Gran Karting Club Lanzarote — Attraction in Tías

In my opinion this track is unsafe. The track itself is excellent, however our visit was overshadowed by an accident. The incident involved a group of senior karts including myself and my father coming around a bend into an electric kart which had spun out. There was no prior warning from marshals about the incident, nor were the karts remotely slowed. This resulted in my father colliding head on with the spun kart and being ejected from his kart. I believe the following issues contributed to the severity of the incident, and I would not come here again until they are appropriately addressed: Speed disparity between electric and senior karts. The closing speed in the faster sections of the circuit can be dangerous (max speed of the seniors is around 70kph according to staff, whereas a marshal told me the electric karts cannot exceed 30-35kph) , particularly if there are a group of senior karts together coming up to a slower kart. This is exacerbated by the typical lack of experience of all arrive and drive drivers. In my opinion, electric and senior karts should not be on track in the same session. Maximum number of karts on track. In this case, there were 23 karts out in one session. Whilst the circuit is large, due to the speed difference choke points will form where a group of close senior karts may arrive at a corner at the same time as one or two junior or electric karts. Again, with inexperienced drivers this leads to dangerous and unpredictable situations. The owner spoke to me and said that this is typically not an issue due to the size of the circuit, but I witnessed several near accidents resulting from this sort of scenario, as well as the accident detailed above. Driver training. The driver training is not mandatory. We were simply asked if we had been karting before, and having said yes we were allowed to go straight into our first session. There were an unusual number of incidents in each of the two sessions I drove in, including one person who appeared to drive straight on into the barrier at the first corner (?). Things were fast as I drove past the accident, but I believe the child in the electric kart began accelerating the wrong way as we came fast instead of staying still. He is obviously not to blame, but was he instructed properly prior to the race to not move until safe to do so? Marshal response. This is more relevant to after the incident. There is no flag system. The safety system in place is remote control of the karts, to reduce power. I would have expected this to be instant following the incident, however I was able to drive my kart at full speed for at least another 2 laps. This resulted in several more incidents because of the lack of flags to slow karts; drivers arriving to find karts in the middle of/just off track, panicking, and spinning. Additionally, with only two marshals on track they were unable to keep up with my father's crash and other incidents around the circuit; one girl spent at least 3 minutes trapped in a barrier outside turn 6 with her hand in the air with no-one attending to assist. She had to walk back across the track once the session had ended.

My overall impression was of an establishment unprepared for accidents. I believe there is inadequate risk assessment to prevent too many karts being on track at once and ensure they are appropriately matched. The staff also refused to give first aid, citing Spanish law that an ambulance must attend to administer first aid. My dad was effectively told to sit there bleeding with dirt in his wounds, or use the water and tissue paper in the WC to try and clean them. If it is the case that staff cannot even offer disinfectant or alcohol to wash wounds due to liability, then surely the track should operate with an on-site first aid trained individual who legally can administer treatment. My father did not need the hospital or an ambulance, he needed his wounds to be cleaned in a timely manner.

I cannot recommend this karting track until measures are taken to mitigate risk properly as...

Only a very truthful 3 out of 5 stars I’m afraid ? Having visited recently with my teenage son, I must say we were very impressed with the professional set up, the track, karts, the viewing gallery / cafe etc put you in mind of a real race track ! A little pricy and no option for two race discount ? 🤔 Unfortunately we have had to score down our rating ? Please let me explain why, we had first visited on the Thursday and sadly the rain was Biblical ! We were told they hadn’t had rain like it all summer, this in itself is nobody’s fault and we patiently waited to see if the storm would let up, however after an hour or so and almost going for what would have been a few very wet circuits it was wisely decided it would be too dangerous, not only for ourselves but quite rightly for their Karts ! Here I must point out that we had taken advantage of their promoted free pick up and drop off Service earlier that morning, given that the day was a total washout we waited patiently to be dropped back at our Hotel, this is where it all went wrong ! The driver of the ‘COURTESY’ bus whom we only know as ‘STAFF’ due to it being printed on the back of his T-shirt had not appeared to be the jolliest of chaps when he picked us up and it seemed that the inclement weather only added to his already grouchy mood ? He did no more than abandon us at the track with no alternative but to then wait and pay for a taxi back to our resort ! Like it was our fault that it had rained ? Not to be disheartened by this and still wanting to have a go on their wonderful track we re-arranged for Sunday morning, this time ‘STAFF’ though still not the happiest of chaps first thing in the morning was actually early to collect us from our Hotel, the Sun was shining on us this day and despite a damp night the track was drying out quite nicely and we were able to race, both of us thoroughly enjoying ourselves ! Having had our adrenaline rush we were then as promised transported back to our resort by the still grumpy ‘STAFF’ ? It seems like even the Glorious Sunshine had not improved his mood ! In conclusion we would like to thank the other staff at Gran Karting for a truly enjoyable racing experience and suggest perhaps that ‘STAFF’ has some lessons in customer relations and pleasantries, after all manners cost nothing as they say or indeed perhaps you should consider employing another...

This was the second time we visited. Last time was years ago. We were, again, welcomed by the refreshingly energetic owner. She immediately makes you feel welcome, at ease and at home. This goes a long way for first timers and, especially in our case, little ones.

We booked the combi carts. The parent controls the paddles and steering wheel, but your child can actually steer. So my son had the time of his life, at four years old. The cart was of a very good quality, felt propperly maintained and included all the necessary safety features. 25km/h max. is more than fast enough to deliver a high performance first time experience. We had an absolute blast.

After, I couldn't resist to take a ride on the longest track in Europe. In The Netherlands, amateur Karts don't reach 80km/h, but with a straight that goes on and on, you really hit topspeed. That first turn is just exhilarating.

The personnel is professional, helpful and work with passion. All karting tracks should be like this.

For some unexplainable reason this place has the absolute best cup of coffee on the island. When you are not planning on racing, visting this place just for espresso will be...