Kart 1 Series is a national, fmsci approved kart racing series. The series held the 3rd regional round of 2026 in Guwahati, Assam on October 31 and November 1 at the Warisa Estate. The first day was the qualifying day and the second day was the race day. And here I am to share my participation experience with you.
Registration:
There were three participation categories; seniors (18+ years), juniors (14 to 18 years), and ladies (females above 14 years). Although there was an option for spot registration, I had registered online almost more than a month in advance to participate in the senior category. The registration fee for all categories was INR 3,540. Once the registration was complete, a rule book containing all the rules and regulations of the race was shared via registered email. After the registration process, all I could do was to wait till October 31 for the qualifying round.
Safety Gears:
The only required safety gears were helmet and gloves. If the participants did not have their own safety gears, they were provided by the organisers.
Qualifying:
The reporting time for the qualifying was 8:00 am and therefore, I woke up at 5:30 am and reached Warisa Estate at 7:30 am. The gates weren’t even open, but I was not alone as my sister was accompanying me and there were other participants as well, waiting impatiently for the gates to open.
Once the gates opened and the fmsci officials arrived at the venue, the day started with the drivers briefing, followed by the distribution of Kart 1 Series t-shirts and drivers’ verification.
Soon after the formalities were complete, the qualifying round of the ladies category started, which was followed by the juniors category. And then the qualifying of the seniors started. For all categories, the rules were same; each participant were given 5 laps (1 out lap, 3 hot laps, and 1 in lap) to set their best lap time. The fastest time out of the 3 hot laps was considered for the selection process. Depending upon the number of participants, around 4 participants were allowed on the track at a time to set the qualifying laps.
There were 77 participants in the seniors category and the participants were being called for qualifying alphabetically, therefore I went 5th along with 4 other participants. We were asked to select karts via lucky draw method, and I got the kart number 12.
We were then allowed to sit in the karts and were lined up in the pit. I noticed that my kart had a small issue with the throttle cable; however, one of the mechanics quickly fixed it, and an fmsci official made sure the throttle was working fine. We were then allowed to enter the track one by one for the laps. The last time I had participated in the Kart 1 Series (previously known as the Kart 1 Cup) was in 2024. I was P25 in the qualifying round and was not selected for the next round. Therefore, this time I gave everything I could, and set a lap time of 1:709. I could feel that I did better than the last time, but I was still anxious. The results were out in the evening. 32 participants from the senior were selected for the race day I was P8. I can easily put this as one of the happiest moments of my life.
fmsci One Event License:
To participate on the race day, we were required to get an fmsci One Event License. I filled the application form on fmsci website and paid a license fee of INR 1180. The license was delivered to my email and I was all set for the race day.
Race Day:
There were three rounds on the race day; heats, pre-finals, and final.
- Heats: 32 participants were divided into 4 groups, with 8 participants in each group, for 4 heat races. Top four finishers from each heat were selected for pre-finals.
- Pre-finals: There were 2 prefinals, and top 4 finishers from each prefinals were selected for the final.
- Final: 8 participants formed the final grid.
I was starting P2 in the 4th heat. We were called for the kart selection process via lucky draw method, and I got the kart number 14. These karts were different from those in the qualifying round. Being a grease head, as soon as I sat in the kart, I noticed that the throttle cable of my kart was loose and it had too much free play. I called one of the mechanics to fix it, but he did not tighten it correctly and it still had some free play. Maybe I should have insisted a little bit more.
We were then allowed to form the grid. Once the track was clear, everyone waited for the 5 lights to go off. As soon as the lights went off, I pressed the throttle completely. And that is when I realised that I should have got the throttle cable properly fixed. Because of the free play in the throttle cable, the kart had no pace. I started losing positions quickly. I still kept fighting and defending but it did not take too long for everyone to pass my slow kart.
I still kept pushing but then another disaster struck. I was trying to pass one of the guys in front of me. He was taking the outside line in a corner and therefore, I was planning to pass him by taking the inside line, but he steered to hard into the corner and spun right in front of me. I was left with no space to pass him and therefore, I had to steer hard as well to avoid a collision. As a result, I spun too. At that moment, I realised that there was no way I am getting back any of the positions, but I still kept pushing with whatever pace I had. I completed all the laps and finished right behind the other guys.
It was heart breaking for me but that is racing – a split second decides the outcome. Although it made me emotional, I am taking this as a learning experience. This will help me come back better and faster next time.
If you are interested to check the small video I made regarding my experience at the Kart 1 Series Guwahati Round, please check out the video on my YouTube channel.
Special thanks to my sister Dr. Bristy Kalita for supporting, filming, and photographing me during the event.
