DCU Karting Society Information

DCU Karting

Welcome to DCU Karting Society!
www.dcukartsoc.com

We have a Facebook group where members interact https://www.facebook.com/groups/249104155140278/ and a Facebook page where we deliver all of our news and inform people of events https://www.facebook.com/pages/DCU-Karting/97897020440

All Ireland Karting Intervarsity Champions 2010/11 & 2011/12!
Drivers and teams!

We are one of the biggest DCU Societies on Campus!
DCU Karting is a massive society in DCU, where there is a place for everyone from motorsport enthusiast to complete beginner, to someone who just wants to have the craic!

What we do?!?!?!?

The Atmosphere:

You will find that pretty much every karter, committee or not, has a very relaxed and laid back attitude...until we get on the track that is. We are a bunch of piss-takers at heart, love a few drinks and a good laugh. On the track though, it is a different story altogether. We race competetively and try our hardest to hit every apex, every braking point and overtake as cleanly as possible. The committee is also very laid back with everyone chipping in to help each other out, everyone coming up with ideas for events, ad campaigns etc and being part of a great group of people.

Our Prices:

Amazed at our prices? Want to know how we can charge so little? The main reason is that DCU Karting, like all DCU Clubs and Societies gets a certain proportion of funding from the SPC in DCU. This funding enable us to pass on the savings to you as we heavily reduce the price we charge our members. Karting events can costs as little as 10euro for some of our weekly events that usually includes transport to the track unless its at our home track in Kart City in Santry. On our website http://www.dcukartsoc.com/ you can look at our individual track pages, you will see how much you save on each trip, and you will also notice that it's a lot more than the pittence that is the €4 you pay on Clubs and Socs Day.

Committee:

Take a look at our committee pages to be able to put a name to the faces on all of the e-mails, or the person that just beat you at the last event The committee itself is always a great bunch of people, always up for a laugh, with a great love of karting and a lot of big ideas. If you're a 1st year and interested in becoming a member of committee for next year, we recommend you go to a few trips, get talking to us, offer to be a 1st year rep for the year and take it from there and generally get to know how we run the society, get to know us up close and personal and pitch in with some work that needs doing (a great way to get current committee on your side, who can then put in a good word for you at the next AGM ).

Weekly Trips:

We go on weekly trips usually once every 2 weeks and sometime every week. They are capped at 50 people per trip and sell out the majority of the time. For the trips we will head to one of the tracks mentioned on the tracks page on our website and will try and get to each of the tracks at least once a year. Obviously, we will head to the local tracks more often. On each of the individual pages, you will see how much you can save by going karting with us compared to what you would pay if you went with a group of friends. On average our members will save over €30-€40 per trip with us. If you are a regular karter, this adds up to hundreds of euro over the course of the year. This is value for money that is impossible to match.

The trips are a great way to meet people, whether you are a major karting-head or just showing up with a few friends, or even by yourself. Everyone comes home with a story, whether they did unexpectedly well, spun going around a corner or had an epic battle for position with another driver. Don't forget, a lot of the weekly trips will count towards the DCU Drivers Championship, so if you are interested in doing well in this, we recommend going to as many trips as possible.
Cost: €10-€15, last year was €10 (it depends on demand).

Weekend Trips:

These are by far the main highlights of the year. Once a semester we will take weekend trips to different tracks in Ireland. This year we are looking at Galway in the first semester and Cork in the second. For travel, accommodation and karting it will cost you a measly 50euro for the weekend, so get saving now!! The trips are basicaly scheduled like this:

Friday:

Travel to the area where we will be going karting, get dressed up to the last and head for a night out on the town well into Saturday morning.

Saturday:

Get kicked out of bed by committee and get a quick bite to eat in time for going karting. (notice how the hangover disappears the second you're on the track). Once we get off the track head back into whatever town or city we're at. Get dolled up again and have another fantastic night out.

Sunday:

Get kicked out of bed again and get some breakfast in time for the bus home, sleep all the way home because you're absolutely shattered. Barely remember what happened, only with the aid of photos and video footage.

