The 1-mile pro track an hour from Orange County where SKUSA and COTF come to race, and where we spend most of our weekends.
32240 Grand Ave, Winchester, CA 92596 · (951) 686-0485 · open 9am–9pm daily · k1circuit.com/winchester · Instagram @k1circuit
The facts
Layouts. Pro Track 1.0 mi / 12 turns / 33 ft of elevation, 400 ft front and 750 ft back straight. Pro + Chicanes 4,380 ft / 11 turns. North Track 2,330 ft / 7 turns. South Track 2,920 ft / 5 turns, with the Bus Stop. COTF ran seven different configurations here in 2026. Maps of all of them are below.
Open practice. 7 days: 9–5 Mon–Fri, 9–4 Sat–Sun, 15-minute sessions, max 5 per day on weekends.
What it costs. $100 annual owner license, $110 driver day pass, $22 pit pass, $25 overnight trailer. Per driver. (The fees page prints “/mo” on everything; that’s a template error.)
Storage. $95–$1,000 a month, six-month minimum.
Rentals. OTL E-Pro electric, 13+ / 60″ / under 275 lb. E-Cadet 7–12 / 50″, Fri–Sun. $40 per 8 minutes, on the North or South Track. Rental sessions don’t run the Pro Track layouts.
Rules that catch first-timers. 95 dB for 2-strokes, 85 dB 4-strokes. Cashless. No camping, paddock cleared at 9pm. No pets. Tarp and fire extinguisher in every pit. Take your used tires and fuel home. Under-16s must wear a neck collar and rib vest.
Who races here. Gas karts: SKUSA ProKart Challenge, COTF America, COTF Club (2027), Challenge of the Americas. In K1’s electric rental karts: K1 Semi-Pro and the K1 Race Academy. Tri-C raced here in 2025 but not in 2026.
Drive. About an hour from Mission Viejo, 90 minutes from downtown LA.
Race weekend: what’s actually there
From a pure facility point of view, this is the nicest track in SoCal. There’s plenty of parking. The paddock is inside the property and nice, with plenty of electricity and space. The building is beautiful and air conditioned, there are lots of clean bathrooms, the kitchen is great, and the staff are a delight.
Food. The Paddock Lounge restaurant overlooks the track. It’s open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday to Sunday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, with breakfast, burgers, pizza, wings, beer and wine.
A COTF race weekend, roughly (September round). Thursday: the paddock opens at 7:30 a.m. for setup. Friday: practice runs 8:30 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. in 10-minute sessions by class. Saturday: the paddock opens at 7 a.m. Driver briefings start at 7:45, then warm-up, qualifying, and three qualifying heats through about 4:15 p.m. Sunday: the gate opens at 6:45 a.m. Warm-up starts at 8, then super heats, lunch, and finals from 12:50 p.m., with Minis first and X30 Pro last. Podiums are at 3:30 p.m. Times change every round, so check the timetable COTF posts the week before.
Track Walk: the Pro Track
Pro Track, forward (clockwise). Start/finish on the front straight.
K1 is a momentum track. Little mistakes add up, and so do good laps when you’re clean.
- 1Turns 1, 2 and 3 are one combination. Mess up one and you mess up all three. Turn 1: somewhat late apex to set up for 2.
- 2Take the curb, unless you’re in a Mini. Then get as far left as you can to set up wide for 3.
- 3Blind. Find the banking and just go, using the full track and the gators on exit. When the grip is in it’s flat out. Otherwise, a little lift after 2.
- 4The first major hairpin, and really a double apex. Find your brake point and keep your eye on the middle driving in. Make sure you hit the second apex perfectly to get a good run down to 5. Use the full track, stay in the rubber and use the gators on exit.
- 5Into the esses, 5, 6 and 7. Come into 5 as wide as the rubber allows. Most days you can take these flat out.
- 6If you have to lift, do it early, somewhere in the middle of 6.
- 7Has to be perfect so you get a good exit onto the straight down to 8.
- 8The tightest hairpin and probably the slowest point on the track. Use the full track and a somewhat late apex for a fast run into 9, and keep your RPMs up.
- 9Hit the apex right and use the full track.
- 10Flat out.
- 11Focus on a perfect exit to make the most of the long straight that follows.
