Youth kart racing doesn’t waste a moment throwing kids head first into danger, cutthroat competition and, of course, cheating, as 10-year-old Ole Scharp explains in the newest installment of Chris Kippenberger’s documentary series Kart Kids.
“All our engines are sealed,” Ole tells the camera. It’s how karting seeks to prevent families from spending too much money on engine parts, from cheating, from making the playing field uneven.
Obviously, everybody cheats.
“However, one can use a dryer—not a hairdryer, a different kind—then one can open and manipulate the engine.”
This is not the only way that parents and children cheat in karting, but it is a little look in how the sport throws kids right into the depths of adulthood and seems to insulate them from it at the same time.
“’Life on life’s terms’ is my motto,” Ole goes on to say.
Just watch the video and you’ll see what I mean.