Last week I set up an engineering field trip. Unlike our previous outings this trip was not filled with wireless site surveys or any computers at all. The team really needed this, there have been some huge issues with communications in the last few weeks and it was just time to blow off some steam. Nothing like a little friendly competition to open up the communications again.

As a team building event we choose to go to K1 Speed and it was an amazing experience. K1 Speed is the thrill of high performance Italian kart racing mixed with some friendly racing competition. If you are not familiar with electric Karts these little rockets are fast. They have an amazing amount of torque and power and because they are electric there are no fumes. Electric Karts are like having fun and saving the environment at the same time 🙂

The facility is about 75,000 square feet with a track that twists and turns for an absolutely amazing experience. The staff was professional and if you asked they gave helpful hints about getting the fastest time possible. It felt as if we were professional drivers getting ready for Formula 1 excitement.

There were nine of us that went racing, we signed into their computerized system that creates a unique drivers profile for each racer and it is the basis for the statistics that are provided after the race. We had a 14 lap qualifier that measures the fastest single lap and uses that data to determine the starting position in the MAIN event.

I know that they were just being kind but I won the qualifying round with the fastest lap time of about 33.04 seconds a full half second from the next person..these Karts are fast and have enough power to make the back end drift!

Oh, yea – crashing and careening into a wall is not an unusual event. Staying out of these pileups is a great way to gain position as the others untangle themselves.

The main event was potent, we were all driving like our lives depended on it, if it were not for the SMILES 🙂 that were plastered into our faces you would have thought that this was a life or death challenge. After 16 long and well fought rounds Mike, Paul and Chris rounded out the top 3 positions.. I came in fourth and without glory.

After the event each one of the guys let me know how much fun they had had and how just hanging out together in a relaxed and offsite location really helped. K1 Speed has my vote for a great team building event – pizza, fast cars and computer controlled statistics – who could ask for anything more?