As you byke it

THE bike's a beauty. It crouches in the pit lane, all sharp, gleaming angles and swept-back vizor, reeking of speed. Overhead lighting glints off the silver bodywork. Eat your heart out, Valentino Rossi.

At Ian Yeowart's invitation, I jam my helmet on and stride down the pit lane, acrid exhaust fumes causing a surge of adrenalin.

Time to give this beauty a try. I swing my leg over the racing seat, settle, depress the clutch, then hit the electric start button. The engine kicks into life - but not so much with a deep-throated roar as a pleasing, tinny burble.

Well, what did you expect? This Superbyke midi-racer may be bigger than the tiny mini moto Italian bike on which motorcycle instructor Alec Tague recently broke the speed record at Elvington: but not by much.

That had a seat only a foot off the ground. This Superbyke is more like two feet: but that still makes it a tiddler.

Don't let that fool you, though. This is no toy, as Ian reminds me. Even with a speed restricter fitted, the 50cc two-stroke engine can deliver a top speed of 35mph. And that's quite fast enough when twisting and turning round F1 Racing Premier Karting's looping racetrack with the ground just inches away.

I'm under starter's orders. The lights blink from red to amber. Then it's green and go! go! go! I twist the throttle and with a tinny burble the bike leaps forward and sweeps around the first right-hand curve and into the straight.

It takes a while to get the hang of things. The first couple of laps I teeter, going too slowly, aware of my knees sticking out sideways like a grasshopper and worried about banking too sharply and falling. Slowly, I get better. I learn I can take the second bend of the racetrack flat out, banking the bike over as I sweep round then opening the throttle full for the long straight that follows, slowing only for the sharp double hairpin at the end. In a race, Ian has told me, this would be the best place for overtaking; it's where people make mistakes.

Not hard to see why, as I timidly guide the bike round two sharp 180 degree turns in succession. But then it's hard down on the throttle again for the final sweeping curves back to the starting grid.

After a few laps I'm throwing the little bike around the corners as if there's no tomorrow. I may not be exactly the fastest thing on two wheels to burn rubber around here; but it's great fun.

I tell Ian that as I roll to a stop in the pit lane. "And imagine what it's like if you're racing against other bikes," the raceway's proprietor says.

Superbykes are the newest thing in town. F1 Racing Premier Karting has been staging Kart races at its Pepsi-Max raceway behind Waterworld at Monks Cross since 1998. As I can testify from the few quick laps I put in round the racetrack on a kart once I finished putting the bike through it's paces, they are great fun: a real chance to play Michael Schumacher for the day and enjoy some of the thrills of motor racing.

F1 supplies the karts, and you just turn up and go. You can book yourself in for practice sessions, or take part in various races - The Italian Job, for example, which consists of five laps of practice, then a ten lap qualifying session followed by a 40 lap race; or the Monza Grand Prix, which involves four laps of practice, followed by five qualifying heat races of six laps each, an eight lap semi-final, and then a 12-lap final for the top drivers.

You can't turn up and hire one of the new Superbykes to race - not yet, anyway, although Ian hopes you will be able to from next year.

But his company has become a distributor for the Chinese-made bikes. So you can buy one, and new owners automatically become members of the F1 Indoor Motorcycle Club, which means you can race them at the Monks Cross raceway on regularly organised club nights.

The bikes aren't road legal, Ian points out: and using them to ride round in car parks probably wouldn't endear you to the neighbours. "So we thought, if we were selling them, it would be more responsible to give people the opportunity to come back here and race them in a proper, controlled environment."

Safety as well as thrills. What more do you want?

Superbykes cost £499 each and are available in indoor or off-road versions, all with a speed restricter fitted. For safety reasons, Ian will not allow children under 15 to race them at Premier Karting, although they can ride them in practice sessions.

Kart sessions at the Monks Cross raceway cost from £8.50 for a 15-lap practice session to £31 per driver for a Grand Prix. Corporate sessions are also available. Children under 15 cannot race karts against adults, although they can take part in children's kart races. To find out more, call F1 Racing Premier Karting on 01904 673555.

Updated: 16:11 Friday, October 01, 2004