Xiaoxuan and his classmates were extremely excited, running around in the waiting area, playing and playing. Compared with other students, Xu Xiaoxuan has "experience" and "talent" in the karting car, the first time he played the single lap performance was still 1 minute away, the second time he has increased the fastest score to more than 56 seconds, while other students are the first time to contact the karting, the results are mostly 1 minutes and 10 seconds away.
"I want to be a racing driver", Xu Xiaoxuan's voice is not loud, but his eyes are extremely firm. Xiao Xuan's mother told reporters that he had this idea before he was 6 years old: "He became interested in racing after watching a comic called "Three Minutes of Sai Lei", and usually searched for racing videos by himself. Xiao Xuan's mother believes that Xiao Xuan has a certain talent in racing, but his courage must be strengthened.
However, Xiao Xuan's mother also said that the road to becoming a racing driver is very difficult. "I think it's a bit unrealistic, and the cost is not something we can afford." Xiaoxuan's mother said that at this stage, she will not discourage her child's enthusiasm and will take him to continue to try, "Even if you can't be a racing driver in the end, it is better to be a car designer." Xiao Xuan's mother said with a smile.
Compared with Xu Xiaoxuan, 11-year-old Xie Yuhong's "driving experience" is much richer, and he has run at least 500 games on the track of Panyu Circuit since May 2020, "up to 10 games a day!" Xie Yuhong said proudly. On this track, his results are the absolute "king" among the children, and his talent is quite high, without hiring a professional coach, it is completely self-exploring.
Xie's father told reporters that Xie Yuhong spent a lot of effort to find the hobby of racing, "I have learned to draw before, basketball, football, badminton have also tried, there was a period of time to let him make up for the class more frequently, I wanted to take him to play racing to relax, I did not expect that his interest and fighting spirit to improve is much stronger than other projects." Xie Dad said that now he is really willing to take the initiative to practice the project is racing and taekwondo, as a parent, of course, to meet him as much as possible within the scope of his ability.
If ordinary people can afford to play racing occasionally, people like Xie Yuhong who come over often are a bit "burning money", even if he is only a "small player". Professional players usually have professional equipment, and every time Xie Yuhong comes to race, he will push a half-human-tall yellow box filled with his "treasures".
Xie Yuhong opened the box for the reporter to "check the treasure": "There are glasses cleaner, two helmets, a protective armor to protect the ribs, two pairs of gloves, a flame-retardant racing suit, a neck guard, a head cover, and a pair of shoes with a relatively thin sole." "The complete equipment makes many adult players "ashamed of themselves.". Xie Dad told reporters that this whole set of equipment will also cost more than 10,000 yuan.
For becoming a racing driver, Xie Yuhong said that he "has a little thought", but he also believes that if he wants to become an F1 driver like Zhou Guanyu, "it is impossible!" If you can drive (the car), you don't ask for anything else. Xie Yuhong is not greedy for the future.
Xie Yuhong wants to have a racing car of his own, but if he wants to realize his dream, he also needs to meet the threshold that his father has set for himself: "It is too difficult to enter the junior high school of the provincial real (Guangdong Experimental Middle School) or the international school - I am too difficult..." Xie's father explained: "Study and play, you must allocate time." At present, I do not plan to train him in the direction of racing drivers, one is that the cost is too large, and the burden is not necessary; the second is that the talent of Chinese drivers is not very dominant compared to foreign drivers. But it's still very good to just use racing as an entertainment. ”
"Run CKC once this year"
Luo Dongji, a "private car owner" who just passed his 30th birthday, almost every Saturday has to "soak" all day at the speed-running karting yard in Guangzhou's Liwan District, and when the reporter met him, he was in a hurry to drive his "car" Tonykar for a few laps - it was their turn to "private car" to play.
The so-called private car refers to the vehicle purchased by some karting enthusiasts and stored in the karting yard every day. A year ago, when Luo Dongji bought a car and entered the "private car group", there were only more than 50 people in the group; now, this group has expanded to more than 120 people. The number of "private car owners" has grown in less than a year, more than in the past years combined.
Luo Dongji is the top three "big gods" in this group. Long before buying a car, he was exposed to karts, "originally playing the game 'Run Kart', which made me feel the urge to try it in reality." After playing for a while, Luo Dongji did not touch the karting again for several years, until a friend always asked him to come over to play, he re-contacted and gradually became addicted. At the beginning of last year, Luo Dongji finally made up his mind and bought his first karting car.
"I spent more than 40,000 yuan when I bought this one, imported, close to a brand new used car." Luo Dongji told reporters that buying a car seems not expensive, but the cost of maintenance is more "scary", "almost more than 10,000 a month, mainly high maintenance costs, the engine part every 15 hours of operation to maintain, a time about 6,000 yuan." Luo Dongji said that he did not make much money when he was young, so he never bought a car until he could afford to spend it in the past two years.
Luo Dongji loves to play racing, mainly as a way to relax after daily busy work, "Usually take the bus or squeeze the subway, I feel very congested, but here is not blocked, desperately bang the accelerator on the line, rush forward on the line." Luo Dongji said that he was getting older and needed to find a pastime, so he played racing, "not only can exercise, but also cure insomnia, play a day, the eyes can't be opened, and sleep at night is particularly fragrant." ”
"Wouldn't it be boring to always run a track?" For the reporter's question, Luo Dongji has a lot of experience: "It will not be tired, just like playing League of Legends, each one is different, although the track is still that one, but the feeling of going down every time is different, it seems that every time something happens is almost the same, in fact, it is another story every time." ”
Although the safety factor of the karting is high, it is a high-speed movement after all, and there is still a certain danger. Two months ago, Luo Dongji was "seriously injured" once - in order to avoid the private car in front of him, his car hit the protective tires on the side of the track, and the whole person fell out of the car. "My knees landed directly on the ground, I dislocated, and I couldn't move at home for three days."
