TeamSport Go Karting Harlow — Attraction in Harlow

Our overall experience was just about a fair to be honest - so many little things that tarnished what could/should have been such a great experience

We were nearly mis-sold the more expensive balaclavas at the front desk, even though we asked for 13 of the disposable ones - this was rectified relatively quickly

the assistant on the desk didn't appear to be able to tell the time, and it became very confusing when she kept giving us numerous misleading times, hours in the future, that we needed to be in the briefing room by

we had several overalls that wouldn't remain fastened up as the velcro had worn out

the changing rooms were quite unwelcoming, with most of the lockers having their doors off of their hinges and the toilet areas having pools of water across the floor

we had one of our party turn up late, we completely accepted that they wouldn't be allowed to participate in any races as they missed the briefing and the group's first race, however, they weren't encouraged/directed to come and join our party of spectators up in the bar area, and instead were turned away from your venue which was very disappointing

the actual racing experience was great, such an adreneline rush when permitted to race on a green flag (the yellow or red flags were by no means the fault of the venue staff)

The track marshals were great and we could see their valiant efforts of trying to keep things to time however, for our first race, one of our child racers had to change karts twice in the pit area as the karts kept cutting out, and this was before they even made it on to the track (along with the 4 or 5 members of our party that were held up behind them) - this whole process probably took 4-5 minutes to be resolved

our party placed food orders during the break between our two races, being advised that the food would be ready for us on completion of our second race - we fully appreciate that collectively our group had placed a fair sized food order however, the communication from staff on the progress and status of our orders was poor and the delivery of the food was very poor; it took so long to arrive. When it did start to arrive, often individual dishes at a time, orders were split; main dishes arriving well before the corresponding side dish, side dishes arriving well before the mains... family orders being staggered... being told very late on that certain food ingredients were no longer available - we had to get refunds on some of our party members food orders and members go home having not eaten

the slush drinks machine wasn't ready for us to purchase drinks from it... there was no milk for guests that wanted to purchase cups of tea

Individually, these points are relatively small. Had just one or two of these occurred, it would have been accepted that such things happen, but all in all, the accumulation of them rather tarnished the experience...

Been to the track many times previously, i am a member and have been since Harlow opened in 2017, i have been to members events and usually attend in the evenings as it feels safer when others are of a similar skill level. This time i attended with family and had a first timer with us who was my nephew, prior to the event i explained to him to just go slow at first, feel the controls and stay away if possible from faster karts, he watched the briefing and we went on for the session. Fortunately there were only 5 of us on track which was great for my nephew to learn at a comfortable pace, unfortunately there was another individual, i don't want to be mean but perhaps a 60 year old male with his offspring who thought he would try to race myself by completely T-boning myself at turn 1 (completed overtake at tarzan corner, when i was turning in for turn 1 he did not brake and completely punted into the side of my kart) in full view of my nephew on track and also my nephew who was watching from the pit seating area, he was over 5 seconds slower than myself per lap on this occasion and going by that delta i am sure im more experienced with how to behave on track whilst this individual has shown he is certainly not, i have karted since i was 10, nationally and competitively so it wasn't a big problem for me as i have witnessed worse. After the session i explained to the staff about what happened and they need to keep an eye on this old male, without my knowledge he too (after i had seen the staff) explained to them a situation that is completely unacceptable for a day time knowing young children would be present. The staff member explained to me “he has explained i was dangerous though couldnt explain to me how and if the staff dont have a word with me then he would have a word with me” very disappointing as no member of staff saw him crash into me at turn 1, we could overhear his wife/partner explaining to him he was out of order for what he did, he should know better snd set an example to the children, very disappointing, marshals must be aware of what is happening on track at all times, as always once the sessions had finished i thanked the staff...

Long review!

I recently attended this place with a group of kart racers. So this review is based upon knowledge of other kart tracks. First of the bat their was a lack of organisation. They didn't know when they were conducting a "briefing" we were all told to congregate in the room only to then be told it would be 30 mins til it took place.

They decided to split us into two groups as there was so many of us. There was no clear decision made and in the end we told them we didn't care, just do random.

Now to the track.... the layout is great. The karts however shocking! Their was clearly a few karts that were to say the least compromised. They were slower, handling poor and lacked any power vs others. We informed them of these issues but the staff just chose to ignore it and sent them out regardless. I spoke personally to a Marshall about this only to be given the response we don't have spares! Ultimately this spoilt my race as the kart I had wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding let alone me. I came into the pits and wasn't even offered another kart! To which I was disgusted and stormed off!

Now to the Marshalling. These teenagers simply have no idea! They would black flag the slightest bit of contact. An example would be two people fighting side by side one gets squeezed but yet they black flag this when it was not avoidable. The marshaling was inconsistent, it was spoiling the event. The red light/yellow lights were not always clear so when they came on some would keep going til they saw a light.

The track has potential, but its far from the numbet 1 karting experience. They need to educate the Marshalls, have better flag usage, more maintained karts and better organisation

to conclude. I wouldn't rush to visit this place again. Their are by far better organised...