Vauhtimaan Kartingrata

In Ruukki, in northern Finland, the Vauhtimaan Kartingrata is run by the Ruukin FK club, where karting has been practised for around forty years. It is an outdoor track kept going by a local association, which opens the layout to licence-holders and to drivers coming to get started alike. You drive here in the friendly atmosphere of a country club, far from the commercial leisure centres of the big cities.

The club offers a karting school to learn the basics, and kart hire is provided on site by a dedicated operator, so you can come and drive without any kit of your own. The calendar is paced by competitions, including rounds of a regional championship, and by sessions open to the public. As often in Finland, the hours follow the warm season and the volunteers' organisation, so it is best to check before setting off.

Ruukki is part of the municipality of Siikajoki, in North Ostrobothnia, a region of farmland plains near the Gulf of Bothnia coast. The towns of Raahe and Oulu are not far, which makes the track reachable from the north of the country. The quiet, typically Nordic surrounding countryside rounds off a day of karting nicely, in a calm corner away from the main routes. In the north of the country, where tracks remain few, the club plays an important role in keeping the sport alive and passing the passion on to younger generations. It is a rallying point for karting fans in the Raahe area.