If you ask anybody who has been on a weekend trip with DCU Karting what they think of the society, the weekends away will definitely be mentioned. They are of course, highly recommended, and whether you go with a few friends or go by yourself, you will come home with 50 friends, all of whom have a love of karting and a few pints and shots.
Cost: €50

DCU Karting Championship:

Over the course of the year we will take trips to different karting tracks around the country. Certain conditions will need to be met to make sure that an event can be counted towards the Championship but where these conditions are met, points will be awarded in the format provided on the bottom of the Championship Standings page (found on website). Most events are DCU championship events

1st Year Drivers Championship:

Basically, this is an excuse to give out more than one prize over the course of the year especially to those that aren't on committee. The rules are as follows. You have to be first year to be part of this. (Duh!) You cannot be repeating first year, so this has to be your first ever first year in DCU. (tough luck Cross and Matt) As with the main driver's championship, there will be a great prize for the winner at the end of the year so make sure to keep your race weight down, your concentration up and your Wednesday afternoons free! Any points earned in championship events will count towards the 1st Year Championship. i.e. if you come 5th in a championship event and earn 6 points in the overall championship, you also earn 6 points for the 1st year championship. Comprendé?

Ladies Drivers Championship:

This is another new item on the agenda. Entry to the Ladies Championship is strictly for females. (Again, Duh!) So as to avoid any misunderstanding, no issues involving a sexual identity crisis will be entertained. Whatever sex the Irish State recognises you, so do we! Any male members found to be cross-dressing (or driving slow :P) to try and enter the Ladies Championship will have any/all of their points deducted for any championships they have scored in (at the discretion of the Chairperson). Ok, so in all seriousness, we have noticed over the last few years that as the year went on, interest from girls tended to tail off. We want to get rid of the stereotype that karting is completely a "lads sport" so we created the Ladies Championship. The prize will be a minimum of €100 voucher to the shop/boutique/health spa etc of the winner's choice.

Points for the Ladies Championship can be earned at any Championship event. It was created as a way to keep the interest of girls thoughout the year and was very successful last year. We've seen it before with girls who stuck with it, got some experience and within a few races, were embarrassing some of the lads on the track! This can also be a way to have an afternoon/evening out with the "girlies" and if you have your eye on a free haircut/new outift/handbag/jimmy choo's, you can earn some valuable points too.

Also ladies DCU Karting Society is a great place to meet lads! try not go for ones that "cross the finish line" too quickly though or you could be left disappointed! :P

Intervarsity Team:

Want to get some free karting this year? That's exactly what happens if you get invited to race for our Intervarsity Team. You get to join our other drivers and race as a team, representing DCU against other colleges and taking part in the Intervarsity Driver Championships.Think this is for you? then read on...

Team Selection:

We select our Intervarsity Team based on how our members drive on our weekly trips. The main things we look for from our intervarsity drivers are speed and most importantly consistency. Not only do we need the quickest drivers, we need drivers that can be consistently fast and stay out of trouble from accidents. What good is a fast driver if he spends most of his time in the tyre barrier?

Bear in mind, that winning events may not guarantee you a place on the team. While it will definitely get our attention, we will be looking out for drivers who, even if they do not win, may have had bad luck in a race or two with a faulty kart, a minor accident where someone else was to blame etc but are otherwise very strong performers on the track. So while your results may not be as good as your performance deserves, if you race well, there is a very good chance you will get our attention. just get to know the lads on the committee, show your interest, enthusiasm and that you're good craic.

Don't think the intervarsity team is only for boys we regularly have girls competeting for the college.

Intervarsity Championship:

For each intervarsity event we will bring 2 teams and depending on availability we may also take 3. This will consist of a DCU A Team, a B Team and if possible a C Team. Each team will have 5 drivers.

Teesside 24 Hour Event:

The Ultimate Highlight of the Year, the British 24Hr Endurance Karting Race.
2012 race results:
A team 4th (very unlucky not to get a podium after leading the race for a decent porting before mechanical problem dropped us don the order)
B team 5th (the best ever performance from the DCU B team at Teesside

in 2011....we went home with a trophy! We finished 3rd and 6th!

Team Selection:

We expect team selection for this event to be tough as the team will consist not only of drivers who perform well and are consistent, but also have the fitness required to maintain performance for extended periods. In the Teesside event, we will generally bring 10-12 drivers and 2 team managers.

While our team will generally be picked from Intervarsity performances and also the positions in the DCU Championship, we may decide not to bring someone, no matter how well they have performed if we do not feel that their fitness/driving ability is up to scratch for this event. So that everybody gets a fair chance, and where our budget allows, we will try and hold a number of training events over the course of the second semester, to not only help choose the team, but also to help drivers train both mind and body to last those longer stints.

Our goal is to send as strong a team as possible to Teesside next year and, be extremely competetive in our class and overall. If you've read the reports on how this event went and want to experience it or think you deserve to be on the team, well then show us what you can do on the track this year and earn your place.

For full info: www.dcukartsoc.com

That wolf

This definitely seems like a great opportunity, especially with the reduction of the costs.