People think of the Dominican Republic as beaches, baseball and all-inclusives. I think of it as a country where you can get a kart under you on Monday and a race licence by the end of the season.
I race here. I drive in the Dominican national championship, and I train here. So this is the view from the grid, not the brochure.
SD Karting, Santo Domingo
SD Karting is where I would send a first-timer. One of the founders has said he built it to combine the two things he loves most, the sea and karting, and you can feel that in the place. It is relaxed, built for friends and families, and the track is still properly laid out for people who want lap times, not just photos.
Two things set it apart. You can rent the track for your own event, and there is a sim racing area. That second one matters more than most people think. I use sims to learn circuits before I drive them. An hour in a sim seat before a real session is cheaper than a crashed weekend.
📍 Google Maps · 📷 Instagram @sdkarting
Karting Punta Cana
If you are staying at a resort and need a break from the buffet, Punta Cana has a walk-in karting track where you can turn up, register on your phone and get in a kart. Heats are short, around eight minutes, which is enough to find out whether you enjoy this or just enjoy the idea of it.
Kartódromo United Petroleum, Sierra Prieta
This is the one for people who take karting seriously. The Grupo Alonso United Petroleum International karting facility in Sierra Prieta is where the national karting championship has been finishing its seasons. It is modern, it is built for racing, and when the kids’ categories run here you see where the next generation of Dominican drivers comes from. Go on a race weekend and watch the Junior and Senior classes. You will leave with opinions.
Autódromo Internacional Las Américas
This is the home of Dominican circuit racing. Las Américas is a paved road course of about 2.7 km with 11 corners, opened in 1998 on the Caribbean coast. You can see the sea behind turn one. That sounds like decoration until you are braking into it at speed.
Everything from the national car championship to the GT Challenge de las Américas has run here, and karting races here too. The circuit is quick, it is technical in the middle sector, and it punishes anyone who thinks a flat track is an easy track. I know that from experience.
The championships
The Dominican system has two parts, and it helps to see them separately.
Cars. The Dominican Championship for circuit cars runs under the FDA, the Federación Dominicana de Automovilismo. It has several classes, including Racing Sedan, Turismo Nacional, Index TC and others, and a full season ends with a prize-giving. It is a real championship, and the level has risen. I race in the ST class.
Karting. There are two ladders. The Dominican Championship for karting is run by the Club Dominicano de Corredores de Kartismo with FDA approval, over six rounds, in age and engine classes from Kid Kart up through Junior and Senior Max. Alongside it sits the Dominican Kart Series. Between the two, a kid can start at six and be racing internationally within a few seasons. Dominican karters have already gone to European and Latin American events.
Learn it properly: Escudería Samaná
I am building Escudería Samaná for the people who want more than a rental session. We will have English-speaking coaches, so you can learn the sport in your own language instead of guessing at hand signals from the pit wall. Whether you are an expat in the Dominican Republic, a visitor who wants to try racing seriously, or a parent with a kid who will not stop talking about karts, this is where you start.
The website is coming soon.
Until then, go to a kart track this weekend. Everyone I know who tried it said the same thing: they wished they had started sooner.
Marek Zmysłowski
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