We all know that karting is fun, but if you do it a the time, it must get tedious. It’s, like, a job. So, how do you spice things up? Hand everyone a paintball gun and tell ‘em to send it.
That’s exactly what endurance racer and former Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi did at a karting track outside São Paolo, Brazil. He decided that, for his birthday, he wanted to get together a group of his buds and challenge them to some go-kart paintball, which he described as being “Mario Kart in real life.” And to be honest, watching di Grassi talk about his paintball adventure is the most animated I think I’ve ever seen him.
“If you’re driving your go kart and become upset because somebody got past, you can just let them have it and fire a hail of paintballs,” di Grassi says with a smile. Makes sense!
The video starts off with a warning that you shouldn’t try this at home, and, yeah, that’s probably fair. If you are a delicate flower like me, paintballs hurt, and I would probably be jerking around all over the place (which is not even touching on the fact that driving with one hand must be a mess). Or, you take a paintball to the visor, and that’s your whole race.
But you know what? I’d sign a waiver and take the risk. It looks like one hell of a good time. The only person I frequently kart against is my husband, and he can be a real prick on the track. Holding him accountable with a paintball blast to to the back of the head? Incredible.