Grelha Radical Karting

In Ribeirão, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão in northern Portugal, Grelha Radical runs the Indoor Karting Famalicão, a covered track that was the country's first to have an asphalt surface, in 2007. The layout winds through eleven corners, four to five and a half metres wide, with a straight of around forty metres, all under cover in a retail park. The fleet lines up sixteen adult Sodi karts and six child models.

Karting stays open to everyone, no licence or experience needed: a briefing, a helmet, and off you go chasing your best lap. An automatic transponder timing system records every lap, enough to compare times and keep the rivalry going between drivers. Driving under cover means you can come whatever the weather, an asset in the sometimes rainy climate of the north. People happily return to beat their time, with family or friends.

Vila Nova de Famalicão is a hard-working town in the Minho, at the heart of a region known for its textiles and economic drive. All around, northern Portugal unfolds its highlights: Braga, one of the country's oldest cities, Guimarães, the UNESCO-listed cradle of the nation, and the Douro valley a little further east. Porto, the great northern metropolis, is about thirty minutes away by motorway, putting the track within reach of the whole region.