- 12Somewhat blind 90-degree corner. Done right, you can take it with just a touch of the brakes at over 50 mph.
Race layouts
K1 can reconfigure the Pro Track with connector roads, so race weekends rarely use the same layout twice. These are the seven COTF ran in 2026. Yellow is the route, grey is road that layout doesn’t use. Times are the fastest lap in each class’s Sunday final, so you know what quick looks like.
Pro Track
COTF R1 · Jan 31–Feb 1 and R9 · Sept 26–27
| R1 · R9 | |
| Senior | 1:03.418 · 1:03.180 |
| Junior | 1:03.982 · 1:03.875 |
| Mini | 1:10.129 · 1:09.999 |
| Heritage | 1:04.957 · 1:05.960 |
Pro with D’s
COTF R8 · Aug 29–30
| Senior | 1:03.561 |
| Junior | 1:03.835 |
| Mini | 1:09.888 |
| Heritage | 1:06.808 |
Pro with chicanes
COTF R7 · July 18–19
| Senior | 51.645 |
| Junior | 52.125 |
| Mini | 56.459 |
| Heritage | 53.050 |
Pro with chicanes & D’s
COTF R2 · Feb 28–Mar 1
| Senior | 52.040 |
| Junior | 52.775 |
| Mini | 57.318 |
| Heritage | 53.112 |
Pro with hairpin
COTF R4 · Apr 18–19
No timing sheets published for this round.
Reverse, tic-tac-toe & D’s
COTF R3 · Mar 21–22
| Senior | 1:04.999 |
| Junior | 1:05.833 |
| Mini | 1:11.863 |
| Heritage | 1:07.219 |
Reverse, chicanes, D’s & tic-tac-toe
COTF R6 · June 27–28
| Senior | 52.513 |
| Junior | 53.038 |
| Mini | 57.745 |
| Heritage | 54.710 |
Naming: COTF calls the bends on the two top straights the “D’s” and the cut that skips the infield the “chicanes.” K1 calls that whole combination “Pro Track with Chicanes.” The K1 Semi-Pro league also uses the hairpin, the tic-tac-toe and the Bus Stop in different mixes each month.
Rental layouts
Rental sessions run on the North or South Track, each about half a mile. You can’t drive the Pro Track layouts in a rental session.
North Track
2,330 ft · 7 turns · rental sessions
South Track
2,920 ft · 5 turns · rental sessions · with the Bus Stop
Watch a lap
Questions we get
Do I need a license to practice at K1 Circuit?
Yes. An annual owner license ($100) plus a driver day pass ($110) and a pit pass for anyone in the paddock ($22). Per driver.
Can I rent a kart at K1 Circuit?
Yes, electric OTL karts by the 8-minute session: $40, or 3 for $105, plus a $49.95 annual Bronze license. Cadet karts for 7–12-year-olds run Friday through Sunday.
How far is K1 Circuit from Orange County and LA?
About an hour from Mission Viejo and roughly 90 minutes from downtown LA, traffic permitting.
Does my kid need a neck collar and rib vest?
Under 16, yes; K1 requires both.
Can we camp or leave the trailer?
No camping; the paddock is cleared at 9pm. Overnight trailer parking is $25.
What’s a good lap time at K1 Circuit?
In COTF’s 2026 Sunday finals on the full Pro Track, the fastest Senior and Junior KA100 laps were about 1:03 to 1:04, Heritage about 1:05 to 1:06 and Mini about 1:10. The chicane layouts run about 51 to 58 seconds.
Is there food at K1 Circuit?
Yes. The Paddock Lounge overlooks the track: breakfast, burgers, pizza, wings, beer and wine. Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday to Sunday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday.
Which series race at K1 Circuit?
SKUSA ProKart Challenge, COTF America, the COTF Club Series from 2027 and Challenge of the Americas in gas karts, and K1 Semi-Pro and the Race Academy in K1’s electric karts. Tri-C raced here in 2025, but its 2026 and 2027 seasons are at Adams, Apex, Willow Springs and Spring Mountain.
What are the noise limits?
95 dB for 2-strokes, 85 dB for 4-strokes.
Who races here
See the series guides. Every race at K1 Circuit is on the SoCal karting calendar.