Venue Scouting: Finding a Home for the League

Our search for a permanent home for Karting League Berlin started long before the first race. We wanted a place that could host regular sessions — reliable, easy to book, and straightforward to deal with. As it turns out, that last part is harder to find than you'd think.

First stop: Berlin Kart Indoorbahn (Neukölln)

Our initial visit took us to Berlin Kart Indoorbahn, a petrol-powered indoor kart track in Neukölln. The karts aren't the fast ones — but we figured it could work well for a mixed-ability group, since slower drivers could hop into the quicker Rimo karts to catch up with the rest of the field. The staff, however, weren't able to answer most of our questions on site. We were told to email them instead — but the response we got made very little sense. They referred us to ROK Kart Racing, which appears to be a kids' karting club, and to this day they haven't responded to our follow-ups. We'd actually tried contacting both venues last year already, and got silence then too. Verdict: Ticks the box for petrol head appeal, but communication is a brick wall. Not exactly what you want from a venue you're planning to visit weekly.

Second stop: Mobikart (Lichtenberg)

Next up was MOBIKART Fun Racing GmbH on Bornitzstraße in Lichtenberg — our first look at what an electric kart center looks like up close. The karts were a definite highlight: quick, responsive, and with that instant electric torque that makes you feel faster than you actually are. We even snapped some photos while we were there scouting the track. The experience at the counter, though, was a different story. Language barriers made the conversation difficult — the staff member raced through everything in German at full speed, and we struggled to keep up. We switched tactics and sent an email with our questions written out, but so far we haven't heard back. Verdict: The venue itself has real potential — but extracting information from them is proving to be a sport in its own right. And apparently that's not new: we reached out to both venues last year as well, with no response on either front.

So what does this mean for the league?

Honestly? It means our booking process involves a fair amount of improvisation. When information isn't forthcoming, you adapt: we've been working from what we can find on their websites, asking other drivers what they know, and being ready to just turn up on the day and grab a slot. The good news: Mobikart has an easy to use booking system, which should make life a lot easier.