Adrenamag - Adrenalin Activities

Age is no barrier to mini go-karter Rio Jones’s ambitions to chase down his hero Lewis Hamilton. The six-year-old from Hellesdon in Norfolk is already revving up to start a career in racing – the same age as the 2008 F1 World Champion when he started started kart racing.

Rio began go-karting in a small Bambino Honda kart that was specially restricted. His dad carpenter Jason Jones, 30, said: ‘Every week we gradually increased the power of the kart as Rio got faster.’ In only a few weeks, he reduced his lap time from one minute 53 seconds to just 38 seconds – only four seconds off the lap record for his local 500m-karting track in Cromer.

Rio has to wait until his seventh birthday before he can race competitively. He attends a racing cadet school at the Cromer track, where he is working towards achieving his racing licence, for which he has to be assessed on three different karting tracks by a qualified instructor.

Jason said: ‘Everyone down at the track has been saying how good he is and how with that sort of talent he could go very far. He loves it and watches all the Grand Prix races when they are on.’
One to watch for the future, Rio is currently looking for sponsors to help support his racing career as a season’s racing – even for a seven-year-old – can cost as much as £10k. But the family are determined not to let money come in the way of Rio’s obvious talent and ambition.
Anyone who is interested in sponsoring Rio, should email eljaycarpenters@aol.com.

And if you are interested in getting your racing career off the ground, click here.

How old is old enough for extreme sports? A spin around a number of sports activities revealed there’s no magic age. In most cases, it’s a judgment call that a person can look after themselves safely and competently.

Karting is a sport notorious for breeding their racers young. But how young? Chris Pullman, senior operations consultant at the track in Kent where both Lewis Hamilton and current F1 champ Jenson Button honed their skills, is keen to get kids involved from a young age.

‘Racers as young as four are welcome,’ he says. ‘Obviously, we don’t stick them on the petrol karts but they can ride on our electric karts around our Kids Mini GP Circuit and they love it.

‘Then from six onwards, youngsters can get involved in the Bambino School. This prepares them for the faster karts by teaching them important skills such as pedal control, steering, control of the kart and safety awareness.

Two Young Karters Ready to Race

‘Traditionally, the earliest children could start racing was at eight. But, as they mature quicker these days, we feel there is a great opportunity for them to learn the basics of driving to prepare them for full racing at eight years of age.’

To race competitively in the UK, eight is the age to be but with the continued success of British drivers in the F1 championship, it’s understandable why kids from as young as four are keen to get behind the wheel.

Sports like skydiving and clay pigeon shooting do come with certain restrictions. To sky dive you need to be at least 16-years-old but parental consent is essential. Once you reach 18, however, you’re free to jump out of as many airplanes as you deem fit and mummy and daddy can’t do a thing about it.

In order to shoot at clay pigeons, while nothing is set in stone, Mike Williams from the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association feels that height is actually more important than age.

Callum McMillan(13yrs) – Started clay pigeon shooting at 7yrs and is one of the most promising shooters in the country.

‘Generally speaking, we don’t allow anyone under the age of eight to shoot,’ he says, ‘as they need to be able to support the gun safely. We have a Colts section and that is for children under the age of 16. The next step up from that is the juniors, and that is for competitors between the age of 16 and 21.’

Zorbing is an extreme sport that is increasing in popularity.  Seven is the magic age for this one but even then, youngsters are often restricted to hydro-zorbing – this only receives a three-star rating and is apparently a far cry from harness zorbing, which has been given a five-star extreme rating.  You need to reach the grand old age of 11 before you can take part in that.

In terms of paintball, Steve Bull, chairman of the UK Paintball Sites Federation, says: ‘Most sites insure young people from age 12 upwards or require you to be in year seven in school, although a small percentage of sites will require you to be 14 or even 16.’  But eager young guns can get a taste of the action with laser quest. As this uses light rather than paintballs, the starting age drops to six – and even younger on some sites.

While there isn’t a strict age to let kids loose on most of these sports, parental consent is always required.

If you are interested in checking out even more activities, click here

Karting whiz-kid Jordan King was already getting revved up to chase glory in the annual Winter Cup season curtain-raiser at Lonato in Italy, when a brief brush with Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button reminded the Warwickshire ace where he wants to be in his motor racing career.

Having met Button at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards several years ago, Jordan again found himself face-to-face with Britain’s motorsport man of the moment when the McLaren-Mercedes star presented him with a trophy for being one of the leading drivers in the KF3 class of the UK-wide Super 1 Series in 2009. Jordan acknowledged that it was ‘quite something’ and ‘certainly a bit different’ to receive his accolade from a driver of Button’s status.

It was also undeniably a boost as the 15-year-old SWR-run speed demon prepares to renew battle on dual fronts following a prolonged Christmas and New Year break; readying himself for upcoming outings in the more powerful and fiercely-competitive KF2 class in both the final round of the 2009/10 Winter Series at PF International in Lincolnshire, and the Winter Cup at Lonato close to Garda.

Bidding to clinch the coveted ‘O’ Plate in the former and head into his main summer campaign on a high, Jordan also has a top five finish firmly in his sights when he subsequently heads abroad on his “Italian Job”, given that by his own admission he endured a disappointingly ‘average’ debut in the same event last year.

‘In testing we’ve been really quick,’ underlined the Repton School pupil, ‘so I’m feeling quite confident and quite happy with everything. I’ve not been out in a little while, but I always get up-to-speed really quickly and I’m really keen to be back in the kart again – I miss the adrenaline rush.’

If you are interested in trying karting, click here

As the video shows, a combination of speed, mud and water can have unintended consequences. Rob Sawyer, who runs quad biking safaris on a 400-acre wood in Leicestershire, offers his mud-splattered advice on how to saddle a quad bike to ensure you and your bike stay out of the drink.

1. FIVE-ASIDE: Keep five points of contact; feet, hands and bottom. If a rider keeps a good/positive riding position they are able to control the bike more easily.

2. LEGS-UP: The riders’ feet must remain on the footplates at all times. If they try to steady the bike with their feet, it will be pulled as the feet can become caught by the rear wheels.

3. STAY COOL: If the rider is tense it will translate to the bike and become harder to ride. It also increases muscle fatigue in the arms.

4. FRONT-UP: Basically, it’s the opposite of motorway driving where you look way ahead. On a quad, look no further than your nose. Riders need to adjust their body position according to the terrain they are about to cross. By looking just in front they can do this.

5. LOW LIFE: Keeping a low body position on the bike keeps the centre of gravity lower and makes the bike more stable.

Want to tame the beast? Then click here.