Drive like it's 1999

Hop and hold while you steer into a turn. The turbo meter next to the speedometer fills. When it reaches the red, press the other shoulder (Shift) to boost.

• Up to three boosts per slide, each faster than the last.
• The exhaust smokes dark when it's time, CTR's own "press now" cue.
• Too early and the engine just puffs. Hold the turn too long without boosting and you spin out.
• A hop with enough hang time pays a turbo when you land.
• Hills too steep to drive are walls. A scrape slows you; a head-on hit at speed crashes you.

Every course has a Race Marshal at its start, shown on the minimap and the world map. Talk to her to host a race, join one, start it, see the course records, or open the Race Finder.

• The start: CTR's start lights count down while you rev on the grid. Have the revs in the red at GO for a start boost. Pump the gas; hold it too long and the engine over-revs and gets nothing.
• The course: gates and beams of light mark the checkpoints, the next one brightest. A guide arrow and a minimap flag point the way, and a race map shows every racer.
• The finish: experience and Karting skill by place. The music speeds up on the final lap.
• Leaving: Leave race in the minimap button's menu, or /leaverace.

There are no mobs or combat during a race, and no duels. The open world is as normal.

Queue from anywhere, like the dungeon finder. Click the Kartcraft minimap button (or type /racefinder), tick the courses you want, whole zones or Any course, and press Find race.

1. Once two or more players match a course, it waits up to 30 seconds for more, up to eight.
2. Everyone gets a ready check: Accept or Decline.
3. When all accept, you're put in your kart and teleported to the starting grid. The race brings you back afterwards.

Browse every course with /tracks: its length and lap time, and Show on map draws its route on the world map.

Ask a course's Race Marshal for a time trial: just you, no crates or weapons, against the ghost of your best run. Time trials have their own leaderboard, and the board shows your best and the record before you start.

Races have CTR's crates. Drive through a weapon crate and the item roulette spins; press Fire item (E) to use what you got.

• Missiles, bombs, TNT, shields, the turbo and Aku Aku's mask, among others.
• Shots and dropped mines break crates too.
• Wumpa fruit from crates counts up on the HUD. A spin-out costs you some.

Open it from the minimap button's menu or /garage. Pick any CTR racer's kart: it's free, and other drivers see it. The engine class opens up with your Karting skill. Both change at once, even while you drive.

Every character knows Summon Kart (spellbook, General tab). Karting is a secondary skill from 1 to 300, in your Skills tab.

Boosts in a row make a turbo chain. Each boost is worth more than the last, and the chain banks once you stop boosting for two seconds; a crash loses it. Banked chains raise your skill and give your character experience. As the skill grows you learn kart abilities:

Kartcraft settings (/kartcraft, or right-click the minimap button): CTR's chase camera or your WoW camera, the guide arrow, the race music and its volume, the ghost, and the minimap button itself.

Kart camera (/kartcam): presets (Kartcraft, Smooth follow, CTR classic) and sliders for distance, height, angle, field of view and more. Changes apply at once, so tune it while you drive.