Luo Dongji told reporters that this is already a relatively serious injury in the karting field, "mainly my own responsibility, I didn't sleep well that day, and I didn't concentrate enough." Fortunately, Luo Dongji's injury was not particularly serious, and now he has fully recovered.
Luo Dongji's birthday is very special, January 1. On New Year's Day this year, Luo Dongji made a birthday wish for himself: "Run a CKC (China Karting Championship)!" "It doesn't matter if I don't get an award, I don't have a requirement for results, I haven't met professional players in official competitions, I want to see how big the gap between me and them is." Luo Dongji told reporters that after this race, the various costs add up to about 30,000 yuan, "Basically my car except for the steering wheel does not change, all other things have to be replaced." ”
There are also two female drivers in Luo Dongji's "private car" group, and the level is also quite high, which can rank in the top ten. "Girls are thinner, lighter in weight, and have advantages in straight-line acceleration. However, the girl's timidity is a little smaller, and if you want to go further, you must overcome this psychology. Luo Dongji said with a smile.
Racing may be able to promote the participation of the whole people
In Xu Guanghui's view, karting has ushered in a development climax in the past two years. "In the 1980s, karting was first introduced to China, setting off its first upsurge, but the boom gradually faded. Until the past two years, affected by the epidemic, some capital has invested in the karting industry, which has set off a second round of climax. Xu Guanghui told reporters that there are currently one or two thousand kart racing tracks in China, "building all the time." The reporter learned that there are about twenty in Guangzhou and nearly twenty in Shenzhen.
Xu Guanghui believes that there are more parking lots, everyone makes a big cake together, and the industry has a good development, "Any project, only the participation of the whole people is valuable." As go-karts become more and more popular, the cost comes down, the charges will be reduced, the masses can afford to play, and more people will participate, which is a virtuous circle. And there will also be competition between the racing tracks, the survival of the fittest, but also force businesses to upgrade services. ”
Manager Han of the Pazhou shop of Sumacher karting told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that the cost performance of Guangzhou citizens playing go-karts is high in the country, and the pricing of some second- and third-tier cities is even higher than that of Guangzhou: "Those who have come to Guangzhou for a long time know that Guangzhou people pay attention to the cost performance of everything they play, so the pricing cannot be too high." ”
The Panyu Circuit is slightly remoter than the downtown location, and they choose to attract users with preferential prices. When it first opened, Xu Guanghui also came up with a way to send 200 yuan worth of red wine and 200 yuan experience coupons for each experience, even for 10 days, "People who came here thought that the boss here was crazy." Xu Guanghui laughed at himself.
Xu Guanghui told reporters that in addition to providing venues and racing cars, they are also engaged in karting production and manufacturing, and then do youth karting training, "Our dream is relatively large, we hope to form our own club, tap some potential teenagers, cultivate their interests, and guide them to participate in this sport." At present, I am talking to the Panyu Education Department and hope to open interest classes in schools. ”
Although the prospects look bright, Xu Guanghui also said that if he wants to continue to promote the development of the sport, he has always faced many obstacles.
Xu Guanghui said that first of all, karting is always a new customer, the user sustainability is not strong, and the return rate is about 20%: "If you want to continue to consume, customers must meet three major conditions, one of which is indispensable, that is, there is money, good technology, and sufficient time." Even when buying a private car, many of them are impulse consumption, and the frequency of use is not high. ”
The second bottleneck is the lack of policy support, which can only be promoted by private capital at present, but the efficiency is obviously low and the vitality is not long. "At the end of 2019, karting is no longer listed as a high-risk industry, which is a positive development, but we still need more policy support, especially in terms of site construction, and hope that the policy can give more flexibility."
In this regard, Chen Dongqiang, former deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Federation and vice president of the Shenzhen Karting Sports Association, has a similar view, "Guangdong Province has not yet had an official venue for the public, and the popularization speed is relatively slow. Chen Dongqiang introduced that because racing is not a traditional competitive sport, so the support funding is very weak, although some amateur karting competitions have been organized in the past, but it is still market-oriented.
Chen Dongqiang said that in Guangdong Province, except for the national A-class racing tracks in Shenzhen Shajing and Foshan Sanshui, the rest of the racing tracks are mainly entertainment, and the professional level is not enough.
Xu Guanghui believes that the hope of great development may be to wait until the future racing projects are shortlisted for the Olympic Games, "after all, now motorsport has become very popular in foreign countries, and in recent years, there have also been forces to promote racing into the Olympic Games." Once in the Olympic Games, motorsport will be more valued, and the industry may really usher in a big development. ”
"In the past five years in the industry, people who come to play have come and gone happily, which makes me think that it is still quite meaningful to do this." Xu Guanghui said proudly. (For more news, please pay attention to Yangcheng Pie pai.ycwb.com)
Planning | Tao Yong
Co-ordination | Lin Benjian
Written | Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Wei Chaoran
Editor-in-charge | Hao Haoyu