More than 300 racers turned up for the Australian Dirt Kart Titles over the weekend in what those involved in the sport say is a sign of its growing popularity as a way to introduce children to motorsport without exorbitant costs.

A total of 340 drivers competed in 13 classes in the titles held at the Lucindale Karting Club in South Australia’s south-east from Friday to Sunday.

Club president Ian “Roly” Rowlands said it was possible to get involved as young as five years old and compete into your 70s.

Dirt karts can cost as little as $4,000 — a relatively low cost for motor sport but still comparable with sports like soccer where clubs can charge thousands of dollars for children to be involved. 

“It’s the cheapest form of motorsport you can get into, and you can spend as much or as little money as you want and still have a great time at it,” Mr Rowlands said.

“You can have a little 6×4 trailer to bring your go-kart or have a big trailer with sleeping quarters and all that so it’s up to the person how much money they want to spend and at the end of the day it all comes down driver ability — how good they are.

Many Supercars racers have started in dirt karts in the South East, including Kai Allen and Todd Hazelwood.

“There are a lot of guys that grassroots for them is dirt karts and then they go higher,” Mr Rowlands said.

Club developing juniors

The number of competitors at Lucindale was just shy of the record entries set for last year’s titles, held in Bordertown and hosted by the Tatiara Karting Club.

That club has begun a junior development program to specifically encourage boys and girls who do not have a family involvement in motorsport to consider a career in racing.

With help from cousins Andrew and Wayne Rowett, they have been building karts that other children can try out and learn on to get more people in Bordertown involved in motorsport. 

“Once the karts are built, then those karts will become available for non-kart racers — I suppose families who want to bring their kids up and have a go and just try and get more community involvement,” Andrew Rowett said.

Apart from being known for motorsport, with its new speedway track, Bordertown is also a centre for freight, being situated halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne on the main highway and rail line between the two cities.

Andrew Rowett said the teenagers involved in the program learnt skills they could use in either racing or trucking. 

“We can race go-karts and then progress into racing speedway and hopefully sprintcars and having the skills I suppose from being mechanics and boilermakers and engineers and stuff like that, that will all sort of complement the whole thing.”

Training for teenagers

Jack Will has been involved in the junior development program and came 12th overall in the KT Lights category. 

The 15-year-old said it had been good to learn mechanics from the Rowetts as well as skills like welding involved in rebuilding the speedway track.

“It’s fun and the friendships made along the way is good,” Jack said.

The program may be more formal next year with vocational certificates available for those involved. 

“I enjoy working in the shed on my kart and making it faster and making sure it’s ready for each weekend so it’s good,” Jack said.

“It would be good to keep moving forward in a motorsport career.”

Spectators endured on-and-off showers over the weekend to watch the racing.

Merridy Moore, whose sons Fletcher and Spencer were racing, said it was good that alcohol was not allowed in the pits at dirt kart racing and that there was a cooperative spirit between competitors.

“If somebody breaks something in their kart and they don’t the spare parts, usually the person next to you who’s pitted there will say ‘here you go, here’s a spare engine or tyres’ — everyone helps everyone,” she said.

The next dirt kart national titles will be held in Loxton in 2026.