Basic Information

Location: Sunderland
Length: 1200m
Karts: 390cc Sodi Thunderkarts
HUGS Record: N/A

Track Details

Warden Law has only been visited by HUGS twice in recent years, both times in Inter-Uni races, but is a likely venue for future HUGS events, with very competitive prices for an iron man event. A long circuit with potentially 25 karts on-track at once, this may sound familiar to Teesside (which is located a mere 30 miles away), but is completely different.

Track Layout

The black route is the normal route, but some of the red routes are used in some circumstances, such as wet weather.

Track Guide

The karts are 390cc Sodi Thunderkarts, essentially more powerful versions of those at Leeds and Grimsby. However, they don’t really do the track justice, and the track would certainly be a lot better off if they opted to use karts similar to the Biz Pro-Karts at Teesside. The particular fleet of karts at Warden Law are very unresponsive, most notably with the brakes, and your left foot will get a good work-out as you really have to push down on the brake pedal to get any sort of response.

Track Guide:

Blasting down the long start-finish straight, the karts are probably not far off their top speed as you reach Turn 1, a sweeping right hander which can easily be taken flat. Turn 2 is a kink to the left, again flat out, and a quick dab on the brakes is required before the sharper right-hander that is Turn 3. Keep left upon entry.

Turn 4 is an even sharper turn, again right-handed, and heavy braking is needed, but the unresponsive nature of the brakes means it requires a real squeeze with your left foot. The corner has a unique dogleg to the left with the real sting in the tail in the form of tyres lying near the kerbs on the exit. It is probably the toughest corner on the track to master; enter too quickly and you will clip said tyres and lose momentum.

Straighten up to the right for Turn 5, a left-hander, and is surprisingly tricky, again a dab on the brakes is needed before turning. Turn 6 is a left-hand hairpin, again you need to work the brakes on entry, and take the traditional line, but it is tight and very easy to end up on the concrete (where there is little grip), or worse, the grass.

Turn 7 is a tight right-hander, but is flat as you will not be travelling overly quickly having just negotiated Turn 6. If it is dry, the back straight is broken by a right-left-right chicane (Turn 8), which is flat on entry, and requires braking midway through the chicane. Again, tyres await those who have either got it wrong or taken it too fast on the outside of the entrance and inside of the exit.

Turn 9 is a sweeping right-hander and heads downhill to Turn 10, a right-handed hairpin which is downhill at the same time, and will need very heavy braking.  Again a traditional hairpin line will suffice, but the exit is tight. Then comes a sequence of high speed left-handers. Turns 11 and 12 are flat, Turn 13 will require a slight lift before Turn 14, which immediately follows and is another right-handed hairpin which requires braking beforehand, and then you are back on the pit straight to start another lap.

LAPTIMES